CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine — The Cape Elizabeth Lions Club is hosting its regular spaghetti dinner Saturday night and is inviting Coast Guard members from the nearby base to join them for free.
“We want to ask them to dinner,” says Lions Club member Roger Bishop. "A chance for them to sit, enjoy, and forget their woes for a few hours.”
The Coast Guard continues to work during the federal government shutdown, but members won’t get paid again until the shutdown ends. Bishop and others say that for young service members in particular, going without pay for weeks can be a serious problem.
Boothbay Harbor is also home to a small Coast Guard base, and this town's Congregational Church is hosting its own dinner for the Coast Guard Saturday night. The public is invited, too.
Church pastor Rev. Sarah Foulger says community members want to help the 25 Coast Guard members, 12 of whom also have families to support. She says people have been dropping off cash donations in advance of the dinner, but Coast Guard regulations state that money cannot be given directly to the service members.
Instead, Coast Guard members say there is a Chief Petty Officers’ Association, which is not part of the Coast Guard itself. The Association is allowed to collect donations and use the funds to help people in need.