Irene has been involved with Loaves & Fishes for about 6 years, mostly as a fundraiser volunteer for this very worthwhile cause. She immediately went to work, introducing the 300 raffle fundraiser, which has become a huge success since its onset 6 years ago. Irene was not a stranger to fundraising when she joined Loaves & Fishes. She has introduced a variety of fundraising activities throughout the years as a parishioner in both St. Mary's and the Holy Cross church in Lewiston, ME.

Irene is a graduate of St. Dominic's Regional High School. Over the years, she has worked as office manager in the pediactric office of Drs. Morissette, Grimes, and Tiongson, a position she held for 27 years. She also owned her own real estate business from 1973 through 1989. She has been married to the love of her life, Maurice, for 59 years. He, too, is a faithful supporter of Loaves & Fishes, and is often seen working in one fundraiser event or another, mostly in the bazaars held by Loaves & Fishes annually. Irene and Maurice have 3 lovely daughters, 7 grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.

If anyone is interested in details about her 300-membership fundraiser, please feel free to contact her at [email protected]

Ellie was born in Boston a FEW YEARS AGO and grew up in the Boston suburb of Hyde Park. She met her husband David there and they were married in Hyde Park. They had their first child Donna while living there. They moved on to their first house, a nice small ranch, in Brockton Massachusetts. In 5 years, however, they outgrew that house after their second child Tina, third child Kim, and fourth child Bonnie were added to the family. They moved onto house #2 in Holbrook, a 9-bedroom house that would accomodate further growth in the family. Along came child #5, Tammy, and 6 years later, their son David was born, ending the family growth spurt.

Ellie was very fortunate to be a stay-at-home mom. She was a Campfire Girls leader for years, as well as a religious educcation teacher, and a Weeblo leader. Last but not least, she was the Campfire Candy chairperson for the town of Holbrook, which put her in charge of collecting money for 3 pallets of candy. Money which came in the form of lunch bags filled with change and single dollar bills. As her children grew older, Ellie got a part-time job working for BPM markets, which has since become Shaw's Supermarket. She worked for Shaw's for 27 years, working in several positions before becoming floral manager and designer at several Massachusetts locations. She retired and moved to Maine for the "good life," and to live closer to her sister Carol Bouvier. That is how she came to know Sr. Lucille and Loaves & Fishes. She enjoys being with the Sisters, and cooks for them every Monday. She helps out with the various fundraisers and serves as a member of the Loaves & Fishes board. Her business, Nana's Nook, is an integral part of Loaves & Fishes, handling any furnature donated to Loaves & Fishes that the sisters cannot handle themselves.

Instead of her dream house, an old, restored farmhouse, she ended up buying Daddy's Diner in Sabattus, Maine and that is when her NEW CAREER happened. She took on the duties of baker, chief cook, and bottle washer, as well as being the BARN GODDESS and GENERAL LABORER. She worked 7 days a week instead of 5 (and they call this retirement), as David, her husband, was not able to retire for another two years, though he did help out as often as he could. She has changed Daddy's Diner into Nana's Nook, a name she is proud to say she has earned, as they have 18 grandchildren and 2 great grand children, with another great grandchild on their way in March of 2010.

Susan is retired from Lewiston High School where she was a math teacher. She lives in Sabattus with her husband, and has been active on the Loaves & Fishes board since it was founded.

Lucille is a Dominican Sister who resides at the Sabattus convent. She formulated the concept of Loaves & Fishes at a parish volunteer recognition dinner in 1997. Since then, she has been the Director of the board, and the moving force behind the program. She has been supported by many devoted and compassionate volunteers who share her concern for the less fortunate in the Sabattus area, regardless of religious affiliation. Loaves & Fishes has been and continues to be Lucille's passion in life. She beams with love and gratitude when the program brings hope where there was despair, comfort and joy where there was sadness. Loaves & Fishes has been growing with leaps and bounds throughout the years, and Sister Lucille is pleased to announce that she has named an Assistant Director for the program. The qualified and capable Monique Schreiber will continue to be a great asset to the Board of Directors, and will be a wonderful support in relieving Sister Lucille in some of her duties.

For more information about Lucille as a Dominican Sister, please check the "About the Sisters" area of this website.

Katherine has about 19 years of experience in law enforcement, and recently resigned in January of 2009 to pursue her dreams of designing embroidery for apparel. She worked for the Sabattus Police Department for 13 years, as well as 6½ at the Richmond Police Department. During that time, she completed training, qualifying her as a Certified Drug Technician, Dare Officer and School Resource Officer.

While employed with the Sabattus Police Department, she became active in working with the elderly, under the guidance of Detective Sergeant Turcotte. Katherine became involved with Loaves and Fishes, where she assisted with raising funds. She assisted with the cookbook fundraiser titled Home Cooking at the Jillsons, and has assisted with several garage sales and bazaars as well.

Katherine's fondest thoughts are of the year during which Loaves & Fishes assisted with gift giving to local senior citizens for Christmas. Each senior citizen on the Sabattus Police Department's Senior Citizens Checklist was given a bag of Christmas Gifts. She assisted with delivering these gifts herself and was rewarded with the joy of giving. She described the experience with the following statement: "To see them smile was a gift to last a lifetime. Some even wept, which made me weep as well." The biggest and greatest event for her was when she assisted with the Red Sox fundraiser. This was a huge success, hopefully these will continue.

Katherine currently resides in Sabattus. Her business, T-DeSign & Embroidery, is located at Nana's Nook, on Sabattus Rd., in Sabattus. She designs, prints, and embroiders tee shirts and other clothing. She has 2 daughters, Danielle and Angel, and 4 grandchildren whom she loves very dearly.

Her goals are to pursue her business and help Loaves & Fishes raise funds to assist people in need.

Rose has been a Board Member of Loaves & Fishes since its inception. She has been involved in many of our fundraising activities, such as the bazaars, fall concerts, numerous raffles, the 300-Membership fundraiser, and she has organized and overseen many dinners at Jillson's Farm in Sabattus.

She is a graduate of St. Joseph's College with a degree in Education, and her education includes advanced studies at the University of Maine. Prior to her retirement, she taught for 13 years in Parochial Schools, with ten years in Religious Education. She retired from the Lewiston School System in 1990 after 17 years of service.

Rose was married for 22 years to her beloved husband and best friend Charles until his death in 2005. She lives in Lewiston and loves to keep herself busy by volunteering as a Eucharistic Minister at d'Youville Pavillion. She also brings the joy of music to residents of nursing and assisted living homes with the musical group "The Golden Nuggetts". The joy of traveling is deep in her blood, and she has hiked throughout Ireland, the French, Italian, Swiss, Austrian and German Alps and also visited much of the United States and Canada.

To this day Rose is a great friend to the Dominican Sisters, and continues to be a vital part of Loaves and Fishes. For the last nine years, she has manifested wonderful leadership qualities in "Catherine's Flock", a group that meets once a week at the convent, and is a great support to Loaves and Fishes.

Monique has been a member of the board since its inception. As the Assistant Director of Loaves and Fishes, her involvement has been with the fall concert at Central Maine Community College, card parties, annual meal and drawings, and fundraising activities. Being an advocate for social justice, she enjoys any task that she is involved with.

Monique attended Central Maine Community College and the University of Southern Maine at L/A College and attained a baccalaureate degree. For the past fifteen years she has worked at CMCC as the Financial Aid Coordinator. She lives in Lewiston with her husband John. They have been married for 30 years and have two sons, Ben and David.

Claudette has been a Loaves & Fishes Board member since its inception. Prior to Loaves & Fishes, she volunteered as a Religious Education teacher for 14 years. Claudette works as a Resident Services Coordinator for Bates Street Senior Housing, which is owned by Community Concepts, a social service agency where she has been employed for 20 years.

She is a 1991 graduate and former Board member of the Center for Parish Ministry. She also attended U of M, Augusta where she majored in Social Sciences.

Claudette and her husband, Richard, have been married for 41 years and have lived in Sabattus for 35 years where they raised 3 children who spent their formative years being taught by the Dominican Sisters. They now have 5 grandchildren.

Louise was born and raised in Lewiston. She is part of a large family (four siblings) and is blessed to be close to them. Louise works part-time for the Sabattus Regional Credit Union as well as the Maine Human Rights Commission. She has been involved with Loaves & Fishes for just a short time, but already appreciates how rewarding it is to work within a community in order to help others in need. Louise graduated from Lewiston High School in 1989. During high school and subsequent to graduating, she worked for area law firms for approximately 13 years. She is currently enrolled at Andover College to pursue her paralegal degree.

Louise’s primary role for Loaves & Fishes at this time is working to further acquire advertisements and increase traffic flow to the Loaves & Fishes website which was recently developed.

She has two children. Her daughter who is currently in her third year of nursing school at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut and her son is a freshman at Lewiston High School.