BRUNSWICK, MAINE – Downeast Energy & Building Supply will be giving away heating oil on February 9. Downeast, a third-generation, family-owned business, will host an open house at its building supply store at 18 Spring Street on February 9 from 10 a.m. to 3 pm. Every hour, there will be a drawing for $200 worth of heating oil along with many other giveaways and Captain Puffin will be on hand to greet children. Downeast Energy & Building Supply is also working with the Family Crisis Services and asking people to bring in their old cell phones and donate them to the organization. The phones will be recycled and given to domestic violence victims.

“We are excited about the opportunity to give back to the community by offering the heating oil drawing and to also help the Family Crisis Services,” says Betsy Morrell, vice president of Downeast Energy & Building Supply. “Downeast Energy has been in the kitchen design business for many years and this will also be a day when we invite people to come in and meet our experienced kitchen designers who can help plan their exciting and new kitchens. “

Steve Edmondson, the Domestic Violence Investigator for the Sagadahoc County District Attorney’s Office and partner with Family Crisis Services on this project added, “This cell phone program has been instrumental in helping many domestic violence victims when in trouble. We appreciate Downeast Energy & Building Supply participating in the program and bringing attention to this serious problem in Maine.”

For the cell phone drop off there are a few things people should know:

• Working cell phones preferred
• Please bring wall chargers
• Please delete all personal information from the data storage including phone book and call log

If you have any questions about the cell phone donation please contact Troy Pattison at Downeast Energy & Building Supply at 207-319-1219.

The company has launched its new Web site www.downeastkitchens.com to better serve their customers.

About Downeast Energy & Building Supply
Downeast Energy and Building Supply has 13 offices in southern and central Maine and Dover, NH, and a building supply store and lumber yard in Brunswick, Maine. For more information, please visit www.downeastenergy.com.

PORTLAND-Spring cleaning is just around the corner, and most of us will find our old cell phones tucked away in a junk drawer. Your first instinct maybe to overlook it, because until now you didn’t know what to do with it- now we have the answer! Bring your old cell phone and accessories to any of Goodwill’s 23 stores throughout Maine and New Hampshire, and receive a tax deduction based on fair market value for your donation.

Cell phones, car and home chargers, collected in Goodwill stores are being recycled by ReCellular, a national company from Dexter, Michigan. This partnership between the Goodwill and ReCellular is a fitting one. Both organizations look to help the planet and environment by recycling and reusing items to help eliminate waste.

A phone that is sent to ReCellular will be broken down and sorted by its various parts. A data eraser will eliminate all personal data and information. For those of us who don’t trust a company to do it, we can visit the wirelessrecycling.com website to get instructions on how to do it ourselves. Once the cell phone is dissected and tested, it is combined with other cell phone parts to make a new phone. Half of ReCellular’s phones are sent to domestic resellers, the other half to developing countries in Africa, South America, and Asia. ReCellular is on schedule to resell 4 million phones in 2007.

How is my donation benefiting Goodwill? The funds received for cell phone donations help fund Goodwill’s human service programs in Maine and New Hampshire for people with disabilities.

“We are excited about the opportunity to partner with a nationally recognized company who believes in recycling, much like Goodwill,” says Randy Finamore, Director of Retail Services at Goodwill Industries of Northern New England. “Expanding our services for our donors and shoppers is another way we can reach out to our communities and bring customers what they are looking for in a Goodwill store,” says Finamore.

Goodwill is a human service organization and a net-work of nonprofit businesses. Revenue generated in Goodwill’s retail stores help fund programs for people with disabilities. For more information visit www.ginne.org.