Bob Healy, leader of  relief effort: "faith is an active verb, not a noun"

That search for the missing element in his life resulted in Bob joining the Social Justice and Peace Commission at his church, St. Martin's of Tours Church, Millinocket, in the fall of 2002.

Not long after that, on one of the area's darkest days, the unexpected bankruptcy of the local paper mills occurred sending shock waves through the communities, tremors that caused people to worry about how they would feed themselves and their children, keep warm and survive this economic disaster.

St. Martin's pastor at the time, Rev. Richard Malo, tapped Bob to head the commission, a position he did not seek. The commission was given the enormous task of helping out the hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of the suddenly unemployed mill workers and their families.

The commission members, lead by Bob rose to the challenge. The first year of the shutdown the commission helped out a staggering number of people, 509 families of displaced workers and did so by helping them pay for their heating, electrical, water, propane costs and wastewater bills so these people did not end up in such dire straits as to have to tap into their retirement funds.

"The first year was really trying and overwhelming, but also gratifying to know we were able to help so many in their time of need," Bob notes.

"For all of us (commission members), especially myself, this program was always utmost in our minds," Bob says, adding, "it was hard to think of anything else." Beside the countless hours spent wondering how to raise the money and organize the program, Bob and the commission would meet weekly for several hours to review applicants and applications, make phone calls and fill out the necessary paper work.

"If it wasn't for my spiritual awakening and need for God, I would not have been in these circumstances (working with commission members)," Bob confides.

In mid-October of this year, Bob stepped down as chairman of the commission after serving six years in that post, but will remain a commission member. He resigned from that post because, in recent years, he and his wife Edy, spend the better part of the winter in Alabama.

If Bob thought he would slip quietly away this year to points south, that was not to be. One Sunday last month this publicity shy man of an unassuming nature was publicly honored for his service to the church and to his community.

In a break with normal practice, praises were voiced from the church altar by Rev. Joël Cyr, pastor of St. Martin of Tours Church of Millinocket, and the church's permanent deacon, Daniel Watson, highlighting Bob's contributions to his church, to the commission and to area communities. Bob was invited to sit at the altar as his personal efforts were praised. Taken totally by surprise, Bob could only shake his head in wonderment and try to stave off tears. That acknowledgment from the altar was very humbling, Bob says. "It blew me out of the water - I never saw it coming...a complete surprise," he says.

Rev. Cyr present Bob with a gift in recognition of Bob's hard work and the role he played on the commission.

In a post interview, Bob reminisced about those hard times: "There were many with heavy hearts and sad stories when they came to us. But, each left knowing that their burdens were lighter because of the help we were able to give."

At least 1,200 people were affected by the bankruptcy of Inexcon.

He added, "Each year got a little easier as far as the process was concerned but we still knew the burden of worry and anxiety was still with many as they continued to cope with their circumstances." The effort also allowed the local fuel oil companies to remain solvent during this huge economic downswing, he says.

Providing for the needs of the unemployed "was a big effort" but, Bob stresses, it wasn't an individual or commission effort alone. "The communities were the backbone of the effort," he says.

Proud of the countless persons of all faiths who contributed their dollars to the effort, Bob remembers "...money came pouring in" from every place, places as distant as California and Florida. Even a Rotary sponsored telethon was conducted by Television station WABI to raise money for the effort, Bob recalls. There were several donations of $15,000, Bob notes, one of which was from an individual, Bob explains. Fifteen thousand dollars, proceeds from the St. Martin Thrift Shop, which operates under the auspices of the commission, provided seed money for the program, Bob notes.

For four heating seasons the commission provided help to the unemployed mill works and others affected by the mills' shutdowns. Then, as the need decreased, the program was terminated and any surplus funds were donated to other areas feeling a similar impact from shutdowns such as Moosehead Mfg. Co. in Dover Foxcroft and the Domtar Mill in Baillyville.

His participation in this effort and the other work of the Social Justice and Peace Commission was "...very rewarding for me from a personal and spiritual perspective."

"For me this whole journey came as the start of devotion," Bob says, adding as a result of the search he found "...God is real."

Faith, Bob emphasizes, "is an action verb, not a noun."

Cutline:

Bob Healy's journey takes him to an unusual place.