by Chiamaka Ubani ’22

Lora Downing developed a desire to serve the community at a young age, and today Lora leads the Essentials Closet at the Waterville United Church of Christ to do just that. Lora grew up in Sidney, where her parents demonstrated the importance of community service. At Christmas time, for example, they would give out boxes of food and hold fundraisers for the less fortunate. Lora grew up watching those she admired devote themselves to helping people in need. When Lora taught at Messalonskee High School, she worked with students and others to create Thanksgiving Day dinners for community members who had nowhere to go. At the time, the dinner served about 200; today, it serves about 1,200. 

Growing up Baptist, Lora had always been involved with the church in some way. When her family moved to Waterville, they soon started attending the Waterville United Church of Christ, which prides itself on being open and affirming. Lora could see the need in her new community. She could see working people struggle to obtain basic necessities to take care of themselves and their families. She noticed that people had a hard time getting things like laundry detergent, feminine products, and baby diapers—necessities that people can’t buy with food stamps and EBT cards.

Lora, her husband Pete, and others in the church created the Essential Closet while keeping in mind the mission of their pastor, Reverend Mark Wilson: “Walking in the way of Jesus and serving people with whatever they need.” The Essentials Closet has distributed items to 3,887 people from Waterville and neighboring towns.

To Lora, this work is about “giving to those in need and being accepting of all people.” Her faith emphasizes compassion and care for those without resources. Jesus loved and cared for the poor, and Lora strives to follow Jesus’ example. It is especially hard to turn away when she sees “the very elderly parents of my former students, a few former students, and [others] I recognize.” Lora’s compassion motivates her to continue doing this important work.

Lora and the team have struggled with getting enough money to obtain items for the closet. The Essentials Closet relies heavily on donations and needs more items to meet increasing demand. Another challenge is getting enough volunteers. The program currently has about 20 volunteers, but many are elderly and retired—lifting heavy items is becoming more difficult. Lora would like to see more younger volunteers help out.  

Lora is grateful for the help the program does receive. A member of the Waterville UCC lends his construction truck to load up the items for the Essentials Closet, which the congregation then helps to unload on Sunday. Lora has learned that sometimes, “You have to rely on other people who are willing to help and that people are willing to help.” She would like the program to become self-sustaining, but she doesn’t see that happening anytime soon because they are so dependent on donations. The Waterville UCC is selling its building to move to a smaller location, which would provide money to serve the community through the Essentials Closet and other community initiatives; however, this is only a temporary solution as the need in the community continues to grow, and more money will be needed to sustain the Essentials Closet’s effort to provide household necessities to those in need.

To Lora, church “is not about the building, it is about people I worship with on Sunday morning and it is about the people I can serve.” She made a promise that when she retired, she would do more things for the church. Lora has clearly kept that promise.