New England Company Asks Community to Help Support Troops

Auburn's Maine Oxy expands their military support program, and asks the community to support their mission. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) July 24, 2012 - Maine Oxy, New England's leading supplier of welding supplies and industrial gases, is taking a unique approach to supporting deployed troops. The Maine Oxy Supports the Troops (M.O.S.T) program allows employees, community members and other local businesses to join forces to make large care package donations to members of the military on active duty in war zones. With 13 corporate donation sites across New England, Maine Oxy hopes local communities will help them reach their new goal to send out 50 care packages a month.

According to Bob Smith, a former member of the military and head of the M.O.S.T. program, now is an important time to ask people for their support. "With the recent announcement of the Iraqi withdrawal, many people assume that all the troops are coming home soon. We want to make sure people know that many troops are still being deployed and serving in war zones. These people need our help," said Smith.

The M.O.S.T. program began as an internal effort at Maine Oxy to send care packages to their own employees deployed in 2004. After seeing the impact of hand written letters, food and hygiene donations, Maine Oxy decided to expand the program to collect and send donations to as many troops as they could.

The impact of the care packages is seen in the countless emails Maine Oxy receives from thankful troops overseas. Staff Sergeant Matthew Hamilton shared the following after receiving a M.O.S.T. package:

"You guys may not realize how much it means to a soldier to have perfect strangers take the time out of their busy lives and put some thought into something for a service member. It could be something as small as saying thank you and it means the world to us. It is the main reason we as soldiers, marines, airmen, seaman have the drive to continue when times get rough and home seems a million miles away," Hamilton said in an email thanking Maine Oxy.

In the next few months, Maine Oxy plans to increase the amount of care packages shipped overseas by asking the community for small donations and asking local businesses to set up their own M.O.S.T. drop boxes. Last December, all 13 Maine Oxy locations and a group of partner businesses including Moody's Collision Centers, Agren Appliance and Morgan Stanley Smith and Barney LLC, were able to send five shipments a month to those on deployed missions, helping hundreds of individual service men and women.

If you are a local business and would like to host your own drop box, please contact: Maine Oxy customer service at 1-800-377-9433 or email ausalesteam ( @ ) maineoxy dot com dot M dot O dot S dot T dot drop boxes can be set up inside any store or local business that wants to partner with Maine Oxy dot Donations to help pay for shipping costs are also welcome dot

If you would like to help individual troops, please bring donations of the following to your nearest M.O.S.T. dropbox:
• Food (powdered drink mixes, nonperishable snacks, canned meats and pasta)
• Entertainment items (batteries, books/magazines, playing cards, pens, stationary)
• Supplies (wet wipes, eye drops, lip balm, toothpaste, feminine products, soap)
• Letters - a personal letter is the most powerful donation one person can make.

For information about where to find a drop box and specific items the troops need visit: http://www.maineoxy.com/most.htm. Drop boxes are located in the following towns: Auburn, ME; Brewer, ME; Rockland, ME; South Portland, ME; Waterville, ME; Belmont, NH; Hooksett, NH; Hudson, NH; Lebanon, NH; Chicopee, MA; Milford, MA; South Windsor, CT; and Waterford, CT.

About Maine Oxy
Maine Oxy is New England's leading supplier of welding supplies, industrial and specialty gases, and innovative industry solutions. Founded in 1929 in Auburn, Maine, the company originally provided service to home propane customers. Over the past 80 years, Maine Oxy has grown from its modest beginnings into a sales and manufacturing leader operating in 13 locations across New England. Maine Oxy is well known for its commitment to creating environment-friendly products and its role in establishing the New England School of Metalwork. Maine Oxy, an employee owned company, is dedicated to providing the most current technologies at competitive prices, while also engaging in a variety of initiatives to better the communities in which they operate. For more information visit www.MaineOxy.com or call 1-800-377-9433.

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