Boothbay Harbor Community Center is lending a hand, a car and a collection bin to Portland’s Neighbors In Need, an organization of 1,200 people providing goods to asylum seekers who arrived in Maine this summer.

With cold weather here, Neighbors in Need has put out a call for donations of coats and other outerwear including hats, scarves, gloves and winter shoes. Seeing the information on Facebook, Community Center Board President Shawn Lewin quickly signed up to help. Six collection boxes can now be found around the area, with more to come.

Lewin wants to collect 1,000 coats by mid-December. All items must be in good, wearable condition. They can be placed in any collection box, including one outside the Community Center’s door. The Chamber of Commerce is storing the coats before they are driven to Portland for delivery to Neighbors in Need.

In addition to the Community Center, collection boxes are at Key Bank, the House of Pizza and Harbor-Tech Solutions, with more locations being added each day.

To donate or to provide a location for a collection box, contact Shawn Lewin at 633-9876.