By Molly Lovell
Staff Writer

Kennebunk resident Bob Cole knows what it’s like to help those who have been down and out.
He also knows how it feels to be down and out.
“By the grace of God, I’ve been down and out, and people helped me,” he said.
A year ago, Cole, 68, was struggling to buy medication to treat his leukemia. While the treatment was successful and he only needed to take one pill per day, that pill cost $115, which was about $3,500 a month.
He didn’t have insurance and it wasn’t long before he and his wife, Joan, had maxed out three credit cards in an attempt to pay for the medication.
That’s when friends from Christ Church in Kennebunk stepped in.
Members organized a fundraiser called Bob’s Walk for a Cause. They raised $1,200, with part of the money going to pay for Cole’s medication and the rest going to the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society.
“People who barely knew me showed up in the rain,” said Cole, who had moved to Maine from Virginia only two years before.
A year later, Cole’s health is stable, and his medication is being paid for by the Veteran’s Administration, which he joined.
To celebrate that, he and friends at the church will once again hold Bob’s Walk to benefit the under-insured and the hungry, with proceeds going to Bon Appetit Meal Program in Biddeford, where Cole volunteers.
He said it’s the “working poor” he often meets while volunteering, and while he said his heart is “torn” seeing people struggle, it’s not the first time Cole has lent a hand to those in need.
When Cole got out of the Navy, he worked for nearly 13 years as a steel worker before injuring himself and getting his real estate license.
It was the mid 1970s and Cole was at the top of his game in terms of sales and active in various civic organizations in Manassas, Va. when he learned about a young mother who needed about $10,000 for dialysis, or she would die.
“They were in dire straights,” he said of the family.
The community, which he said had about the same population as the Kennebunks, raised $25,000 in a month for the woman’s treatment, and though she died not long after, the money also provided for groceries and other needs the family had.
“Even if you fail, you’ve got to try. That was my general attitude in life,” he said.
Feeling good about his fund-raising effort, Cole focused again on work.
“My goal was to be named “Rookie of the Year.” I was going to get that award,” he said, of the award that was given annually to a first-year agent.
Cole had gained a reputation for helping me people out, and it wasn’t long before a local senator contacted him about another young family in need.
The couple had recently lost a child to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and were on the verge of losing their home. Cole joined the fundraising effort, but didn’t want a major role.
“They needed someone to chair it and I said ‘no way.’ My eye was on the Rookie of the Year award. I said ‘no’ to the point I was embarrassed,” Cole said.
Despite his protests, Cole became chairman of the fundraising effort.
“Just like that, I said, ‘There goes your rookie award,’” Cole said.
“Then I thought, Bob, you have got your priorities mixed up. That baby’s life is worth more than a plaque. It’s just a piece of wood,” he said.
Cole threw himself into raising money for the family and told his boss he would be working less and using the phones at his office to solicit money for the family.
The day before the major fundraiser, the couple’s second child also died from crib death.
“They were still losing their home and had a lot of bills,” he said.
The fundraiser went on, and Cole went back to work logging 80 to 90 hours per week. That next fall Cole’s manager called him into the office.
“When you get called into the office, it’s usually because he was going to give you hell,” Cole said.
Instead, Cole’s boss was nominating him for Rookie of the Year.
“I didn’t think I was qualified,” Cole said, adding that qualifications didn’t only include a high sales record, but civic involvement.
“If you weren’t religious, you’ll get religious,” Cole said about receiving the award.
“I got my head focused,” he said.
Cole has other stories like that one and eventually served as a county supervisor in Virginia, which he equated with a selectman in Maine. He served several years and eventually experienced health issues of his own.
Cole didn’t have insurance to treat his prostate cancer, so became involved in a study group so he could receive treatment at no cost. He had 15 operations in a short period of time.
“Everything that could go wrong, did. I was convinced I was going to die,” he said.
Cole had promised his wife that if he made it, he would move to Maine with her, to be close to family in Kennebunk.
“I love the people here. People help each other, strangers speak to each other on the street. That’s a big deal,” he said.
Cole will participate in the walk held in his name Saturday, Nov. 14, at 9 a.m. at Christ Church, located at 6 Dane St., in Kennebunk. Members will accept monetary or food donations. For more information, call 985-4494 or visit www.christchurchkennebunk.org.
“I’ve always been the giver, not the receiver. It’s been overwhelming,” Cole said.

Molly Lovell can be contacted at 282-4337, ext. 223 or news@kennebunkpost.com.