AUGUSTA — It’s been several years since Gov. John Baldacci held a spaghetti fundraiser, but he’s doing it this week on behalf of an agency that helps the homeless in Maine’s largest city.

Baldacci is holding the spaghetti dinner Wednesday at the Italian Heritage Center to raise money for the Preble Street Resources Center, which provides hot meals and other services for the homeless. He says that during tough economic times it’s more important than ever to support Preble Street’s efforts.

Baldacci’s family owned an Italian restaurant – Momma Baldacci’s – in Bangor and he has used spaghetti dinners to his advantage on the campaign trail. In 2005, he held spaghetti dinners to raise money for Hurricane Katrina’s victims and for a retired state trooper who was stricken with Lou Gehrig’s disease.