Day 68: Spring Cleaning for the Bird Garden at Pine Hill School

Today I was one of the parent volunteers who helped to clean the Michael Linsow Bird Garden, located on the Pine Hill school grounds.  The garden was designed and dedicated in 2000, in honor of a brave Pine Hill student who showed tremendous courage in the face of adversity.  Each year, the student council members are joined by adult volunteers who help rake, weed and prune the gardens.  It's really a beautiful space where the scool children can study birding and plant life.  I was happy, if not even a little cazy,  to continue my Memorial Day-weekend -3 day-stretch of intense yard work at the ever-needy 42 Everett Street gardens, with a little more raking and weeding at Pine Hill !!

Day 67: Memorial Day -- A Day for Remembering

Today is Memorial Day--a day for remembering the men and women who have died in the service of our country and for family members who have gone before us. Since 1973, Buppa and I were" in charge" of cemeteries in our family. First, my Dad, John Keefe (in 1972) and then Nana Bertha (in 1983) at Saint Patrick's in Watertown. Auntie Margaret Bryant died in 1977 and is buried in Conway, New Hampshire with her husband Carroll and a dear friend, Josephine Pendergast. Then, Uncle Eddie White died in 1978 and is buried in Lawrence, Ma. with his mother, father (my grandparents) and other family members. He was an Army Veteran of World War 2, hence the plaque in the ground and the American flag that is brought by the local veterans' organization yearly. Each year, we would "trip" to Watertown, Lawrence and Conway---Buppa would edge and plant and I would water and pick up the grass clippings. In 2001, our dear daughter Marie (Auntie Ree) was buried in Salem and was added to our lists of visits. We also stop with a plant for Fr. David Delaney (a good friend to us all) also in St. Patrick's. As you will notice from the pictures, Buppa and I will be buried with my parents in St. Patrick's. We have worked through hot sun, rain and black flies, but have fond and sometimes sad memories of all the years of visits to each grave sight.

Day 66: Food Drive and Bake Sale at St Theresa's Church

Hello, it is Sophia! Today we went to church at St. Theresa Parish which does a lot with helping the poor and needy. One of the charities they support is the St. Bridget Food Pantry in near-by Framingham. The church has a collection basket where today I put in a few items. Some foods that I already saw in the basket were Cherrios, flour, and containors of almonds and cashews. I added chicken noodle soup, cream of chicken soup, and hot chocolate mix. The gifts were brought up shortly to the alter during the mass. 
            As we were walking out, a special treat was that we saw the Dominican Sisters' bake sale with bread, different kinds of pie, and brownies. I learned on the The Dominican Sisters' website that their goal is "to bring the Gospel to life through their teaching, care for the poor, advocacy for justice, their art, music, care of creation, spiritual enrichment ministries, housing advocacy, and much more." I was very happy to support them by buying a brownie!! (It was delicious!!)

Day 65: Bottles for The Lion's Club

Once again, a trip to the Transfer Station, more affectionately known in the Cutler Household as  "The Dump" (!) allowed an opportunity to donate a bin of empty beverage bottles that can be redeemed by The Lion's Club for the deposit money.  It's quite interesting to learn that this organization raises funds to support eye disease research, including cures for "retinopathy of prematurity", which is the eye disease that Olivia had, and resolved, when she was a premie.  And over the years, there's been  other eye issues in the family  including detached retina surgery for Buppa, macular degeneration eye surgery for Papa, and all the grandparents have had cataracts removed...so I say....Give On!!     http://www.lionsclubs.org/

Day 64: Supporting the 3 Day For The Cure Walk

Today I had the opportunity to support a dear friend as she is soliciting contributions for her commitment to walk the Susan G. Komen 3 Day.  This incredible event of sisterhood has now, remarkably,  become a global effort to raise funds to find the cure for  breast cancer.   I am so impressed at how many people, both junior and senior, have shared their fundraising plans for cancer related causes.  We are privileged to be able to, in our samll but hopefully significant way, give a little something to each friend that participates in an event that hopes to eradicate cancer.  If only our checkbook was as big as our hearts.....

Day 63: Bristol Lodge Day

Here it is the 4th Thursday of the month and Saint Jude's turn to make the dinner again for the homeless. This month, I was in the group to make au gratin potatoes------not a hard job at all. I was picked up at 4:15 and we went on and made 4 more stops. Arrived at the destination and a few of the customers helped us bring in the dinner. Much to our surprise, there was a new crew in charge and sort of expected us to prepare, serve and clean up afterwards. The usual serving group was missing, so 4 of us pitched in--1 cutting and serving the meatloaf, 1 serving potatoes and 1 on the vegetables. I was in charge of setting out the desserts. Nothing too interesting tonite---lots of bananas, homeade brownies and store cookies. After setting them out, it was time to clean up the counters, throw away the disposable pans, wash the utensils and wash the tables. Some people thanked us and said "it was delicious" and the new crew was very appreciative. One gentleman said "when do you come again?" and looked disappointed when I said "not for a month!" It's worth all we do for a simple" thankyou"!!

Day 62: Easter Seals Walk

NOTE:  The Family Service Challenge is thrilled to have our first "Guest Family Blogger", Tom Rinck.
Thanks Tom.....we look forward to more posts from you and your wonderful family!!
                                              ***********************************

Hello Everyone, Just got home from this year's Easter Seals "Walk With Me" event in
Wakefield. It was a 5k around the lake in Wakefield Ctr. What a turn out and great weather too. I have done this in the past but it's been a few years. This year I was a team captain for 20 CVS stores in the North Shore area. We had about 75 walkers show up for my team and about 300 for the region. Really feeling good about making my financial goal. I went to the kick off at Microsoft in Cambridge a few weeks ago and it was really inspiring. Most of this events donations will go toward creating computers and machines to help children with disabilities and their families have happier and more meaningful lives. A big thanks to all who supported me this year. For more information go to http://www.easterseals.com/site/TR?company_id=8581&pg=national_compan . ---Tom

Day 61: Grade 5 Presentation to Kindergarteners

It is Sohpia here! Today in Library we worked on preparing our learning-service presentation for the kindergarteners. We have to pick a children's  author, find some quick facts about him/her, choose one of their books and create an activity for a group of 4 children. My group decided on the author Susan Meddaugh, who wrote the classic, Martha Speaks, and a lot of other fantasy fiction childrens books. We wrote down some facts about her that we found in the about the author section on the back cover. Ironically, Susan Meddaugh lives in the same town, Sherborn!! All of her books in the Pine Hill library are signed. I thought that was pretty cool. Anyways, we thought that for a craft/activity, we could play with the concept of alphabet letters. Today in school our group made soup bowls with an open top. My teacher is going to buy alphabet pasta so we can help them spell words in their soup bowl. Tomorrow we are going to print out Martha coloring pages when the kids are done with their bowl. I think it is great that at Pine Hill, the older kids do projects and presentations like this to be role models for the younger grades, which hopefully encourages littler kids to also want to volunteer their time and teach a few things to children younger than themselves.

Day 60: Good as New Shop/Unitarian Church, Sherborn

One of our local churches in Sherborn contans a consignment shop called the "Good As New Shop".  Neighbors in Sherborn and other nearby communities can bring  "like new" clothing, collectibles and household items that we can price ourselves and receive 75% back on any item that sells.  Not a bad deal!  GANS also welcomes donated items that they will price and keep all profits to benifit church programs.  Today I was happy to donate a bag of  "like new" spring clothing that I hope will bring funds to support the Unitarian  church's many  ministry programs.

Day 59: Special Olympics

Another hard day of practice in preparation for the final meet in June.  I finally have them able to understand repetitive sets, where we do the same distance many times, in the same amount of time, and have them go in the same order.  It took a while, and I hope it will carry over to future practices.  One challenge I find is that certain improvements one day do not necessarily stay with the swimmers on the next practice.  I only see these people for a short time each week, but it helps me understand some of the difficulties their parents, teachers, and caregivers go through 24/7.  In any case, most of them were breathing pretty hard today, and I believe their performance on June 17-19 will benefit from the hard work they do at practice.

Day 58: CVS and Easter Seals

Hi everyone,

Thanks to the help of Uncle Tom, I just started my first corporate world job at CVS.. I'm really enjoying it and learning at lot about the retail business. On one of my breaks, I saw a flyer for benefiting the Easter Seals. This is an organization that provides people with autism and other disabilities the opportunity to live, learn, work and play in the community. I know that Uncle Tom is involved in coordinating the upcoming CVS/Easter Seals Walk-A-Thon, so when I saw an opportunity to contribute, I did and bought a raffle ticket that supports the event.

For more information, go to: http://www.easterseals.com/site/PageServer

From, Olivia

Day 57: Box Tops for Education

Hi! It is Sophia. Today,  I once again gave in my collected box tops. Box tops are small coupons found on many grocery products. At the beginning of the year, when my Aunt Debbie was visiting, we told her about it and she said that she used to collect them when her kids were in elementary school. She volunteered to collect her box tops and send me them one day. Yesterday, she sent me a envelope with at least 30 box tops in it!! Thanks Aunt Debbie!!  With my combinded box tops, I had about 36 coupons to bring to school.   I hope Pine Hill benifits from them!!

Day 56: This Service Stuff Can Be For The Birds!!

First, a few comments about a great photo opportunity that I had and that being, a photo of four generations of extended Family --Daughter, Mother,Grandmother and Great Grandmother. The opportunity availed itself on one of our birthday party visits on Long Island, N. Y. with our son Tim and his Family. This particular party was for Granddaughter Alex and all of Long Island extended Family were on board for the event and hence the picture.

Our next trip down was for Grandson Timmy's birthday party and being a good four hours away, I usually work in some kind of project while there and on this trip, it was to mount the three Long Island Grandchildren's bird houses on a pole with a cross arm. They used to be mounted on top of the wooden stockade fence post on pipe, but the fence was replaced with a very nice plastic stockade fence. Hence not for mounting bird houses on!!!!  After finishing project I took Timmy's Great Grandmother Millie, a remarkable 86 years young, out to see the bird houses. She was very impressed and started talking about birds at her house. Noting that she was quite interested with the birds in her yard, I asked her if she would like me to make her a bird house for her yard. She said "Would you do that?" and I said "sure". Here we are on Long Island for another birthday party and oh yes, the promised bird house is built and with us. Nana and I went over to Millie's house and I mounted the pole and bird house while Nana and Millie visited. After my work I had a cup of tea and a visit with Millie and Nana.  She was so excited and appreciative and I was sent off with a big hug and kiss.  Really an enjoyable moment for all-- Buppa

Day 55: Refreshments at Band Concert

Today was Sophia's 5th Grade Spring Band Concert and she performed on the stage at the High School!  It was a terrific celebration of music and young talent.  Volunteers were needed to provide refreshments to be served at a reception after the concert.  Our sweet Miss Olivia was happy to play chef and made 3 dozen delicious chocolate cookies for the event.  The concert was wonderful and it was a joy to watch Sophia play her saxaphone.  She had quite the fan club with two sisters, two parents and two grandparents in attendance!

Day 54: Colleges Against Cancer UPenn Chair Position

Hi All,

In the week or so I've been home from school, I've been filling out an application for a Colleges Against Cancer chair position at UPenn. The CAC not only coordinates the Relay for Life event, but it is also composed of about 10 subcommittees, each in charge of either a Relay task or promoting cancer awareness events in/around UPenn. Last year, I was selected a Committee Member of both the Survivorship and Community Outreach branches. For Survivorship, we were in charge of recruiting and hosting survivors for the Relay for Life. In Community Outreach, we visited local elementary schools and engaged the students in anti-smoking lessons and campaigns.

Based on my application, I was just selected Chair of the Recruitment Committee!!!!  Since I was not on this committee last year,  it is all pretty new to me, but this summer I am responsible for starting several of my duties, including thinking of ways to recruit groups for Relay that were underrepresented last year. I also need to find creative ways to encourage groups  to commit to a team early in the year, so we have plenty of participants. Since I am home on the couch recovering from foot surgery...I have lots of time to research ideas and develop a recruitment strategy.  I look forward to meeting all of my committee members and conducting successful recruitment efforts!

Day 53: Planet Aid

Having two kids home from college... .and sorting through their numerous bins and bags of acquired and accummulated belongings.... has given us yet one more opportunity to donate gently used clothing, shoes and accessories to those in need.  Since one of our hopes in creating this blog was to introduce each other to as many different causes, organizations and service initiatives as possible, I was happy to discover yet one more group that welcomes clothing donations.  So today we found one of their signature "bright yellow bins" along Route 9 and dropped our donation there.

http://www.planetaid.com/

Day 52: Sorting the donations for Catholic Charities

Today at 11:30 A.M. at St. Jude's Church, a group of parishioners ( of which I was one ) came to sort the baby items that were left during the past 2 weeks for infants layettes for Catholic Charities. There were over 200 onesies or 1 piece outfits in all different colors. Some donors made hats and mittens, afghans and about 10 beautiful hand knit sweaters. All areas were well covered---baby blankets, bibs, binkies and bottles, etc. Many people gave the large packages of diapers and most gave the wipes to go with them. There even was a CASE of wipes! One day this week, I saw a young mother with her baby in a stroller stop by the playpen and open some bags. They were full of formula--some in small 6 packs and some in quart size containers but a lot of each. I commented how generous she was, and she told me she had saved all these coupons and got it all free and was so proud of herself!! The representative from Catholic Charities was due some time today to pick up the many bags we had filled and she, no doubt, was as happy and grateful to receive them as we were to collect them.

Day 51: Stamp Out Hunger

Today is National Stamp Out Hunger Day, which is an event organized by the National Association of Letter Carriers and orchestrated through thousands of Post Offices across the country.  The event is the nation's largest, single-day food drive. Postal patrons are invited to leave non-perishable food products in a bag beside their mailbox, which are then picked up by the local letter-carrier and ultimately distibuted to a local food pantry.  Because Sherborn has a rural post office, they were unable to participate in the program....so Sophia and I brought our food donation down to the Natick Post Office, which was happy to accept Sheborn contributions.  http://www.helpstampouthunger.com/

Day 50: World Cancer Day

On this day that internationally recognizes the collective goal to cure cancer....it seems entirely appropriate to support our terrific neighbor,  high school sophomore Keaton Stoner, as he is soliciting donations for his

Dover-Sherborn team in our local Relay For Life event.   Last year, Keaton led a team of about 15 friends who together raised $2,000 for the American Cancer Society.  This year, he has recruited about 26 friends and  they hope to make a substantial donation to the cause.  Good Luck Keaton, we are happy to support your efforts and have made a donation on your web page!  You're a great kid; have fun!!

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY11NE?px=14673780&pg=personal&fr_id=31116

Day 49: Got Desserts?

 

Still making desserts for my senior friends at The Sherborn Council on Aging


Bon Appetit!

Day 48: Supporting Catholic Charities

Every year during the first 2 weeks of May, St. Jude's Parish collects all kinds of baby items--diapers, blankets, wipes, bottles, pacifiers,bibs, infants clothing etc. to be brought to Catholic Charities and distributed to those in need. Today, I brought 4 baby outfits to church as our donation. A playpen is on the side altar in which to put the donations and the playpen is almost full and surrounded by many packages of diapers. Parishioners have 'til Sunday to bring their items.

Day 47: Volunteering at Kindergarten PE Class

Today was the day that I stay inside instead of going out to play at recess to help out my gym teacher with Kindergarten PE class. It was different today because one of my friends, Lael, joined me because when I told her I was doing this, she was very interested. She had a good time and thought they were very cute. (As I do!) After jump roping for a little bit we went to four stations at each corner of the room. The station that the kids were most excited about was "foxtails", which are balls with a tail on them. To throw them, you have to swing the foxtail in circles and then let go when they are facing your desired direction. I think Lael had a great first visit and the kids were as excited as ever.This is a picture of a foxtail.

Day 46: The Sherborn Library Bargain Basement

It may be even better than Filene's Basement!!  It's filled with donated books, mostly current titles for adults and kids, that are all sold for a buck a piece to raise money for the Sherborn Library.  Today we gathered some great reads from home that we felt others would also enjoy and dropped them off at the library.  Happy reading to all!!

Day 45: A Mother's Day Tribute

Mother's Day 2011 is yet one more year that Paul and I are blessed to have both of our wonderful Mothers still with us through this remarkable journey called Life.  They both bring us, and our children, so much love, perspective, wisdom and laughter.

Today, especially, I am painfully aware of how many of my dear friends no longer share this blessing.  And I would like to make this blog entry a tribute to those dear friends who continue to stay strong without the tender embrace, the gentle guidance and the supportive advice of an irreplaceable best friend called Mom.

And to my dear friend Sue,  who, decades ago, was the first person I knew to have lost her young Mother to cancer.  I believe her Mother was only in her early fifties at the time.  Today I salute Sue's strength of character, her courage,  her achievement and her terrific children.  She is an incredible woman, facing an incredibly challenging chapter of her life right now.  And although it's been decades since the loss of her Mother, I know she must be especially missing her right now.

We are privileged to be able to make a contribution to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in her memory.  http://www.komen.org/

Patricia

Day 44: Good Stuff Campaign

Hi! It's Olivia.

Today, Mom, Dad, and Sophia came to pick up my belongings from Loyola. As I was packing this morning, I realized I had extra unopened food, and some clothes that I knew I didn't wear anymore. Downstairs on the first floor of my dorm building are donation boxes for the "Good Stuff Campaign". This campaign donates gently used clothing, unperishable food, small appliances, etc. to those who are less fortunate. I decided that I should give some of my stuff away, knowing I won't use them in the future, and I'd be helping those in need. The boxes already had a lot of items in them, so it felt good to know I was contributing to a cause others care about as well.

Here is the website from Loyola about the campaign: http://www.loyola.edu/ccsj/goodstuff/

Day 43: Book Drive at UPenn

Hi everyone, this is Bianca. As a last act of service while my freshman year comes to and end, the class of 2013 is hosting a book drive. Students can choose to donate their textbooks, which will be resold by the organization, rather that sell them back to the bookstore for cash themselves.  The chosen cause for this semester's book drive is the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. The IFHF is a non profit organization that provides support for veterans and the families of those who have lost a loved one in a war. Though this fund most commonly gives monetary support to dependent families, it also provides funding for rehab centers for soldiers. The IFHF is an incredible organization that I have never heard of prior to this book drive. I donated two text books to the cause, and hopefully other students will contribute as well to aid the war veterans and heroes of our country.  http://www.fallenheroes.org/

 

Day 42: Desserts for the Sherborn Council on Aging

A picture's worth a thousand words... and even more calories!! 

I'm told that the Sherborn seniors attending the weekly Drop In Luncheon aren't sick of my desserts yet ......so I guess I'll keep baking for them!

Patricia

Day 41: Sponsoring Claudia

The days fly by and once again, it's time to send our monthly sponsorship support to Claudia in Mexico. While Sophia is patiently awaiting another letter from her "Spanish Sister", we are sharing a past letter to see how well Bianca and Olivia remember all the Spanish they have learned!!  Claudia really is a special little girl who we all hope to meet someday.

   http://www.hopeforafamily.org/

Day 40: Volunteering for Kindergarten PE Class

Hello, it is Sophia. Today was the day that instead of going outside to play for recess, I helped my gym teacher with his roudy kindergarten class. The kids are so cute and I think they really look up to me. Today after running our laps and doing our relay races, we played with hula-hoops. For 2 minutes we played freely with them (some kids spun them around and when the spinning died down they would try to jump inside the hula-hoop and then jump out again).   After the 2 minutes were up, we played "bus driver". The kids held the hula-hoop like it was a steering wheel and when Mr. Carnes said to "Put on the breaks!", they pretended to press on the break with their foot. When Mr. Carnes said, "Rain storm!" the kids put their hula-hoops above their head, dropped them around their bodies and then waved their arms like wind-shield-wipers. It was a very fun day at gym. It was almost as fun as going out to recess on this beautiful day!!!

Day 39: Money Counters

St. Jude Parish has 2 groups of ladies who count the Sat/Sun. collections every other month. Monday is the day we count and today started my group's month. We usually have 5 or 6 show up but today there were only 2 of us! And to add to the work, there were 2 collections!! Betty and I got going right away and were moving along quickly, when the secretary came to our rescue and helped us do the second collection (for the tornado victims.) It is quite interesting to see how many different ways money can be folded! What a challenge it is to have to take the time to unfold the different" designs"--accordion pleated, those folded up like the American Flag given to a deceased veterans family, kites, and those that are just "crumbled up". Papers must be filled out for the church office and everything must be counted twice and balance before the deposit slip for the bank is done. We get more dirty old bills than clean crisp ones. You can't imagine all the different varieties and colors of checks! It usually takes about 2 hours when everyone is on board, but today it took nearly 3. One person has to take deposit to the local bank, put in outside deposit box and return the key to the rectory. Quite a job when you put it all together!! Some of us have been doing this for nearly 20 years and are happy to be a "volunteer."

Day 38: Special Olympics Qualifying Meet

Today was a huge qualifying meet for the major Special Olympics event coming up in June.  It took place at Agganis Arena at Boston University.  Since I started coaching this team, everyone was talking about this meet, and now I know why.  Although not as significant as the "Olympics" next month, this was a pretty big deal.  I could tell that the athletes sensed the significance of this meet, because virtually all of them performed at their best.  There was, as always, some confusion at first, but things got smoother as the meet progressed.    The last race of the day was the most challenging.  Relays take the athletes out of the pattern that was established earlier in the day.  Sometimes they freeze on the block because there is no starting horn, sometimes they leave way too early out of confusion or excitement, and sometimes they keep swimming after their leg.  It causes some amusing scenarios.  However, today my 4 x 50yd freestyle relay team went off without a hitch; each swimmer performed at their highest ability.  I was very proud of them.  Having been at this meet, I have a better idea of what to work on in practice, so I am learning a lot along the way.  Congrats to all the atheletes!