October 2010 Archives

Foster homes are a vital part of the Worceser Animal Rescue League's shelter. if you have room in your home and heart please think about helping one of their dogs. Please contact Liz at: dogswarl@gmail.com and she will send you the foster application. www.worcester-arl.org

The Marlborough Historical Society's third annual "Christmas at the Farm - Festival of Trees" will be held on the weekends of Nov 27-28 and December 4-5.

Prior to the event, the Historical Society will need volunteers to help decorate Christmas trees and the Homestead and surrounding area. Volunteers are also needed for shifts of 2-4 hours to help with ticket sales, admission, parking and other tasks. For more information on volunteering for this event, call Bob at 508.579.0658, Janet at 774.249.5350 or send an email to info@HistoricMarlborough.org.

Wondering how to free up valuable closet space? Have you thought about what you can do with those mismatched sheets and towels? These items have a real value to other families in the Marlborough area.

Furnishing Options volunteers and Marlborough Junior Woman’s Club are holding a Blanket and Linen Drive just in time for the Holidays and the cold weather.

WHEN:  November 1st thru December 4th, 2010

WHERE:  Contact us via email to receive pick-up information drive@marlboroughjuniors.org

We will collect the following items:
 Bath & Kitchen Towels
 Pillowcases
 Crib, Twin, Full/Double & Queen Blankets, Comforters & Throws
 Crib, Twin, Full/Double, & Queen Sheet Sets

Furnishing Options is a local non-profit organization based in Marlborough that mobilizes community support to obtain surplus used furniture, house wares, linens assisting families set up new homes in the Marlborough Area. 

Furnishing Options accepts gently used, laundered donations from single-family dwellings only. We DO NOT accept pillows or mattress pads. A tax receipt is available on request. To see a complete list of what we accept or to volunteer your time please visit our website www.employmentoptions.org/FurnishingOptions

Free training to teach English as a Second Language will be provided at the Unitarian Church 80 Main Street Hudson on Wednesdays from 6-9 pm on Nov 3, 10, 17 and Dec 1, 8, and 15. Tutoring can be done on your own schedule at a local library. For more info: 508.532.5574 or email FPLMail4@minlib.net.

I can't tell you about what we have planned to publicize the MJWC efforts to raise money for Heifer International yet (it's cute thought!), but I can tell you about this event at the Overlook Farm in Rutland.

CELEBRATION OF LIVING GIFTS
December 11 and 12, 2010
11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

At Heifer International's Celebration of Living Gifts, learn how sponsoring animals (a goat, a llama, and more) can provide food and income for hungry families. Take pictures with the animals and purchase gifts from around the world in our fair-trade Shop@Heifer. Enjoy hot cocoa and cider, make gingerbread animal cookies and warm yourself by a bonfire. Admission: Canned goods which will be donated to a local food bank.  Last year this event collected over 450 pounds of canned goods! www.heifer.org

 

Veterans Inc in Shrewsbury will be the recipient of the Marlborough Junior Woman's Club's fundraising efforts on Date Night (Nov 6th).

Veterans Inc is a nationally recognized clinical model for treating homelessness among veterans. Their programs include case management, help with housing, outreach (food bank, etc.), health and wellness, and employment and training services. To find out more, visit www.veteransinc.org.

For more information on MWJC's Date Night, to sponsor the event or donate, email linda@marlboroughjuniors.org.

Do you love to knit or would just love to learn? Join the Hopkinton Public Library's new knitting group to meet on one Thursday a month! All levels welcome!

The next meeting is Thursday Oct 28 at 7 PM. Please come to the back handicapped door since the Library is closed.

http://www.hopkintonlibrary.org/hopkinton/

Lend Me Your Brain - An informative seminar on ADHD

Wednesday, November 3, 2010, 1-5p.m.
UMass Medical School, 333 South St, Shrewsbury, Mass.

Disability Evaluation Services invites you to learn more about ADHD, how to manage living with this condition and the tools that are available. http://www.umassmed.edu/des/lend-me-your-brain/index.aspx

The Massachuestts Conference for Women on December 9 in Boston is an annual, one-day, non-profit, non-partisan event that provides connection, motivation, networking, inspiration and skill building for the women of the Commonwealth each year.  Use code MATSU2 when registering to get a special Supporting Organization discount. http://www.maconferenceforwomen.org/

AWARD-WINNING FILM, ‘Shooting Beauty’ BRINGS PHOTOGRAPHERS WITH DISABILITIES TO THE BIG SCREEN
The award winning documentary film, SHOOTING BEAUTY: everyone deserves a shot, already the winner of 8 film festival Audience Awards, tells the story of aspiring fashion photographer Courtney Bent, whose career takes a life-changing turn when she finds true beauty at a United Cerebral Palsy program in Watertown, MA.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010
4:30pm - 7:30pm
Popcorn and apple cider will be served!
The Q & A session with Courtney Bent and Tony Knight will be ASL interpreted. The film is Open Captioned and Audio Described.
The Community Room, 1st Floor
at The NonProfit Center
89 South Street, Boston, MA 02111

The photographers in SHOOTING BEAUTY have varying degrees of disabilities. Some are non-verbal and many are in wheelchairs. Some take pictures using only their tongue. But armed with their new cameras, these photographers begin to show their unique and often surprising perspective on the world around them. When the group sets their sights on creating a museum- worthy exhibit of their work, they must overcome a skeptical public, relationship issues, and even death in the effort to bring their unique perspective to light. As the photographers strive to break down the barriers that too often keep them separated from public view a story unfolds in SHOOTING BEAUTY that will make you rethink what it means to live with a disability. To learn more and to see the film trailer, please visit www.EveryoneDeservesaShot.com

 

Join the Marlborough Junior Woman's Club and The Insufficient Funds Band on Saturday, November 6th for a fun night of non-stop dancing to benefit homeless women veterans. There will be door prizes, raffles and give-a-ways. The cover charge is $5. Doors open at 8 pm at Speakers Night Club 19 Weed Street, Marlborough (behind City Hall). Bring non-perishable items for the food pantry to be entered in a Joy-Den Jewelers give-a-way!

 

If you are interested in sponsoring, donating to the event, or want more information, email linda@marlboroughjuniors.org. For more information on The Insufficient Funds Band and their music, visit www.insufficientfunds.org.

Join a costumed Park Interpreter for stories about Walden Pond State Reservation and its former inhabitants. Please meet at the Thoreau house replica. We will hike approximately 1 mile round trip. Visitors are encouraged to come in costume!

Where: Walden Pond State Reservation  Concord, MA - Thoreau House Replica

When: Sat, October 23, 2:30pm – 3:30pm

Guide Girls in Making Their Own Cosmetics

Girl Scouts in grades 6-8 are going to learn about the chemistry and science of
making their own cosmetics! They will be making hand lotion, lip gloss, and shampoo
and need volunteers to help them do it. A female engineer will speak about careers
in science, someone from Girl Scouts will present on "Cosmetic Chemistry", and volunteers
will assist with running one of the cosmetic activity stations, as well as help
to set-up and break-down the event. The activity and materials will be provided
and the volunteers will help to guide the girls at the station. Each station will
have about 20 girls. No prior experience in science needed, but enthusiasm and excitement
to work with girls required! This opportunity takes place on November 12 from 5:30-8:30
pm in Hopkinton. For more information, contact Jessie Wetzel at jwetzel@girlscoutseasternmass.org
[mailto:jwetzel@girlscoutseasternmass.org] or 781-373-4310.

Here is a smattering of projects we are currently working on:  collecting change for Heifer International, Girls' Night Out, blanket/linen drive for Furnishing Options, and Murder Mystery theater event... Join the fun! Find out more by emailing join@marlboroughjuniors.org

Hear firsthand from breast cancer survivors about their journeys, as well as from UMass physicians about the potential of the research under way and the exciting advances in care for those affected by breast cancer.

Date:        Thursday, October 21, 2010, 6 pm
Location:   Aaron Lazare Medical Research Building University of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester, MA
 Complimentary valet parking will be provided directly in front of the building.

Evening Program
6 pm Lighting of Candles

Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres provided by Struck Catering.

7 pm The Way to a Cure

Town meeting for breast cancer survivors and their doctors to discuss the latest advances in breast cancer research and care.

To register for Pink - Lighting the Way to a Cure, or purchase votives and/or pillars call 508-856-3665 or e-mail events@umassmed.edu.
http://www.umassmed.edu/development/pink2010.aspx

 

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. If you or someone you know needs help, please contact SafeLink at 1-877-785-2020. SafeLink is a 24-hour, free and multi-lingual hotline for programs in Massachusetts. An advocate can talk with you about your needs and help you identify appropriate resources for help.

The Marlborough Senior Center library is in need of a small bookcase. If you have one to donate, please call Susan Maki at 508.485.6492.

If you missed last night's seminar at the Assabet Valley Collaborative, fear not! You can get lots of information about children with special needs from the Massachusetts Advocates for Children website or helpline - 617-357-8431 extension 224. They have info for providers and parents. http://www.massadvocates.org/home

The Worcester Animal Rescue League (www.WARL.org) is planning a WALK - A - Thon and a Silent Auction in the spring...great networking--fun---project to volunteer with and help organize!! Would you like to meet new friends and help WARL by being on the Special Event Committee? Contact Matt LaBarre for details--mattlabarre@charter.net

The 7th Annual Cranberry Harvest Celebration, hosted by the A.D. Makepeace Company and Cape Cod Cranberry Association gets underway October 9 and 10, 2010 in Wareham, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. This fun family event features activities for children, animal shows, cooking demonstrations, food vendors, pony and wagon rides, and much more.

For more info: http://www.cranberryharvest.org/

I recently volunteered to help prep, serve, and clean up at Our Father's Table. OFT serves meals to the community of Marlboro three nights a week. It is done all through donations and volunteers from the surrounding communities. 19 churches rotate responsibility for buying, cooking, serving and cleaning up one meal on a rotating basis. OFT serves meals on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5 to 6 at the 1st Baptist Church in Marlborough (next to the library). On 9/28, there were probably 30 guests at the long tables enjoying salad, beverages, bread, baked beans, mashed potatoes, kielbasa, barbecued chicken and choice of two kinds of cake. OFT  serves over 11000 meals each year. Keep your eye on the blog and Facebook for up-coming volunteer opportunities.

As part of National Mental Health Awareness Week, October 7th is National Depression Screening Day. In a given year, depressive disorders affect approximately 18.8 million American adults or about 9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older. But because of stigma and other factors, fewer than half of those with depression actually seek treatment. The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health offers information and referral resources via the DMH Information and Referral Line, toll free at 1-800-221-0053.

You can take a confidential depression screening online and get more information about depression and treatment at http://www.mentalhealthscreening.org/

For a free in-person screening for depression:

Wednesday November 3, 2010
DMH Central-West Area
The Bridge of Central Mass
Worcester Public Library
3 Salem Square
Worcester, MA 01608
508-799-1655
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information contact Pam Hanam at 508-843-0094

 

From the Worcester Refugee Assistance Program - We are seeking volunteers to help sort though and categorize our storage/supply area for the Worcester Refugee Assistance Project (WRAP) Center at 44 Vernon St., Worcester on Sunday, Oct. 3 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., . If you can volunteer ANY amount of time, please contact Meredith.Walsh@umassmed.edu, or just swing by on Sunday! We have 195 boxes (all labeled) of clothing to sort through, to determine what refugees can use, and what we need to pass on to other agencies. We are NOT accepting any more donations until we have organized what we already have. If you need community service hours (teenagers and students) we can provide you with documentation of your time volunteered. Please bring friends to help you! Thanks for your continued support and efforts as we continue to help refugees from Burma adjust to life in the US.