Zenaide Swenson, Director of Andrew’s Helpful Hands, spoke about helping families with children going through bone marrow transplants. www.AndrewsHelpfulHands.org


 

Zenaide’s son, Andrew, was diagnosed with leukemia at age 2.  He received chemotherapy and radiation treatments and went into remission.  Unfortunately, the cancer came back.  Andrew went to Children’s Hospital for a bone marrow transplant.  A donor was found and he was able to live for an additional 11 months after the transplant.  During Andrew’s seven months of treatment at Children’s Hospital, Zenaide lived with him.  Her husband was hom taking care of their daughter.  Zenaide’s brother did a fundraiser in Hudson during this time and the money went to pay the mortgage on her house.

          While Andrew and Zenaide were at Children’s Hospital, they helped other child patients. Zenaide started Andrew’s Helpful Hands to continue raising money for kids needing bone marrow transplants.  She explained that 100% of the donations go to the families to help them pay their bills and mortgages.  This allows the families to focus on what is important, their children.  Zenaide told us that the survival rate for children receiving bone marrow transplants is improving but is only 35%.  She also advocates for people to become bone marrow donors.  The age range for being a bone marrow donor is 18 to 44.

 

Speaker on May 30 at the Houghton Building at 7:15 a.m.: Ralph Hammond will speak to us about our grant application for our We Are One mobile dental clinic project.

 

Guests: John Erb, Dan Hnatio, Fatima Serra, Zenaide Swenson (speaker), Chris Tchorznicki

 

Induction of New Member: Fatima Serra is our newest member.  Richard is her sponsor (and boyfriend).  She became interested in the We are One Project and decided to join our club.  Fatima was born in Brazil, has three daughters, and four grandchildren.  Welcome, Fatima!

 

Club Announcements: 

  • Club Awards at District 7910 Conference:  Karin handed out paper crowns to us while ChrisS played, “We are the Champions” by Queen.  Our club won 12 of the 15 awards at District 7910 Conference!

 

o    District Community Service Award (Richard Simon for We are One project)

o    Presidential Citation Award

o    District Membership Growth Award

o    District International Service Award

o    District Youth Service Award

o    District Peace Award

o    Zone Peace Through Service Award

o    Zone New Generations Award

o    Zone 2013 Community Service Award

o    Zone 2013 Public Image Award

o    Unsung Hero Award (Dana Gray)

o    BEST CLUB AWARD


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  • RichardS told us that he received a donation of dental products, like toothpaste, and will send it to our partner club in the Dominican Republic.
  • Karin announced that the Rotary Club of Watertown is selling “Rotary Strong” t-shirts.  All proceeds will benefit the One Fund for victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.  Karin will email us the link for us to purchase these shirts on the Internet.
  • Nanci offered to help us ask new people to join our club.  If you know of somebody who might want to join our club, contact Nanci!
  • Nanci is working on a fundraising event with the Rotary Club of Hudson called, “Hudson Block Party and Brew Fest.”  The event will take place on August 17 from 3 to 7PM.  Retail stores will be open and food and beer will be sold by local restaurants.  Volunteers on the day of the event are needed.  Contact Nanci to sign up!Women in Rotary event – 2014 marks the 25th year that women have been eligible to join Rotary Clubs.  Karin is a member of the District 7910 committee working on this event.  Contact Karin for more information.

Foundation Minute: Carol encouraged us to donate to The Rotary Foundation now so there will be money three years from now for future Rotary projects.  She also explained that clubs that donate on average $100 per member, go to the head of the queue for Rotary grants.

Happy/Sad Fines: 

Happy Fines

  • Laura was happy that her daughter, Ally, graduated from Bryn Mawr last weekend.  Her son is also home for a visit.  She was also happy that her sister graduated two weeks earlier from an Executive MBA program.  Plus, she was happy that her brother is being promoted to Lieutenant in the Warren, OH police force.  She also told us that she is proud of our club.
  • ChrisS said that he was proud to be part of the club.
  • Nanci told us she was so excited to be part of this club.
  • Dana was glad that his kayaking trip was postponed one week due to rain.
  • RichardS was happy about all the awards our club won.  He was also happy that Fatima joined our club.  He also reported that his granddaughter is cute.
  • Don was happy that the club won so many awards.
  • Cyndi told us that her daughter, Danielle, is graduating two years early from college.  She also told us that she was happy to be alive.
  • Fatima said she was happy to be part of the club.  She was also happy that her daughter is a realtor.  She is also proud of her new office in Everett and the awards the club won at District Conference.
  • Barbara said she was happy about Karin’s leadership as club President.
  • Bob was happy about the awards.
  • Carol said that she was happy that Ron thought of starting a Rotary club in this area.
  • Don was happy to be at the meeting and for being our bartender.
  • Ron was happy that Marlborough won the District award for best hospitality suite.
  • Nancy announced that next week she will get the new pizza oven working for the Wings & Wheels meeting, which is Thursday, May 30 at 6 p.m.  Free pizza!

Sad Fines

  • None!

 Non Club Announcements:

  • Bob said that the Nashaway Philharmonic will give a concert on Saturday, June 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the First Parish, 673 Main Street, Bolton.
  • A jazz concert to benefit UBECI (United to Benefit Ecuadorian Children International) will be held on Saturday, June 15 at the South Acton Congregational Church.  Buy tickets online or call (978) 897-2518.

Future Meetings

First, third, and fifth Thursdays:

7:15 AM to 8:30 AM

Houghton Building (across from the school)

697 Main Street, Bolton, MA 01740

(Route 117 West from I495, Exit 27)

 

Second and fourth Thursdays:

5:45 PM to 7:00 PM

Nancy’s Airfield Café

302 Boxboro Road

Stow, MA 01775

 

About Rotary:

The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley serves the communities of Bolton, Lancaster, and Stow, Massachusetts. Our members are business, community, and professional leaders who meet weekly to plan local and international service projects; host interesting speakers on local, national, and international issues; and enjoy fellowship. The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley was chartered by Rotary International on February 24, 2012, the first new Rotary club chartered in District 7910 in over a decade!

For more club information, go to www.nashobarotary.org or contact Club President, Karin Gaffney, at 978-387-5369 or karin.m.gaffney@rbscitizens.com.