Barry Friedman spoke about his work with the Gift of Life (GOLNE).


 

 
  • Barry is the former President of GOLNE and serves on the Board of Trustees, member of the Westwood Rotary Club
  • Wife Barbara is Treasurer of GOLNE
  • GOLNE has very close Rotary engagement: it was founded by Rotarians in District 7910 in 2000 by PDG Dick Manelis and Bob Cassidy.
  • Current President is Cheryl Rosen, Secretary is Glen Davis, and DG Doug Detweiler serves on the Board of Directors, among other Rotarians.
  • GOLNE is a 501(c)(3) Massachusetts Charitable Organization that works with Rotary International. Its goal is to help needy children around the world who require corrective heart procedures.
  • When Richard was in Santo Domingo last April, the Santo Domingo Rotary club was preparing to send a child to Boston for heart surgery through this program. Richard was instrumental in arranging for Barry to speak at our club meeting!
  • GOLNE is not about bringing kids to the US but also to provide services in country.
  • 1% of all children around the world are born with heart defects, and most can be corrected through surgery.
  • GOLNE’s goal is to conduct medical missions to train doctors in country.
  • Today, children are flown to a US hospital where GOL takes care of the cost of the “free care” (about $5000) and the logistics, such as flights, clothing, housing, and food.
  • GOLNE has served 104 kids since 2000 and saved their lives. GOLNE views these kids as a lifetime commitment.
  • They work with three Boston hospitals—Mass General, Children’s Hospital, and Tufts—as well as the Barbara Bush Children’s Center at Maine Medical Center. A big challenge is that local hospitals will only take a limited number of free cases.
  • The $5000 for free care is primarily addressed through matching gifts.
  • GOLNE learn about the children through local Rotary clubs and the Internet.
  • An advance team goes in country and screens potential participants and their families. The children must have dental clearance before they are eligible for surgery.
  • Local doctor training is now underway in three countries: Uganda, Jamaica, and El Salvador.
  • Rotary Clubs can get involved through matching grants. They are about to start a new grant and want to focus on the Caribbean and include translation services. They would like to raise $5000 for each child and also look for hosts. We can contact Cheryl Rosen for more information.
  • Barry will contact our club once the grant proposal has been approved. The club was very favorable in supporting the grant.

         

Next meeting on January 9 Nancy’s Airfield Café in Stow, 5:45 p.m., Anita Saville, Executive Director of Budget Buddies, will speak about how her organization improves the financial literacy of low-income women in the Greater Lowell area.

 

Guests:

  • Deb Kotlarz from Kotlarz & Associates, Keller-Williams: our first soon-to-be corporate member, along with 3 others on her team!
  • Barry and Barbara Friedman from Gift of Life New England

 

Rotary and Club Announcements: (Capitalized events earn points for our club!)

  • Local projects:

o    Raise the Roof has met its $10,000 goal!  We are part of a solution in providing a new, mold-free roof for an elderly family in Bolton.  We got a lovely thank you card! 

o    We got a nice letter from the NRHS Community Service club, thanking us for our support for Purple Pinkie Day and enclosing a check for $43.

o    Warm Hearts of Stow – Families in Stow can use our support with the approaching holiday season and colder months.  Laura distributed envelopes to contribute gift cards for basic necessities as well as family activities.  Donations are due by December 15.

o    Stop Hunger Now – On January 25 we will package food into 10,000 bags for Stop Hunger Now at the Nashoba Regional High School.  The Littleton club and Nashoba Regional High School’s Community Service Club will participate.  We will also invite the public to participate.

o    Angels for Amy – a planning meeting will take place in January.

  • RSVP to our holiday party: Thursday, December 19 at 6 p.m. at Nanci Bishop’s house at 353 Old Bay Road in Bolton.  You may bring a guest!  Email your RSVP to info@nashobarotary.org.
  • Sister Club: The Rotary Club of Aurangabad West (India) is interested in having our club be a sister club.  Natascha may be interested in serving as a liaison to this club.
  • H2 Club dues are due ($60) – you should have received an invoice.
  • Club dues increasing to $150/year to cover Rotary International and District dues starting July 1, 2014.
  • Please sign up to bring breakfast to a month of morning meetings.  Contact Laura for more information.
  • December 14 is the District’s NEW GENERATIONS MEETING from 9-4 p.m. at the Holiday Inn at Boxborough.
  • We are invited to Littleton Rotary Club’s holiday party that includes a Yankee Gift Swap on December 14 at 7 p.m. at Cheryl and Mark Cowley Hollinger’s house at 44 Tahattawan Road in Littleton.  Please bring a side dish to share and a wrapped gift to swap in the $20 range.  It can be naughty or nice!
  • Swing by Matt Tucker’s house on Richard Road in Hudson to check out his Christmas lights!
  • Laura has posted the Best Club award criteria and the updated 2013-2014 Calendar of Activities on our website www.nashobarotary.org.

 

Nonclub/public announcements:

  • December 14 there will be an emergency services appreciation day at Minute Man Air Field.  There will be cake and ice cream at around noon!
  • December 28 at 1 p.m. the India Society of Worcester is sponsoring a Celtics night at TD Garden.  The Celtics play the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Cost is $53 per person.  Go to http://iswonline.org/iswSite2/ to sign up.  A Worcester Rotarian will sing the national anthem!
  • February 1, from 9 – 1 p.m. is the next Bolton Repair Café in Davis Hall (hall attached to the First Parish of Bolton Church on Main Street, Bolton – next to the Houghton Building).  Contact ray.pfau@oracle.com if you want to help.

 

Birthdays:

  • December 1 – Dana Gray
  • December 24 – Mary Garcia
  • December 31 – Nanci Bishop

 

Happy/Sad Fines:

  • Ron: happy he got a new job and went to San Diego
  • Dan: happy he has had a good year so far
  • Chris: happy he was in San Diego and had a work party on the US Midway on Pearl Harbor Day
  • Jim: happy he got the dues invoices out and is starting to get checks
  • Cyndi: happy to be among the living and cancer free
  • Barry: happy to be here and representing the Gift of Life
  • Karin: happy for too many reasons to list – it’s been a great year
  • Mary: happy her students worked so hard today
  • Bob: happy he started his Christmas shopping
  • Dana: happy because he went to Disney World for Thanksgiving
  • Carol: sad her mother fell again but happy that she didn’t get hurt
  • Nanci: happy that Deb is here and Nanci is headed to Miami tomorrow for the NE Patriots game
  • Deb: happy she is a future member
  • Don: happy he had a wonderful Thanksgiving break, including family visits to Houston and Boulder and because the café no has a new door
  • Nancy: sad that she was trumped by Don about her new door and happy that the December issue of Sport Aviation had an article about her
  • Laura: sad that Richard is sick with pneumonia and happy that she finished her holiday baking (20 kinds of cookies!) and is just about done with holiday shopping