Speaker 1: It's Nightside with Dan Ray. I'm telling you easy. Boston
Speaker 1: News Radio.
Speaker 2: Welcome back everyone. We are about to begin the twelfth
Speaker 2: annual Knightside Charity Combine. We've done it now for this
Speaker 2: is our twelfth year, and we start off as always,
Speaker 2: We're going to talk about representatives of about twenty great charities.
Speaker 2: Sit back, relax, no phone calls, But as we have
Speaker 2: for many, many years, going to start off with the
Speaker 2: official charity of Nightside, and that is the Shadow Fund.
Speaker 2: With us is the assistant dean at the Massachusetts School
Speaker 2: of Lord, Diane Sullivan, who founded the Shadow Fund. Diane,
Speaker 2: it's going to be getting close to twenty years that
Speaker 2: you've been doing this.
Speaker 3: It is, Yes, it's a good solid eighteen years.
Speaker 1: Dan.
Speaker 2: Wow. How many people has the Shadow Fund helped during
Speaker 2: that period of time?
Speaker 3: And I wish I could give you a number. I cannot.
Speaker 3: We have helped thousands, I would say at this point,
Speaker 3: until we get several calls a day and we're you know,
Speaker 3: we're inundated with requests. There used to be a few
Speaker 3: other charities besides us that help the animals, but were
Speaker 3: the sole standing charity at this point, so we're pretty busy.
Speaker 2: So you help people who need you just don't do
Speaker 2: veterinary care for people, but if somebody really qualifies and
Speaker 2: it needs to help financially people who do not have
Speaker 2: enough money to help take care of their pets or
Speaker 2: get them to a vet. It's you know, I've told
Speaker 2: you before that there are people who are successful, you know,
Speaker 2: people who will call and inquire, inquire of me and saying, oh,
Speaker 2: I understand you guys. Support a charity called the Shuttle
Speaker 2: Funded gets free veterinary care for people. I said, where
Speaker 2: do you live Weston and what he won? A lawyer
Speaker 2: in Boston like you, Oh, really, Oh it's great, it's great. No, no, no, no,
Speaker 2: this is people who need the help. You have a
Speaker 2: coterie of veterinarians who do a lot of this work
Speaker 2: for you at in some cases the cost that they need.
Speaker 2: You do everything from literally helping someone get a critical
Speaker 2: shot for an animal that they might not be able
Speaker 2: to afford, to actually sometimes surgery. There's a lot of factors.
Speaker 2: How can people get in touch with you directly if
Speaker 2: they really truly do need help? And please, folks, if you,
Speaker 2: if you're comfortable, make a contribution to the Shadow find Okay,
Speaker 2: how can they get in touch with you.
Speaker 3: Simply either call me or email me. Diane Sullivan the
Speaker 3: Math School of Lawn eight dixtate one zero eight hundred.
Speaker 3: I'll repeat that nine seven eight dixtate one zero eight hundred,
Speaker 3: or you can email me. You can go to the
Speaker 3: Math School of Law's website and I'm listed there, or
Speaker 3: you can simply email me at Diane da n E. F.
Speaker 3: Sullivan at mslaw dot edu.
Speaker 2: And of course people also can go to the website
Speaker 2: which is Shadow fundne dot org. N E stands for
Speaker 2: New England. There is a shadow fund in California which
Speaker 2: is unrelated. This one is named after the first dog
Speaker 2: that you were able to help many many years ago.
Speaker 3: Uh yeah, that's right, Ida.
Speaker 2: Wonderful cause, a wonderful organization. I just again thank you
Speaker 2: for the I call you saint Diane.
Speaker 3: Okay, oh well that's not true.
Speaker 2: Let me tell you if you're not a saint, no
Speaker 2: one is. In terms of the I'm serious Shadow Fund
Speaker 2: inne dot org. I encourage everyone jot it down. A
Speaker 2: five dollar contribution to a five thousand dollar contribution, whatever
Speaker 2: you could afford. It's helping some person who needs to
Speaker 2: get veterinary care for their pet. Diane, thank you for
Speaker 2: what you do. Please say had to all our friends
Speaker 2: at the Massachusetts School of Law and we'll talk sooner.
Speaker 3: Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you, Dan, and thanks
Speaker 3: for everything you do to support the Shadow Fund and
Speaker 3: your listeners the same. Thank some of them. Ganet Forms
Speaker 3: being one who have been long term supporters.
Speaker 4: I thank you.
Speaker 2: She's an unbelievable human being as well. She's a saint
Speaker 2: as well. Thanks, Diane, appreciate it.
Speaker 5: Okay, Danny Holiday, Merry Christmas.
Speaker 2: All right, We're going to take our next charity is
Speaker 2: one that's also very close to my heart, and that
Speaker 2: is the Mark Fidrick Foundation. Everybody I think who's a
Speaker 2: sports fan remembers Mark Fidrich, the picture for the Tigers,
Speaker 2: who actually in nineteen seventy six was the talk of
Speaker 2: the baseball world. Local guy here from central Massachusetts died
Speaker 2: very young in an accident, but his wife Anne is
Speaker 2: with us and he has carried on his cause the
Speaker 2: Mark Findrich Fidrick Foundation and Fidricks tell us what the
Speaker 2: Mark Fidrich Foundation continues to do for young people related
Speaker 2: to sports.
Speaker 4: So we provide grants to a number of programs that
Speaker 4: provide sports related activities for individuals with special needs. And
Speaker 4: it could be a child or an adult. It could
Speaker 4: be a physical disability or intellectual disability. We take all
Speaker 4: comers and some of the programs that we support our
Speaker 4: unified sports which go on at middle schools, high schools,
Speaker 4: and now even in the elementary grades. That's under the
Speaker 4: umbrella of Special Olympics. We also support Special Olympics, do
Speaker 4: some water ski collectives in Webster that does a great
Speaker 4: programming with some disabled children. It's just amazing to see
Speaker 4: the smiles and for these individuals to have the opportunity
Speaker 4: to participate in sports where they may not have had
Speaker 4: that opportunity.
Speaker 2: Well, you know me, and I'm sure that Mark is
Speaker 2: looking down at us and so appreciates the work that
Speaker 2: you've done in his memory. How many years have you
Speaker 2: been providing help to so many of these organizations that
Speaker 2: either reach out to you or you've reached out to.
Speaker 4: So it's thirteen years that we've been, you know, raising
Speaker 4: funds and then distributing funds annually to a variety of
Speaker 4: organizations that as I mentioned, So, yeah, it's been. And
Speaker 4: my daughter is really the brainchild behind all of this.
Speaker 4: She says mommy. We get to keep things going that
Speaker 4: Daddy used to do. So yeah, we get ourselves together
Speaker 4: and we're doing it well.
Speaker 2: We all loved his spirit, and his spirit lives today
Speaker 2: through the through the Mark Fiedrich Foundation, and through your
Speaker 2: efforts and the efforts of your family. How can some
Speaker 2: of my baseball fans maybe make a contribution to help
Speaker 2: you help other people? What's what's the website?
Speaker 4: So Mark Fiedridgefoundation dot com gives a donate tab on
Speaker 4: that page. You could go through PayPal or you if
Speaker 4: you prefer to write a check. The address is also
Speaker 4: listed there.
Speaker 2: And Fidridge, which is not an easy name to spell,
Speaker 2: is f I d y r h am I.
Speaker 4: Correct, Uh, we mix up on the vowel, so f
Speaker 4: I d yep r y h r y ch Okay.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you very much for that. But I think
Speaker 2: any baseball fan can look up Mark Fiedrich uh and
Speaker 2: the impact that he had on on Major League baseball
Speaker 2: as a as a young guy from central Massachusetts, and
Speaker 2: he continues to have an impact of positive impact. And
Speaker 2: thank you so much for what you do, and thank
Speaker 2: you for participating in with us this year of the
Speaker 2: Nightside Charity combine.
Speaker 4: Dan, I can't thank you enough for your help and
Speaker 4: I wish you all the best.
Speaker 6: Merry Christmas.
Speaker 2: Merry Christmas to you as well. Thanks so much. All Right,
Speaker 2: we are going to take a very quick break here,
Speaker 2: and when we get back, we're going to be talking
Speaker 2: about helping men and women in uniform adopt a platoon's
Speaker 2: southea style. We're coming right back on Nightside.
Speaker 1: Now, back to Dan ray Line from the Window World
Speaker 1: Nightside Studios on w b Z the news Radio.
Speaker 2: Next up, Kelly coin Conroy. I met Kelly coin Conroy
Speaker 2: on several occasions and she is the proud mom of
Speaker 2: a West Point graduate who soon be a captain in
Speaker 2: the US Army. He has been deployed and was when
Speaker 2: his unit was deployed. Kelly coin Conroy come up with
Speaker 2: the idea of adopted platoon selfie style. Kelly coin you
Speaker 2: got to explain that one to people who might not
Speaker 2: be familiar with adoptor plun platoon sealthie style. Welcome.
Speaker 7: Thank you, Dan for giving me this platform to talk
Speaker 7: about something that I feel passionate about. In about twenty
Speaker 7: twenty one, I hooked up with a group from Fort Drum,
Speaker 7: New York, and got a list of some soldiers that
Speaker 7: needed packages. And then once they gave me the list,
Speaker 7: I realized it was kind of a daunting task because
Speaker 7: they had so many names and that was only one person.
Speaker 7: So I just reached out to my community and everybody
Speaker 7: just came together and started to send me money, send
Speaker 7: me different things to go inside the boxes and grind
Speaker 7: all the bars and snacks and different items for them,
Speaker 7: cards and letters, and it's just grown and grown. And
Speaker 7: I'm lucky enough to say that in these few years,
Speaker 7: we've sent over a thousand packages to deployed soldiers to
Speaker 7: ten different countries. We've had several different platoons, and we've
Speaker 7: been lucky enough to be able to follow them from
Speaker 7: the beginning of their deployment until they return home.
Speaker 2: But the thing that's interesting is that you continue this
Speaker 2: beyond your son. At that time, he was a lieutenant
Speaker 2: soon to be a captain, a lieutenant Conroy's deployment. So
Speaker 2: what kept you doing this even after your son came
Speaker 2: back home?
Speaker 7: Just so rewarding.
Speaker 3: You know, every once in a while, we'll hear from
Speaker 3: different members of the platoon. They'll send us a note
Speaker 3: or thank you, they'll send us some cards. There are
Speaker 3: some of those there, I call them kids. Them A
Speaker 3: lot of them are just like eighteen to twenty one
Speaker 3: years old.
Speaker 7: They don't have a whole lot of people in their lives.
Speaker 7: They can sometimes come from, you know, tough situations. So
Speaker 7: they get a box from me in a note or
Speaker 7: a pod or a birthday card, and it just lifts
Speaker 7: their spirits. And we just want to make everybody, you know,
Speaker 7: feel a little better, you know, boost them around. We
Speaker 7: all go back to the statistics of twenty two a day,
Speaker 7: and you just hope that maybe as they realize that
Speaker 7: there's somebody out there that cares and that's thinking about them,
Speaker 7: it will help them get through the days they missed,
Speaker 7: the times they missed from their families, the holidays they
Speaker 7: give up a lot.
Speaker 2: And the reference to twenty two a day. As you
Speaker 2: and I both know the number of suicides that occur
Speaker 2: for veterans in this country every day twenty to a day,
Speaker 2: which is that's too much. So how can folks I
Speaker 2: join your cause and help out in many forms and fashions.
Speaker 2: What's the website?
Speaker 7: The website is adoptor Platoon.
Speaker 3: Sealthistyle dot com and on there is pretty much everything
Speaker 3: we do.
Speaker 2: And you also have a great website. By the way,
Speaker 2: everybody should visit the website just to see the amount
Speaker 2: of activity. It's adopt a Platoon, Selthistyle dot com, Kelly Coincnray.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you're a gift to this nation. Your son
Speaker 2: is a gift to the nation as well, but you
Speaker 2: are very much a gift to the nation. Thank you
Speaker 2: for what you do and thanks for joining us tonight.
Speaker 7: As always, thank you so much.
Speaker 4: I appreciate this opportunity.
Speaker 2: You bet you we'll talk so Merry Christmas. We are
Speaker 2: now going to talk with Jennifer de Luca, who's with
Speaker 2: the group that maybe you're aware of called the Fisher
Speaker 2: House Boston. There are fisher Houses across the country, but
Speaker 2: this is fish the Fisher House Boston. Jennifer, welcome tonight's side.
Speaker 2: How are you.
Speaker 8: I'm very good, Dan, thank you so much for letting
Speaker 8: me come on and talk about Fisher House Boston.
Speaker 2: I'm sure a lot of people have some idea about
Speaker 2: Fisher House, but let's nail it down exactly. What is
Speaker 2: Fisher House, how long has it been around and what
Speaker 2: do you try to accomplish.
Speaker 8: So Fisher House Boston is unique to most other Fisher Houses,
Speaker 8: other Fisher Houses on VA properties and take care of
Speaker 8: veterans there and how to the families. We recognized a
Speaker 8: gap in care ten years ago for military families that
Speaker 8: needed specialized treatment at our world renown Boston medical centers.
Speaker 8: So we started the Fisher House Boston serving all of
Speaker 8: our world renown Boston hospitals by providing lodging for military
Speaker 8: families that need to come to Boston from all fifty
Speaker 8: states to receive treatment from Children's Hospital Dana Farber, Mass
Speaker 8: General Brigman Women's all of them, and it's free of charge,
Speaker 8: because we believe they've already paid the price when they
Speaker 8: raised their hands and said they'd served this country.
Speaker 2: How many families do you accommodate in some form of
Speaker 2: fashion every year?
Speaker 5: Oh?
Speaker 6: Boy, so I'll tell you.
Speaker 8: As of November one this year, we've provided sixty two
Speaker 8: hundred nights of lodging to over eleven hundred families, saving
Speaker 8: them two point five million dollars. And in the ten
Speaker 8: years since starting the program, we've provided twenty six thousand
Speaker 8: nights of lodging to over four thousand families, saving them
Speaker 8: nine point five million.
Speaker 2: Unbelievable unbelievable, Jennifer, how can people? Do you need volunteers?
Speaker 2: Do you need financial support? What? What do you are
Speaker 2: you in most need of?
Speaker 8: We need financial support. We run solely on donations. We
Speaker 8: receive no government funding or state funding. It is truly
Speaker 8: our communities. And you know, Dan, I say all the time,
Speaker 8: the best healthcare in the world means nothing if you
Speaker 8: can't access it. So we provide that access with the
Speaker 8: help of people like your listeners. So I would ask
Speaker 8: everyone to visit Fisherhouse Boston dot org and Fisher is
Speaker 8: spelled Fisher House, Boston dot org. And again all the
Speaker 8: information is there.
Speaker 2: Oh that's perfect, Jennifer, A great explanation. Thanks for breaking
Speaker 2: it down for us, a very impressive set of statistics.
Speaker 2: And hopefully some folks might take the opportunity in the
Speaker 2: next few days to visit your website and maybe help
Speaker 2: out a little bit, because it is a great cause
Speaker 2: that you folks have espoused for so many years, and
Speaker 2: I thank you so much on behalf of all the
Speaker 2: veterans in their families that you've helped for all that
Speaker 2: you've done for them, and hopefully my my audience, well,
Speaker 2: maybe write a few checks in your direction. Thank you
Speaker 2: so much. Merry Christmas.
Speaker 8: Okay, thanks Jam, thank you, same to you. Thank you,
Speaker 8: You're very welcome.
Speaker 2: We've got to break here. Goodbye, goodbye, Jennifer. We'll talk again.
Speaker 2: We come back on a talk about Handy Capable Fitness,
Speaker 2: feeling fit. I have a very interesting guest. We'll also
Speaker 2: talk to. Well, we have another an hour and a
Speaker 2: half of great charities to talk to. We've started off strong,
Speaker 2: we'll continue. We'll be back right after the news break
Speaker 2: at the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1: It's night Side with Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2: Back on Nightside, our twelfth annual Nightside charity Combine, and
Speaker 2: we're delighted to welcome back James Norris. He's the founder
Speaker 2: and president of the Handy Capable Fitness Incorporated. It's a
Speaker 2: five all one C three organization headquartered in Malden, Massachusetts. James,
Speaker 2: welcome back to Nightside.
Speaker 5: How are you, hey, Dan, Thank you so much for me.
Speaker 5: I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2: So tell us briefly what your organization does. And then
Speaker 2: one of the things that you've done is you have
Speaker 2: written three books for children to help them better understand
Speaker 2: other children who might have a physical impediment and show
Speaker 2: that really people can accomplish a great deal whatever some
Speaker 2: of those physical impediments might suggest.
Speaker 5: Otherwise, that's correct. So Handicapable Finish started to kind of
Speaker 5: out on my own Finnish journey, and what I wanted
Speaker 5: people to realize is that despite having a disability, could
Speaker 5: live a fin active lifestyle. And how we choose to
Speaker 5: do that, or how we help people do that is
Speaker 5: providing them grants for things that is finness, crimen, gym
Speaker 5: memberships or anything that's going to help them live that
Speaker 5: active lifestyle. So we work with anybody from veterans to
Speaker 5: children to anybody in between.
Speaker 2: And the individuals that you help. Is there an age bracket?
Speaker 2: I know you have a great focus on young children,
Speaker 2: on children that.
Speaker 5: There is there is children, but we help anybody. I mean,
Speaker 5: we've helped get veterans wheelchairs all the way in Kansas,
Speaker 5: to teenagers you know that wanted to skateboard wheelchair so
Speaker 5: that they could go skateboarding with their friends. We've done
Speaker 5: everything in between. So really, if you want to get up,
Speaker 5: get active, we want to help bridge the gafts to
Speaker 5: make that happen.
Speaker 2: And you have written three books. Tell us about the
Speaker 2: three books that are available. People at your website not
Speaker 2: only can contribute, but they also can buy the books.
Speaker 2: Tell us about the three books, that's correct.
Speaker 5: So so the series is called Flow four Kids sl
Speaker 5: O and Number four Kids dot com. And what it
Speaker 5: is is it just snapshots in my life growing up
Speaker 5: with a disability and just showing the kids that yes,
Speaker 5: there's things that make us different, but those things are
Speaker 5: actually our superpowers and that with hard work and determination,
Speaker 5: we can accomplish anything that we set our minds to.
Speaker 2: So there are actually four books you've written. I miss
Speaker 2: mis wrote it, miss said it. It's four. It's four
Speaker 2: books you've written in this series Feeling Accepted Coast to
Speaker 2: Coast yep.
Speaker 5: So there's there's dreams that are been published. I'm working
Speaker 5: on the fourth one.
Speaker 2: As all right, all right, so give us the website
Speaker 2: how people can get in touch, either to contribute and
Speaker 2: support or perhaps purchase books.
Speaker 5: Okay perfect through its handy ahn d I Capable v
Speaker 5: A P A B O E Fitness dot com.
Speaker 2: Handy Capable Fitness dot com. Perfect thank you for what
Speaker 2: you do. I know that you have dealt with a
Speaker 2: disability that occurred when you were quite young, but you
Speaker 2: have overcome so much, and you're an inspiration to me
Speaker 2: and to everybody who knows you. Thanks James, I appreciate
Speaker 2: it and saying my good friend. Okay, thanks you. All
Speaker 2: right now we're gonna take you up above the Clouds.
Speaker 2: And the organization is called Above the Clouds and with
Speaker 2: us is Greg Bonnie Giorno. How have I done with
Speaker 2: that pronunciation? Greg? Not bad?
Speaker 5: You did?
Speaker 3: Okay?
Speaker 7: Right now?
Speaker 9: Not back? Compared to a lot of.
Speaker 2: People, all right, tell us about Above the Clouds sounds
Speaker 2: to me like a great program. You get some young
Speaker 2: people up above the clouds.
Speaker 9: That's right. Well, first, thanks for having having me on
Speaker 9: the show tonight, along with all the other great organizations
Speaker 9: that you're promoting here. But Above the Clouds were based
Speaker 9: nonprofit to five o' one c three based out of
Speaker 9: norwayd Airport and started about twelve years ago husband and
Speaker 9: wife team Gary and Martha Oberstein, and they saw a
Speaker 9: connection of utilizing the utilizing general aviation world, which is
Speaker 9: a general aviation basically individuals that have their own aircraft,
Speaker 9: and utilizing those as tools to help bring joy and
Speaker 9: hope through the wonder of flight, if you will, to
Speaker 9: children and teens who have serious illness or disabilities and
Speaker 9: or underserved facing other adversity in their life. And so
Speaker 9: it gives these kids an experience that they may not
Speaker 9: have had access to otherwise, and that's bringing them to
Speaker 9: the airport, teaming them up with one of our volunteer
Speaker 9: pilots that has their own aircraft, and we kind of
Speaker 9: give them an experience during the day where they come
Speaker 9: meet the pilot. We have volunteers on the ground and
Speaker 9: they help facilitate anything that we might need during the
Speaker 9: During the day, they do a walk around of the
Speaker 9: aircraft and they they'll actually go for a flight and
Speaker 9: they'll they have options to explore different areas. Sometimes we'll
Speaker 9: fly in towards Boston and fly around the city. Other
Speaker 9: times we'll fly down towards Jilatt Stadium and do a
Speaker 9: circle around the stadium, or out towards Kate Crod kpe
Speaker 9: Crod Bay, or if if they live in the area,
Speaker 9: they can go for a flight in the area. And
Speaker 9: so it's a really special exciting treat for these kids
Speaker 9: to go for a flight. We call them dream flyers
Speaker 9: and uh and there and there, and pilots love to
Speaker 9: share the excitement and enjoy a flight. So it's a
Speaker 9: real great combination for these pilots that have aircraft to
Speaker 9: give back to the community using you know, they're very
Speaker 9: generous with their time in their aircraft and it's it's
Speaker 9: all donated to the organization. And so that's one of
Speaker 9: the events we have called Dream Flight Days, Dream Flyer Days,
Speaker 9: and then we also do Aviation Discovery Days and that
Speaker 9: entails the kids, usually groups of kids. We have about
Speaker 9: twenty different partner organizations throughout Boston that feed us kids
Speaker 9: and we'll do events that Logo Airport get behind the
Speaker 9: scenes and check out the aviation industry. We've tapped into
Speaker 9: Cape Cod Community College down in Plymouth Airport. They have
Speaker 9: an aircraft technician program and so they'll go down there
Speaker 9: and it's a beautiful high tech facility at Plymouth Airport
Speaker 9: and we'll do about a two to three hour event
Speaker 9: down there and they'll get to explore all different aspects
Speaker 9: of aviation.
Speaker 2: It sounds greg like a great program. I assume you
Speaker 2: could still use some more volunteer pilots who might want
Speaker 2: to take some kids up on flights. How can folks
Speaker 2: get in touch with you either to take advantage of
Speaker 2: the great service that you offer maybe contribute some financial
Speaker 2: support or maybe even volunteer as a pilot. What's the
Speaker 2: best website?
Speaker 9: Yeah, so I'll go to Above the Clouds kids dot org.
Speaker 9: Above the Clouds we have the kids in the end
Speaker 9: there Above the cloudskids dot org. And our website has
Speaker 9: all the information as far as who we are, what
Speaker 9: we do, and if you like to volunteer as a pilot,
Speaker 9: you can sign up there. If you like to volunteer
Speaker 9: as someone on the ground, we always need flight coordinators
Speaker 9: and joy makers we call them. If you'd like to donate,
Speaker 9: you can. There's a link on there as well to
Speaker 9: help donate. And so we just hired a new executive director,
Speaker 9: Ray Santos, and so he's he's taken us to new levels.
Speaker 9: And so we're getting ourselves organized again for twenty twenty
Speaker 9: five and looking forward to a great season of flying kids.
Speaker 9: We're pushing all about almost a thousand kids we've flown
Speaker 9: over the last ten years.
Speaker 2: Well, Greg, thanks for what you do and thanks for
Speaker 2: listening to Nightside and joining us this year, and we'll
Speaker 2: keep in contact this time goes on, but again a
Speaker 2: great program. Greg Bungeiono Bongono.
Speaker 9: I believe thanks Dan, thank you having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Greg. Okay, thanks so much. All right, now
Speaker 2: we're going to take you back to the ground and
Speaker 2: we're going to talk about Minis with a Mission. Joining
Speaker 2: us is Laurie Low Lurie, Welcome to Nightside.
Speaker 3: How are you, hi, Dan doing fantastic? How are you doing?
Speaker 6: Thank you so much for very well.
Speaker 2: Tell us tell us what what is Minis with the
Speaker 2: Mission all about?
Speaker 5: Sure?
Speaker 3: Yeah. Mini of the Mission is an all volunteer nonprofit.
Speaker 3: We partner with local outreach programs and charities as well
Speaker 3: as communities to provide opportunities for all people to receive
Speaker 3: the healing and joyful benefits of connecting with our rescued
Speaker 3: miniature horses and donkeys.
Speaker 2: Mint horses and donkeys.
Speaker 5: Wow.
Speaker 2: And is there a geographic area that you serve or
Speaker 2: do you or how far does your does your mission extend?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: So we are have our miniature horses and donkeys in
Speaker 3: the Ipswich and Newberry area, So we do a lot
Speaker 3: of our outreach with the north Shore communities. However, we
Speaker 3: do know as far as to the Boston Schools, which
Speaker 3: is a really exciting an impactful program because a lot
Speaker 3: of the Buston school children have never seen a miniature
Speaker 3: horse or a donkey, so those are a lot of
Speaker 3: fun to do those.
Speaker 2: And what type of facilities do you, uh, do you
Speaker 2: bring your your minige minis too? I assume a variety
Speaker 2: of facilities we do, and we really.
Speaker 3: Say, honestly, any place where there's a need of joy
Speaker 3: and healing and and that is often anywhere in the
Speaker 3: world that we live in today. But we have a
Speaker 3: very great partnership with Veterans Home Base. We also work
Speaker 3: with Care Dimensions, so their programs such as their hospice
Speaker 3: care and Camp stepping Stone. We also have worked with
Speaker 3: the Denvers Recovery Center and the Recovery High School, many
Speaker 3: councils on agings in our local communities as well as
Speaker 3: Northeast ARC and some of the school programs and I'd
Speaker 3: already mentioned like the Boston City school programs.
Speaker 2: So I assume that if folks want to avail themsel else,
Speaker 2: they could contact you. If other folks want to help
Speaker 2: and contribute, because obviously it costs some money to run
Speaker 2: a great program like this, how can people get in
Speaker 2: contact with you to either to help you or to
Speaker 2: participate in the program. What's what's the website?
Speaker 3: Thank you? The website is Minis with a Mission, and
Speaker 3: there are several ways to support us. As you had mentioned,
Speaker 3: Generous donations do help us care for the rescued courses
Speaker 3: and donkeys, as well as administrative cost of the nonprofit.
Speaker 3: We love our volunteers who work passionately and tirelessly. We
Speaker 3: are an all volunteer organization. We have volunteers of many
Speaker 3: ages and different interest levels, and we find a way
Speaker 3: to make them feel welcome. And we would love to
Speaker 3: hear from you.
Speaker 2: So I assume it's Minis with a Mission? Is it
Speaker 2: dot coma dot org, dot org, dot org? Okay, Minis
Speaker 2: with a Mission all one word dot org glory. Thank
Speaker 2: you very much. Thank you for what you do. I
Speaker 2: know you bring a lot of joy to a lot
Speaker 2: of people of all ages. Have a great Christmas and
Speaker 2: holiday season. Okay, thank you, Laurie Ll good bye. We'll
Speaker 2: take a break, coming back for two more. We'll wrap
Speaker 2: the hour and then we will have another full hour
Speaker 2: of ten more great charities here on our twelfth annual
Speaker 2: Nightside Charity Combine. Coming back on Nightside right after this
Speaker 2: short break.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray Live from the Window World
Speaker 1: Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: Just a very quick correction. The website minisw a mission.
Speaker 2: It's dot com dot org. It's Minis Withthemission dot com.
Speaker 2: Now I want to welcome Arthur Bembery. He's with a
Speaker 2: group called part Takers. Welcome Artha. Tell us about Partakers.
Speaker 2: You've been around now for well twenty five years, since
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety seven.
Speaker 10: Yes, Hi, good evening. Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker 10: I appreciate the opportunities. We have it around for just
Speaker 10: nineteen ninety seven. And we're an organized that offers educational
Speaker 10: opportunities and rentering opportunities for people that are incarcerated and
Speaker 10: for folks that have been impacted by incarceration post in
Speaker 10: consceleration when they get out. We work with aranging colleges
Speaker 10: in the area Tufts University, Emerson Vandeis, Boston College, and
Speaker 10: Boston University to provide these educational opportunities. We also have
Speaker 10: a rentering force of four hundred volunteers from the surrounding
Speaker 10: the Boston area and the communities that are matched with
Speaker 10: the students inside and outside when they segue back into
Speaker 10: the community. Our recentive is aranged is two percent compared
Speaker 10: with the national three year average of sixty three percent
Speaker 10: in the local average here in Massachusetts of thirty two percent.
Speaker 10: So we're very proud of the work that we do.
Speaker 10: Ninety percent of the folks in our reentry program go
Speaker 10: on to establish stable housing, eighty percent of them, if
Speaker 10: I have gone on to obtain employering upon now the
Speaker 10: release from prison.
Speaker 2: Those are amazing statistics, art that you should be really
Speaker 2: proud of those. How many folks have participated in this
Speaker 2: program over the near quarter of the century that you've
Speaker 2: been operational now, well, actually it's more than a quarter
Speaker 2: of a century now that I get my math right here,
Speaker 2: go right ahead.
Speaker 10: Dort reminders. During that time, we've had over four hundred
Speaker 10: preeple go through the program. Some do get out early
Speaker 10: before they graduate with a degree and they go on
Speaker 10: to erol in our re entry program and go on
Speaker 10: to find other forms of employer and others go on
Speaker 10: to continue your education through to the various colleges that
Speaker 10: they've been connected with. So it's been a raging journey
Speaker 10: and it's great to have this type of support from
Speaker 10: the universities because that was not always the case on
Speaker 10: the conservative side. Keeping somebody in prison can range from
Speaker 10: a to one hundred and fifty thousand dollar fore and Massachusetts.
Speaker 10: So our work that we do, I'm establishing a pathway
Speaker 10: for folks to stay out at FRIS and it's definitely
Speaker 10: better than us sending those resources on that.
Speaker 2: Okay, so you've made a very strong case. How can
Speaker 2: my listeners help you out? Give us the website and
Speaker 2: what do you need volunteers? Do you need support? What's
Speaker 2: the website?
Speaker 10: First of all, takers dot org, ww dot parth, takers
Speaker 10: dot org.
Speaker 2: And part Takers is p A R T A k
Speaker 2: E r s like partaking.
Speaker 10: Exactly Partakers dot org. And our need is obviously donations
Speaker 10: are always welcome, but what we really need is for
Speaker 10: folks to get involved, for folks to become mentors. To
Speaker 10: go on the website, click on it see how to
Speaker 10: become involved at the organization because we encourage people to
Speaker 10: join us in being agentsy change and changing the narrative
Speaker 10: surrounding people that have been infected by a conceleration.
Speaker 6: It's a.
Speaker 2: All right, congratulate you, Congratulate you on what you do.
Speaker 2: Thanks for being in touch with Nightside and we wish
Speaker 2: you all the best in the in the in the
Speaker 2: years to come. For everybody who goes in and does
Speaker 2: their time, pays their price, they should be given an
Speaker 2: opportunity to get out and get themselves straight straight and
Speaker 2: straightened out and onto a very productive life. And you're
Speaker 2: doing that for a lot of people.
Speaker 10: Thanks Arthur, Yes, and thank you for the opportunity to
Speaker 10: just shitty. In fact, we make with your listeners.
Speaker 2: You're you're very welcome. All right, We're going to move
Speaker 2: and talk with Ellen van Erin. I hope I supper
Speaker 2: announced that name correctly. She runs a program called Companion Animals.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: It's basically services facilities down on Cape Cod visiting hospitals
Speaker 2: with companion animals. Ellen, how long has your group been around?
Speaker 11: Well, actually I don't run the programpty and I just
Speaker 11: want to I don't want to take credit.
Speaker 2: For that week, Kay, Sure, no problem.
Speaker 1: So how long?
Speaker 11: But the group spit around since nineteen eighty six. It
Speaker 11: basically started because there was a woman who was in
Speaker 11: a rehabit She had a dog at home that she missed,
Speaker 11: so a group of her friends got together and they
Speaker 11: started to go in and visit her in the hospital
Speaker 11: with their animals, and then from there the organization grew.
Speaker 11: We are approved by the American Kennel Club, so we
Speaker 11: are an approved training group and basically we have twofold
Speaker 11: We train owners and their dogs to become part of
Speaker 11: a therapy team and join our organization. And then from
Speaker 11: there we go and we visit various facilities on the Cape.
Speaker 11: We go into Belmouth Hospital, a Cape Cod Hospital, Spaldi Rehab.
Speaker 11: We have also visit the various nursing homes that are
Speaker 11: available on the Cape and group homes and day programs
Speaker 11: for students with disabilities. We have a children's program where
Speaker 11: we go into elementary schools and we help students with
Speaker 11: the literacy programs. We make one time visits when requested
Speaker 11: to different libraries. We've participated in suicide prevention walks to
Speaker 11: provide to try to provide some emotional support to the participants.
Speaker 11: And basically what we really need is we're looking for
Speaker 11: more people to become involved and become a therapy team
Speaker 11: on the Cape with us and join us and have
Speaker 11: us come with us to our various facilities.
Speaker 2: Wed my next question, which was the help that you need.
Speaker 2: How can folks get in touch with you? You have
Speaker 2: a pretty impressive website, I believe Companionanimalprogram dot org is
Speaker 2: that the website.
Speaker 11: No, actually it's Companionanimalprogram dot com. And on that day
Speaker 11: on the website, people can find out the different places
Speaker 11: that we visit, can find out about our training program.
Speaker 11: We run a six week training program just teaching the
Speaker 11: handlers and the odds how to behave in a different facility.
Speaker 11: They go through devaluation. We provide mentoring for the teams
Speaker 11: to ensure that they're comfortable in the different facilities. And
Speaker 11: we are actually having an open house on Friday, January
Speaker 11: third at six point thirty at the Requoite Congregation Church.
Speaker 11: Anybody all of that.
Speaker 2: I hate to do this to you, Ellen, but I'm
Speaker 2: a little bit tight on time here. I just want
Speaker 2: to make sure people have that website. All this information
Speaker 2: is available at Companion Animal Program dot com. Com. Yep, perfect,
Speaker 2: Thanks Ellen, Thank you so much. I appreciate you so much.
Speaker 11: Dan, we really appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 2: Bybye, You're welcome. Now, I'd like to talk with a
Speaker 2: representative of the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress, Joshua Joshua Kamirov.
Speaker 2: Joshua tell us about the mass Down Syndrome Congress.
Speaker 6: Yeah, great, Thank you so much, Dan, I really appreciate
Speaker 6: the opportunity and just hearing all the incredible, uh, you
Speaker 6: know work that other charities are doing out there. So
Speaker 6: the m d s C has been around for forty
Speaker 6: years now, and you know, we really just started by
Speaker 6: parents who you know, had young children who with with
Speaker 6: Down syndrome and wanted to be able to you know,
Speaker 6: provide support for them in their schools. And we've just
Speaker 6: you know grown tremendously over the years and we have
Speaker 6: all sorts of programs and you know, big thing that
Speaker 6: that we really focus on is providing supports throughout the
Speaker 6: entire lifespan. So we have an incredible program called Parents
Speaker 6: First Call that is really like a hallmark of m
Speaker 6: d SC that provides that has uh, you know, forty
Speaker 6: plus parent volunteers around the state who when somebody gets
Speaker 6: a diagnosis, whether it's prenatally or whether it's at birth,
Speaker 6: that we're able to match them you know, very thoughtfully
Speaker 6: and be able to provide and support there. But then
Speaker 6: on the on the other end is to provide you know,
Speaker 6: support for individuals as they age, which is you know,
Speaker 6: really important considering that people with downstad them now are
Speaker 6: living a heck of a lot longer than they were,
Speaker 6: you know, several decades ago.
Speaker 2: How many folks over the years, how many families have
Speaker 2: you helped?
Speaker 6: I mean, you know, right now we serve about eight
Speaker 6: thousand families across the state, and you know, you know,
Speaker 6: specifically with new and expectant families through our Parents' First
Speaker 6: Call program that I spoke about, then we serve about
Speaker 6: one hundred and fifty every year with those sort of Yeah.
Speaker 2: I don't mean to get emotional, but you do in
Speaker 2: God's work.
Speaker 5: I truly mean that.
Speaker 2: What's the easiest way for people either to support your group?
Speaker 2: I assume that financial contributions would be welcome, or to
Speaker 2: see about to get some help if they feel they're
Speaker 2: in need. What's the website?
Speaker 6: Yeah, the website is m d s C dot org. So, yeah,
Speaker 6: Massachusetts Down centde Congress m d s C dot org.
Speaker 6: And yeah, for certainly at the end of the year,
Speaker 6: you know, financial donations that allow us to provide support
Speaker 6: for more families you know, throughout the year is hugely
Speaker 6: important to There are so many other ways to get
Speaker 6: involved as well. We have a Buddy Walk program that
Speaker 6: we run every October. Anybody can start a team. We
Speaker 6: have you know, scores of teams, and we have an
Speaker 6: employment program. It's really important. I spoke about the lifespan
Speaker 6: and how important it is to make sure the individuals,
Speaker 6: you know, have rich lives, not just as as children
Speaker 6: and through their you know, education that we have support for,
Speaker 6: but as well into the adult years and so our employment.
Speaker 6: Our employment program is called your Next Star and we
Speaker 6: have a shop that you can find if you just
Speaker 6: go to MDSc dot org. You'll get there, you'll see it.
Speaker 6: But our employment program.
Speaker 2: I just want to give that website a little bit
Speaker 2: most slowly, and that is m D S C. M
Speaker 2: M is from Massachusetts. D is for for Daniel, S
Speaker 2: is for Sam, for Charlie dot org, m d SC
Speaker 2: dot org. Joshua, thank you very much, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: I'll be happy. All the families, thank you so much
Speaker 2: for what you're doing. I hope some of my listeners
Speaker 2: will be will be generous. Merry Christmas.
Speaker 6: Okay, thank you, Jim, You're welcome.
Speaker 2: When we get back, we have ten more great charities
Speaker 2: lined up. Right after the eleven o'clock news here on
Speaker 2: Night Side