Published January 20, 2021
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD —The Think of Michael Foundation is making a positive impact in the Lynnfield community and beyond.
Select Board member Dick Dalton and his family formed the foundation in honor of the late Michael Dalton, who passed away from an opiate overdose while in outpatient treatment in January 2018. The nonprofit organization funds scholarships that allow people in recovery to stay at a sober house.
Four hundred residents enjoyed a fun night of trivia and laughs while raising money during the Think of Michael Foundation’s second annual Trivia Night at Breakaway Tavern in Danvers last January. The nonprofit was forced to cancel this year’s event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are not holding Trivia Night this year and we are not holding an alternative fundraiser,” said Dick in an interview with the Villager. “There have been other organizations that held virtual fundraisers last year that were very successful. But for us, we view Trivia Night as a great opportunity for the community to come together to support a great cause. It was a hard decision to make, but we felt it was the right decision.”
Dick, who serves as Think of Michael’s treasurer, said his family and the nonprofit’s entire board have greatly appreciated the support they have received from not only the Lynnfield community, but also the business community.
“We have gotten tremendous support from the community itself and the business community, which has been hit hard during this pandemic,” said Dick. “The local business community has been so great to us. We encourage people to support local businesses because they are a big part of our community.”
The Think of Michael Foundation has raised close to $200,000 since the nonprofit was formed in 2018. Dick said the foundation has worked diligently to support a number of nonprofit organizations since the start of the pandemic.
“When COVID hit, we were besieged by a number of requests,” said Dick. “We made a $10,000 donation to the Gavin Foundation to help subsidize people’s stays at sober homes.”
Think of Michael President Carmela Dalton said the nonprofit made a generous donation to the Dimock Center’s Ruth Kelley Ummi House and the John Flowers Recovery Home in Roxbury.
“The Ruth Kelley House supports 12 mothers in recovery along with their children,” said Carmela. “We along with the Lynnfield community provided them with a Christmas dinner along with gifts for the kids from Santa as well as stockings, warm clothing and toiletries for everybody. The John Flowers Recovery Home is a sister house that offers sober living for 18 men.”
The Daltons’ grandchildren, Maddie, Lucas and Ava Cook, helped Think of Michael collect gifts donated by the Lynnfield community for both houses. Under the direction of Village Row resident Robyn Yannone, Carmela said Ave Maria Parish Confirmation students wrapped the presents.
Dick said both homes are “wonderful organizations.” Carmela added that the men, women and children living in both homes appreciated the generous gifts donated by the community.
Carmela said Think of Michael donated warm clothing, toiletries and shoe protector spray to Project Trust on Massachusetts Avenue in Boston in order to support homeless people who are looking to overcome substance use disorder.
Additionally, Carmela said Lynnfield High School sophomore Coleen Golden and Pingree School sophomore Finley Ezekiel initiated a warm clothing drive fundraiser for Boston Medical Center that was undertaken by Ave Maria Confirmation students. She said Think of Michael donated warm clothing, including jackets, hats, gloves, socks and sweat suits to BMC. The generous donations were given to homeless and substance use disorder patients in the BMC community.
The number of items people donated to the various organizations on behalf of the Think of Michael Foundation blew Carmela and Dick away.
“My daughter Stacey had her living room full of bags of items that people donated,” said Dick. “It was wonderful.”
Carmela also recalled that Yannone proposed having Ave Maria Parish Confirmation students undertake a virtual 5K, which Think of Michael sponsored. She said Think of Michael donated T-shirts to the students and their families. She said the students raised over $4,000, which will be used for scholarships for the Confirmation students attending Lynnfield High School. Carmela said the first class that will be eligible for these scholarships is the LHS Class of 2023.
“We are hoping this will be an annual event,” said Carmela.
A Healthy Lynnfield joined forces with Think of Michael once again when the two groups hosted the second annual A Night of Hope car procession last September as part of National Recovery Month. Hundreds of people attended the “Rally for Recovery” in order to support people in recovery and remember those who lost their battle with addiction.
Think of Michael awarded Michael V. Dalton Memorial Scholarships to Lynnfield High School Class of 2020 members Julia Banks, Benjamin Kramich, Anthony Magwood, Bryan Mallett and Molly Ozanian last June.
“Due to the impact of the COVID-19 virus, the Board of Directors decided that the Think of Michael Foundation would increase the number of scholarship recipients from three to five,” Think of Michael Co-Vice President Jamie Dalton wrote on the foundation’s Facebook page. “The recipients demonstrated great perseverance in life when faced with adversity. It is evident that all have grown as people and will take away lessons learned from the experience of doing something despite difficulty. We have chosen to honor Michael in this way to be mindful of not only the success that can come from persevering, but more importantly the individual growth of the person that occurs as a result of such hardship.”
