100 homeless women and children receive hats, mittens, socks and more
Published in the February 17, 2016 edition
WAKEFIELD Rotarians Tom Stapleton and Jim Fitzgerald helped assemble “warm kits” at yesterday’s lunch meeting that were distributed to 100 homeless women and their children at Rosie’s Place in Boston. (Gail Lowe Photo)
By GAIL LOWE
WAKEFIELD — Wakefield Rotary Club members held their regular Tuesday meeting yesterday at Harrington’s Food & Spirits on Water Street, but there was a twist to this meeting.
After a delicious lunch, members went to work assembling “warm kits” that were delivered to Rosie’s Place in Boston today to be given to 100 homeless women and their children. The kits included hats, mittens, two pairs of socks, lip balm, Mylar blankets, hand warmers and toothpaste and toothbrushes.
Wakefield Rotarians could have used warm kits themselves on Saturday, Jan. 23 when they took to the frigid Atlantic Ocean water to raise money to end polio worldwide in the sixth annual Rotary District 7930 Polar Plunge.
This year, the air temperature was only 29 degrees on Jan. 23 and six- to eight-foot waves and winds of about 35 mph kept the over 200 plunging Rotarians closer to the shore. The event, held in Gloucester at the end of Long Beach, fulfilled their “service above self” commitment.
Rotarians and friends from various clubs around the district raised over $70,000 so far for the Rotary Foundation, which is the volunteer fundraising arm of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
According to Wakefield Rotarian member Lisa Roderick, who coordinated the warm kit initiative, for every dollar raised, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation matched $2.
“So for each dollar raised from Wakefield, five children were saved from the ravages of polio,” she said.
Participants in the plunge came from Wakefield, Stoneham, Ipswich, Gloucester and Rockport.
Sen. Bruce Tarr was on hand to provide the countdown for the plunge.
