Community Corner
Local Group Volunteers at This Star Won't Go Out's Gala
Have a Hart Day Boston Helped at "Shine Under the Stars" on June 3
*As disclosed in my Patch Profile, I am the City Captain for Boston’s Have a Hart Day.Have a Hart Day (HAHD) Boston* volunteered at Quincy-based youth cancer charity This Star Won’t Go Out (TSWGO)’s annual “Shine Under the Stars” gala last night. The Waterclub at Quincy’s Marina Bay hosted the event.
Sorboni Banerjee, formerly of WHDH and WFXT, emceed the event. “We are taking the most tragic and terrible and turning it into to something wonderful,” Banerjee said. It began with a surprise performance by local band X’s and O’s, followed by the “Writing for Positive Change” essay contest’s three winners: Sara McDonald (1st), Mahnoor Riaz (2nd), and Brian Zou (3rd). Lori Earl introduced attendees to the Contori family, a family with a Star Child.
Before the Board Chair, Ted Waterman, concluded the night, the two winners of the new Project LOVEly Grants were announced. The winners were Mikaela Nelson and Savannah Jane Williams. Nelson’s project uses her work with prosthetics to create dolls that look like the children who own them-be that through things such as prosthetics or oxygen tanks. Williams’ offers swim lessons to children in low-income areas who are at a high drowning risk.
The six volunteers from HAHD Boston were City Captain (and Westwood resident) Heather T. Ford and five students from Northeastern University: Aeverie Jenne Polintan, Alyssa Wren, Catalina Cardelle, Jodie Chan, and Raina Levin assisted at the gala by helping direct parking, checked gala attendants in, and checking out silent auction winners at the end of the night.
TSWGO was founded in 2011 after the passing of Lori and Wayne Earl’s daughter Esther from cancer in 2010. The charity offers funding to families of children and young adults (up to age 26) who have cancer for such things as housing and travel costs. Esther was also partly the inspiration for John Green’s The Fault in our Stars. Banerjee met the Earl Family while doing a story on this book.
Originally founded by Youtuber Hannah Hart, Have a Hart Day has spread throughout the globe. Since its new management in 2016, Boston’s HAHD Chapter has volunteered monthly at various Greater Boston Food Bank locations. This gala was the first such event for Boston HAHD. If you would like to become involved with HAHD Boston or for more information, email HAHDBoston@gmail.com, join our group on Facebook, or follow us on Tumblr, Twitter, or Instagram.
For more information of This Star Won’t Go Out or to make a donation, visit their website.
*As disclosed in my Patch Profile, I am the City Captain for Boston’s Have a Hart Day.