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Westborough Rotary E-Bulletin

March 20, 2018
 

Project Smile - Helping Child Victims of Traumatic Events 
Project Smile was born after Catherine Pisacane read a newspaper article about three brothers in New Jersey who were starved by their adoptive parents. When the police arrived to remove the brothers from the house, an officer gave one of the children a small stuffed tiger that he had with him. The child clung to it during his entire time at the police station and refused to let it go. Catherine told us at our meeting of March 15 that after reading the article, she wanted to start a program which would allow as many police officers as possible to have something to give to a hurting child. She says that a stuffed animal may be small, but its significance is huge.  Catherine has dedicated her time and energy to Project Smile on a full-time basis since 2004.  The organization began by providing stuffed animals to police departments but has expanded to include fire departments and other agencies, as well as adding coloring books, crayons, reading books and even toothbrushes to the list of items they provide.  Police, firefighters, and paramedics give the stuffed animals and other items to children who are victims of accidents, crimes, or who are ill or experiencing a variety of other traumatic events.  The charity works with more than 200 police and fire departments, most of which are from Massachusetts, but they've sent their stuffed animals to departments as far away as Alaska.  Read more about Project Smile at their website, and view Catherine's entire presentation to our Club on our Facebook Page.
 
School Superintendent Amber Bock Visits Our Club
Amber Bock, Westborough's Superintendent of Public Schools, joined us at our lunch meeting on March 7.  Ms. Bock, shown here with Club President Shelby Marshall, used the opportunity to inform our members about the proposed school budget for which the department was seeking approval at the March 17th Town Meeting.  The school department is seeking a 4.65% increase in its budget, for a total of just over $51.2 million.  Virtually all of this increase is driven by the expanding student population in the Westborough school system, which has increased by 140 students from last year's budget, with a total enrollment of 3,969 as of January 11.  Ms. Bock pointed that while the school system delivers an outstanding educational product, t the town's per-pupil cost of education is approximately $15.5K, which is $300 - $400 below the state average.  Additionally, the budget increase sought for this year is less than the state average of 8.6%, even though the system is experiencing higher growth rates than most other communities.  The School Department budget was overwhelmingly approved after a vigorous debate at Town Meeting.
Upcoming Meetings
Mar 21, 2018
Westborough Fire Department
Mar 28, 2018
Apr 04, 2018
Westborough Town Manager
View entire list
Upcoming Events
Armstrong School Family Fun Day
Mar 24, 2018
10:45 AM – 3:00 PM
 
New Member Social
Civic Kitchen & Drink
Apr 03, 2018
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
 
Westborough Veteran's Committee Luncheon
Westborough Senior Center
Apr 19, 2018
11:00 AM – 1:30 PM
 
2018 Rotary Mount Washington Summit
Mount Washington Hotel
May 04, 2018 – May 06, 2018
 
Westborough Spring Festival
May 20, 2018
 
RYLA
Fitchburg State University
Jun 22, 2018 – Jun 24, 2018
 
Rotary International Convention
Toronto
Jun 23, 2018 – Jun 27, 2018
 
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Volunteers Needed for Shrewsbury Reality Check
Dave Kaiser is seeking volunteers to assist at the Shrewsbury Reality Check on Tuesday, May 1.   Students attending the Reality CHeck interact with professionals who provide real-life data in order to develop a personal budget.  One hundred fifty volunteers are needed to donate 4.5 hours of time at Shrewsbury High School to help students learn the importance of financial literacy. Please direct your questions to Dave at dkaiser@centralfcu.com or visit this link to sign up as a volunteer.
Rotarians in the News
Library Director Maureen Ambrosino and Library Trustee Bill Linnane traveled to Boston earlier this month to advocate for library funding at the state level. While at a legislative briefing, they ran into Jim Comes, who serves as a trustee at the Worcester Public Library. Thank you to these three Westborough Rotarians for supporting this important cause.
 
Also, congratulations to Club President Shelby Marshall for her victory at the polls when she was elected to the Westborough Board of  Selectman on March 6, along with Sayid Hashimi.  Our thanks to George Barrette for his years of service to the community in this role.
Membership Social Rescheduled to April 3
Join us at the Civic Kitchen & Drink from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm on April 3rd for appetizers.  If you're a current Club member, please bring a friend, neighbor or business associate.  If you're a member of the Westborough community, please stop by to learn about the Rotary Club, and how we work to make a difference both locally and globally.  Share food, fellowship, Rotary stories and learn about our commitment to Service Above Self. Westborough School Superintendent Amber Bock will make a brief presentation.  Click here to register to attend.
Join Us for Lunch or Dinner!
Wednesdays at 12:15pm, 3rd Wednesday at 6:15pm
Chateau Restaurant
95 Turnpike Road
Rt 9 & Rt 30
Westborough, MA  01581
United States
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