HMC Receives Lids for Love Donation from Eighth-grade Student

HOLYOKE — The Holyoke Medical Center (HMC) Oncology Department recently received a donation of more 150 hats from 14-year-old Holyoke resident Cameron Boucher.

Cameron, an eighth-grade student at Granite Valley Middle School in Monson, was assigned to complete a community-service project for school. He wanted to choose a project in memory of Danny Boyle, a Holyoke firefighter who worked with Cameron’s father, Mike Boucher. Boyle, who was often seen sporting a baseball cap, lost his battle to brain cancer in 2008.

With the connection between Boyle and baseball caps, Boucher launched Lids for Love as his community service project. Donation boxes were placed at Holyoke City Hall, Holyoke Fire Department headquarters, and Granite Valley Middle School in Monson.

“Danny was always a great big fan of baseball caps. Everywhere he went, he was usually informal and always had his hat on, especially Patriots and Red Sox,” said his widow, Debbie Boyle. “His affinity to hats was long before he was diagnosed, but it was so very important to him while he was going through treatment and losing his hair.”

The hats will be distributed to cancer patients in need. Helen Arnold, director of Oncology and Community Benefit at HMC, noted that “we have never received this type of donation of baseball caps before, and we have a lot of men and women patients who will benefit from this donation. We really appreciate the contribution.”