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Emergency Assistance

Mark Tuttle, nurse manager of the Baystate Mary Lane Hospital emergency room, was recently presented a donation of items that Alyssa Robinson collected during her three-month community-service project on behalf of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, Spencer Assembly No. 22. The donations were presented to Tuttle as an effort “to help comfort children and help families cope during an emergency-room visit at the hospital,” noted Robinson, who worked diligently to acquire the many items to be donated with the help of a team of 13 girls that met weekly. Tuttle noted that the donations of books, coloring books, and boxes of crayons were among the most-appreciated items. “As the flu season is upon us, offering our patients a book that they can keep helps to lessen the passing of germs on shared items such as magazines,” he said. “Alyssa’s donations have been a comfort and great benefit to the many patients we care for at Baystate Mary Lane Hospital.”

Spreading Holiday Cheer

Brownie Troop #120 and Junior Girl Scout Troop #110 from East Longmeadow recently delivered a big bundle of holiday cheer for Red Cross disaster clients. The girls created handmade ornaments for every disaster client family through their holiday gift program. Each year, Red Cross staff and volunteers reach out to all families assisted throughout the year who have been affected by disaster (most often home fires). As recovery from this type of disaster can take weeks, months, or even a year, the Red Cross disaster team developed a special program to assist these families during the holiday season. The team collects donations of new, unwrapped gifts from throughout the community to create a special family gift box especially for the children in each family being assisted. In addition to the ornaments, the Brownies and Junior Girl Scouts also donated toys for the program. Distributions were made on Dec. 19.