MIDDLETOWN—Middlesex Health’s Hospice
Program is looking for volunteers.
Hospice
volunteers are an integral part of the Middlesex Health team, and they work
with patients and families as they cope with the challenges of terminal
illness.
All aspiring
volunteers must submit a volunteer application and complete 12 hours of training
and a mentorship before they can begin their work. The next training sessions
will be held on April 6 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and April 13 from 8:30 a.m.
and 2 p.m. Both sessions are mandatory for new volunteers and will be held in the
Randy Goodwin, MD Conference Center.
For
more information and to request an application, contact a Middlesex Health
volunteer coordinator at 860-358-5700.
SEE COMMENT ADDED 1/27. According to the writer of the Comment, the Region 18 Board of Education has changed its proposed policy to include children born between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31
To the Editor:
The LOL Board of Education has
proposed to expand the current special-needs lottery pre-K program into one
available to all children in the district. This is great news! Unfortunately, there is a gaping hole in the proposed
program. It introduces a September 1st age eligibility cut off date even though
the state of Connecticut strongly encourages children turning five before
January 1st to enter kindergarten. This discrepancy means that children born
after September 1st cannot participate in the program the year before they are
slated to begin kindergarten.
Leaving out children born in the
last four months of the year results in one out of every three children in a
potential incoming kindergarten class being excluded from attending pre-K. It
seems to directly contradict the stated intentions of the program. If the
proposed pre-K program wants to “ensure limited variability among
kindergartners in terms of skills and school readiness,” then why are we
leaving out one in three kids? Surely
kindergarten teachers would prefer all of their students, not just some, have
access to pre-K before coming to them.
This program has the potential to
be a transformative equalizing force for our children and for our town, but it
needs to truly include every child in order to do so. If the program is just
available for some of our children while leaving out the youngest members of an
incoming kindergarten class, it becomes instead something great for only some
and a way for others to be left behind, and that isn’t universal or fair.
If you are interested in signing
a letter in support of having the LOL pre-K expansion program’s age eligibility
align with that of Connecticut kindergarten, please go to https://tinyurl.com/preK4all and
thanks!
Tonight, Kirk Kaczor’s Wildcats crushed the East Hampton Bellringers away 67-40. Junior Aiden Using, pictured above, led all scorers with a powerful 19 points while Connor Hogan contributed 13 vital points and eight rebounds.
Brady Sheffield notched 11 points along with eight steals and completing the tally of double-digit scoring was Jared Richie with 10 points.
Old Lyme is now 11-1 overall and 11-0 in the Shoreline.
Last Tuesday, Old Lyme soundly defeated Coginchaug 63-44. Employing the defensive tenacity of a five-person guard rotation comprising Brady Sheffield, Ray Doll, Connor Hogan, Quinn Romeo, and Liam Holloway, the Wildcats took control of the game at an early stage.
Brady, Jared Ritchie and Aedan Using combined to score a remarkable 47 points.
During a sermon on Sunday, Jan. 13, the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme (FCCOL) announced it would be working with local immigration experts to return Glenda Cardena Caballero to her husband and two young children in Waterbury while her deportation case winds its way through the lengthy immigration appeals process.
Last August, her husband Miguel Torres pictured above with their two children Nathaly (11) and Keneth (7) – all of whom are U.S. citizens – were forced to watch helplessly as Glenda was taken from them by ICE, placed on an airplane and deported to Honduras.
Glenda had been in the US since 2005; she had complied with all of ICE’s directives; and her case was under appeal in the court system. Despite following immigration rules and regulations, ICE agents deported her suddenly and arbitrarily in front of her children and husband, leaving her family bereft and heartbroken.
The city to which she was deported, San Pedro Sula, is considered the most violent city in the world outside of a war zone. In December, the house where she is living with her mother was strafed with bullets; then, the very next day, she had a gun held to her head and was robbed of her money and phone on the street.
The church’s goal is to bring Glenda home to her family in the U.S. while her case continues to wind its way through the appeals process. According to Senior Minister Steve Jungkeit, the church is: >working to get Glenda into a safe, protected space so her husband and children won’t be constantly worried about her health and safety; >building a case for a humanitarian parole – an exception the State Department can grant that will allow her to return to her family while her case is under appeal; >building a community of love and support for Miguel, Nathaly and Keneth that they can lean on when the emotional toll of separation is too much to bear.
The Torres family in happier times.
Jungkiet said the church’s humanitarian efforts to help the Torres family are centered in a story from the Book of Genesis, where two family members built a cairn called a Mizpah to symbolize a peace they established after resolving a bitter dispute. As they parted company, they said words that have become known in Hebrew and Christian beliefs as the Mizpah prayer: “The Lord watch between thee and me while we are absent one from the other.”
The meaning of the words has evolved over time to symbolize an unbreakable emotional bond between people who have been painfully separated, and the cairn has become symbolic of a place of sanctuary where people meet during emergencies.
Donations to help the family bring
Glenda home can be sent to FCCOL. Checks should be made out to FCCOL with
“Immigration Assistance Fund” written on the comment line – and mailed to 2
Ferry Road, Old Lyme, CT 06371. Contributions are tax deductible to
the extent allowable by law.
Would you like to be able to do something in the event of an opioid overdose happening near you?
The Lyme-Old Lyme Prevention Coalition is hosting a Community Narcan Training session Thursday, Jan. 24, at 6:30 p.m. in Old Lyme’s Memorial Town Hall
The purpose of this training is to put the opioid reversal agent, Naloxone, in the hands of the community, and the family and friends of individuals at risk of overdose. Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau (LYSB) Director Mary Seidner commented to LymeLine.com, “We are so pleased that the Prevention Coalition is hosting this event. It’s another way to make our community stronger and safer.”
Seidner explained that funding for the program is coming from a State Targeted Response Grant for Opioid Awareness in the community that LYSB was recently awarded. She continued, “It’s so important for people to get trained how to use Narcan. You never know when you might find yourself dealing with an overdose situation related to someone in your life.”
At the completion of the training, all attendees will receive a (2pk) Naloxone Nasal Spray kit.
The training session includes: . Overdose Prevention Strategies . Signs & Symptoms of Overdose . How to Administer Naloxone . Good Samaritan Law . Support Information & Resources
The training will be presented by Rayallen Bergman, Community
Coordinator, SERAC (Southeastern CT Regional Action Council)
Registration for the event would be appreciated at lysb.org for planning purposes, but walk-in’s are welcome too.
For information or questions, contact Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau at 860-434-7208 or www.lysb.org
Every time a life is saved, that person has an opportunity to enter into treatment and get the support they need to recover.
The Lyme-Old Lyme Prevention Coalition always welcomes new members of all ages and backgrounds. The group meets monthly at LYSB alternating between morning and evening meetings. For more information, visit http://lysb.org/resources/lolpreventioncoalition/
