The Southington
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Volume 7, Number 24
Southington’s Only Hometown Newspaper
Relay For Life 2011 rallies crowds for cancer cause By Robin Lee Michel and Kimberly Primicerio The Southington Citizen
Friday, June 17, 2011
YMCAs to Livestrong thanks to foundation By Julie Sopchak The Southington Citizen
As the saying goes, “persistence pays off.” After taking part in a campaign with six other YMCAs from Connecticut and Massachusetts, the Greater Hartford and SouthingtonCheshire Community YMCAs have won Community Impact Project funding from the Livestrong organization. The Livestrong program will give the Ys the opportunity and a kick-start to have cancer rehabilitation programs at the facilities. The programs are aimed to help cancer patients regain strength and transition back into a normal functional level of living. The cohort of eight Ys, which consisted of the Athol Area YMCA in Athol, Mass., YMCA of Central Massachusetts in Greater Worcester, Mass., MetroWest YMCA in Framingham and Hopkinton, Mass., YMCA Southcoast of the south coastal
On the Southington High School football field, hundreds of people gathered last weekend, not to watch a sporting event but for a greater cause: Relay For Life. It was the 13th year for the local event, which raises funds for the American Cancer Society. This year, Joyce McAloon and Mary DeCroce headed the event, assisted by hundreds of volunteers, cancer survivors,
Cancer survivors proudly wear their purple shirts See RFL, page 14 and sashes. Caregivers also wore sashes.
Photos by Stacey McCarthy
Caregivers walk the track at opening ceremonies at Relay For Life of Southington 2011 held at the high school June 10 to 11.
The Tree of Life team, which has participated in the past, can be spotted easily thanks to their green Tshirts.
See Funding, page 12
Exercise in homelessness teaches life lessons, leaves lasting impact on teens By Robin Lee Michel The Southington Citizen When teenagers camp out together, laughter, fooling around and storytelling can be expected around the campfire. However, at First Baptist Church of Southington on June 4, the teens were dead silent as they heard a story, a true story that stopped them in their revelry. Earlier that Saturday, members of the Baptist Youth Fellowship built cardboard houses in which to sleep. Several of the dozen youngsters chose to fast. It was a mini-exercise in experiencing and understanding what it is like to be homeless.
They never expected that a campfire visitor would be a person who actually had left her home for a life on the streets when she was 15 years old, only slightly older than the youths listening. The
See Lessons, page 16
Inside Calendar .........................31 Faith ................................22 Health..............................35 Marketplace ....................51 Obituaries........................23 Opinion............................24 Real Estate .....................50 Seniors............................30 Sports..............................39