Stories

When a tractor-trailer backs up to the Middlesex Community College loading dock late this week, it will mark the real beginning of Bedford Rotary’s Hope for the Hungry 2025. Little more than a day later, the truckload it carries from Meals of Hope will be the centerpiece of meal assembly by dozens of volunteer meal-packers.

Dear Readers,

The Rotary Club of Bedford asks you to donate personal care items to be dropped off at its Hope for the Hungry meal-packing event on Saturday, April 26 at Middlesex Community College.

Collecting personal care items is as much a part of the fight against food insecurity as meal-packing. Many personal care items (see list below) are as much a necessity of everyday living as food, but much more expensive. Those who struggle with food insecurity also struggle financially, making it difficult to decide which to do without. Donated personal care items help bring hope to the hungry who must make those decisions. No donation is too small.

As March comes to a close, the Rotary Club of Bedford proudly reflects on Rotary International’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Month with a momentous achievement. Our club, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Maseno, has successfully secured a Global Grant from The Rotary Foundation to bring sustainable water solutions and economic empowerment to the Kambiri Community Development Group in Kenya.

How?

Sign Up to volunteer at Hope for the Hungry 2025, the Rotary Club of Bedford’s annual meal-packaging event to fight food insecurity on Saturday, April 26, 2025, 9:15 am – 12:00 pm, with Meals of Hope and co-hosted by the Rotary Clubs of Chelmsford and Merrimack Valley

The Hope for the Hungry 2025 event team quickly agreed on which meal-packing options from Meals of Hope they liked best. However, it took a bit of serious consideration and deliberation to finalize which meal we’d be packing on Saturday, April 26^th.

Among the array of seven meal choices, Chicken-flavored Veggie Rice Soup, Pasta & Tomato Sauce, Lentils & Rice, Soy Chicken, Mac’n Cheese, Oatmeal, and even Beans & Rice, each had its pros and cons. Textures, ingredients, and spice flavoring were discussed, but only briefly. Ultimately, the one overriding decision factor was taste

The Rotary Club of Bedford invites businesses, organizations, and individuals to make a lasting impact by sponsoring Hope for the Hungry, our annual meal packaging event on April 26, 2025. This inspiring event brings together volunteers from across the community to package thousands of meals for local families in need.

By becoming a sponsor, you’re not only supporting a vital cause—you’re also gaining valuable exposure and demonstrating your commitment to corporate social responsibility. We have a number of different sponsorship levels available.

Download a brochure with details on sponsorship levels and benefits. We would be delighted to make a presentation to your organization to explain how this event can benefit your team. Feel free to email Bedford.Rotary@gmail.com for further information or if you have any questions.

What Is The Morley Scholarship?

That’s what Bedford Rotarians were finding out at their Tuesday (1/14) meeting’s taste test of seven different meal options offered by Meals of Hope.

Why? Because planning is well underway for Hope for the Hungry 2025, this year’s annual Rotary Club of Bedford meal-packing project to combat food insecurity. Meals of Hope, the club’s backbone project partner, continues to help guide the effort and its local food-insecurity focus.

Jack Day, Vice President and Meals of Hope’s northeast leader, strategist, and meal-packing coordinator, accompanied by the club’s Hope for the Hungry team leader, Debi Malone, served up a mini smorgasbord of seven different meals to taste. Ultimately, one will be the winning selection for packaging at the Saturday, April 26^th, meal-packing event.

By Bob Cassidy

Life was going fairly well for me in the late 1970s. I was now the Deputy Director of Public Works in Cambridge, Maryland. I was having a ball learning all I could about Rotary, and thinking about buying a home. Another saying I picked up in life is: "Enjoy what you have while you have it," because things can change in an instant. One Sunday evening, my life changed with two phone calls:

The first was a phone call from Bob Dodd, Director of Public Works (my boss), telling me he had terminal kidney disease. He said he had talked with the Commissioners about retiring early to enjoy what time he had left with his family "if" they would continue paying his health insurance. And they decided not to do that. He decided to continue as the Director and let nature take its course. We had a long and difficult conversation the following day. His advice to me was, "You're ready now, Bob, to lead your own department." "You're the guy I'm recommending to replace me, but I don't know when that will be."

The second was from my parents. Dad broke the news to me that my mom had terminal stomach cancer. I was their only child and I was 800 miles away.

Enough said.

Rotary Club of Bedford’s Global Grant proposal (GG2458065 Rainwater Catchment Tanks for Schools in Kambiri, Kenya) continues to make major progress recently. In the last two weeks: 1) the District 9212 leadership has approved the project; 2) District Rotary Foundation Chair Protus Lumiti authorized the GG application; 3) GG2458065 was submitted to The Rotary Foundation for review; 4) The Rotary Foundation has rapidly reviewed the proposal and sent the GG team a list of clarification questions; and the Kenya GG team (representatives of RC Maseno, RC Kakamega, Maseno University Rotaract Club and Friendly Waters for the World met in Kambiri to see first-hand examples of a recently constructed water tank, an interlocking brink wall and manufactured soap.

The generosity of the Bedford community highlighted the Rotary Club of Bedford’s “Election Collection” during voting Tuesday. Donations of an estimated $2,000 worth of personal care items were collected for the Middlesex Community College food pantries in Bedford and Lowell. It was the club’s third election-day collection in support of MCC. 

Fellow Rotarians and friends, we’re gearing up for the Rotary Club of Bedford’s 2025 Winter Community Breakfast on December 8, and we need your support in securing sponsors! This event will unite families, friends, and community members, giving sponsors a unique platform to connect with local residents. By sponsoring, businesses can enjoy significant visibility while supporting our foundation's impactful initiatives.

Your networks and local connections are invaluable. Let’s work together to reach out to potential sponsors and showcase how they can make a difference. For sponsorship details, visit our sponsor page. Contact Lita Verrier at 781.775.8892 or email: bedfordrotarywinterbreakfast@gmail.com

It is a common occurrence for people to become obsessed and passionate over a tragic event when it occurs. People want to feel they can make a statement, a lasting impression about the event. Their obsession continues for a period of time after the event is over, Having said that, as time goes by and the weeks turn into months and even into years their obsession and passion wains. It becomes somehow not as important until eventually completely goes away. That is the case with many of our feelings towards the horrific events which took place on September 11,  2001. Our lives were all impacted and changed that day. Our own Bedford Rotary club was among the hundreds of thousands that wanted to make a lasting remembrance, so President Peter Cogan appointed Bob Mead to lead a committee to design and construct a memorial at Spring Brooks Park. 

Join us at the Bedford Chamber of Commerce Trunk or Treat, from 3:30-5:30 pm at the Whole Foods Parking Lot

Setup 1:30-3:00pm

We'll be giving away milkweed seeds and candy, to help support Monarch butterflies and other pollinators! It's always a fun time! Sign up here

Melinda Gladden, a long-time former member, has returned to the Rotary Club of Bedford.

After a four-year absence, Melinda returned to being a Bedford Rotarian at the club’s monthly First Tuesday Meeting. August’s evening semi-social, semi-business get-together of members and guests was at The Great Wall restaurant in Bedford.

Rotary 2024-25 Club Co-Presidents Al Roscoe and Ralph Hammond officiated Melinda’s induction as an audience of 17 attending club members looked on.

Photo by Christine Pinney: Ralph, Melinda and Al

Our story starts on April 19, 1775 with the battle of Concord. And meanders through the centuries until July 23, 2024.

Following the battle of Concord (also known as the Battle of the Old North Bridge), not much was done to commemorate the battle until 1825 when $500 was appropriated as a commission to commemorate it. Danial Chester French, who lived in Concord, wound up with the commission and after numerous and confusing changes the final monument was unveiled in 1875. The statue itself is constructed of bronze (it was originally supposed to be stone but the Federal Government gave the town 10 Civil War Cannons – rumor has it they may have been Confederate cannons – because the town of Concord could not afford to buy the bronze to make the statues casting and the monument was completed.

The Rotary Club of Bedford proudly announces its welcome of two new members to its ranks. 

In the June 4^th ceremonies during the club’s year-end transitional gathering at the home of Co-President Al Roscoe and his wife and Rotarian Diane Ryan, Bedford residents Lita Verrier and Pamela Brown Esq. were inducted into membership.

Alongside Al Roscoe, Co-President Ralph Hammond officiated the inductions. They were joined by Rotarian Paula Gilarde, Lita’s club sponsor. 

The Rotary Year for Rotary International and Clubs worldwide is July 1^st to June 30^th. Thus, the Rotary Club of Bedford is rapidly approaching the end of its 2023-24 year and looking forward to 2024-25.

The annual transitional gathering of members on Tuesday evening not only inducted two new members but also celebrated the successes of the past year and recognized the changing member makeup of club boards.

Under the Co-President leadership of Al Roscoe and Ralph Hammond, Bedford Rotary prospered as a strong, cohesive club throughout the past year, as Al leadership matured under Ralph’s mentoring. Ordinarily, they would pass the gavel to new officers for next year. Instead, we are fortunate that they agreed to carry on and continue guiding the club for a second year.

At Bedford’s Bike Safety Day on Saturday, dozens of young cyclists received free, carefully fitted, brand-new bike helmets. They then field-tested them by negotiating a Bedford Police-designed bike skills and safety mini slalom course. It all happened in just a couple of hours at the Mudge Way parking lot across from the Police Station.

Carrying on the Rotary Club of Bedford’s 40-year legacy of participation in promoting bike helmet safety for the young people of Bedford, Rotarian Arzu LeBlanc took the lead and collaboratively coordinated this year’s Bike Safety Day participation by Bedford Police Department Sergeant Robert Abajian and Officer Justin Brooks, Bedford Recreation Department Assistant Director Nikki Taylor, Jane Kiegel, her colleague at The Residence at Bedford, along with Rotary Club of Bedford Co-Presidents Al Roscoe and Ralph Hammond, and Rotary volunteers Judi Babcock, Paula Gilarde, Lita Verrier and Marc Hamilton.

MEALS packaged, boxed, and destined to provide real Hope for the Hungry throughout dozens of local cities and towns. 

That’s the result of the months of Bedford and Concord Rotary Clubs’ Hope for the Hungry project planning. It all culminated on the morning of Saturday, April 27^th, when 160 volunteers gathered at the Bedford campus of Middlesex Community College and put together more than 6,700 six-meal packages in only two hours. To put that in a bit more context, that’s almost 60 packages or almost 340 meals per minute.

This past month the Interact Club of Bedford TV elected its first set of officers:  

The end of this 2023-2024 Rotary Year is approaching. The year’s Presidential theme, CREATE HOPE in the WORLD, set by Rotary International President Gordon R. McInally will soon be celebrated by Rotarians SHARING HOPE WITH THE WORLD at the 2024 RotaryInternational Convention.

“We must refocus our efforts to build peace across the globe,” he said. “And we must help each other find peace within – and share that ethic of care to the people we serve.”

It’s a message that has driven this year’s Rotary goal of bringing hope to those affected by mental health challenges.

On April 27^th, after a five-year absence, the Rotary Club of Bedford will reunite with Middlesex Community College for the club’s 9^th annual meal-packing effort to feed hungry people around the world. The college last partnered with the club and hosted the meal-packing at its Bedford campus in 2019. This year, the story of the Food Pantry program at Middlesex Community College brings a new dimension to the partnership.

The CBS Evening News (2/19/24) reported that a decade ago, there were just 80 college food pantries, and today, there are upwards of 800 on campuses across the nation. Without them, it was said, the struggle with the costs of basic needs affects students’ academic performance and mental health. - MCC operates a Food Pantry on both its Lowell and Bedford campuses.

It has also been reported that nearly 4 million U.S. college students are raising children while getting a degree and that more than a third of those students attend community colleges. - Middlesex Community College is one such college.

IT’S NOT TOO LATE!… To give hope to the many people in our own communities whose lives are an ongoing struggle to cope with food insecurity. It could be an older person who lives down the street or a married couple with children. You probably won’t know because they often hide the fact that rent, heat, electricity, or medical costs leave them wondering how they’ll get food.

IT'S NOT TOO LATE... To DONATE! to Hope for the Hungry, the April 27th meal-packing event organized by the Rotary Clubs of Bedford and Concord. The money you donate makes this effort possible. Our project partner, Meals of Hope, provides the ingredients for the meals we’ll pack. A $50 donation provides meals for more than 150 people. But any denomination will help too!

IT'S NOT TOO LATE… To VOLUNTEER! In Rotary we say, “Feel Good by Doing Good” and you can Do Good by participating in the meal packing. In just a couple of hours, on Saturday morning, April 27th, at Middlesex Community College we aim to pack 50,000 meals. We want volunteers who want to “do good” while having fun as packing team members or being part of our packing supply crew. We guarantee you’ll Feel Good afterward.

To donate and volunteer, please click here 

By Bob Cassidy

For sure Nathanial (Nat) K. Brown was a different man to many people. He started off as a son to John Fremont Brown and Louise Kirkegaard Brown. Husband to the late Judith Rae (Behringer) Brown, father to Pamela J. Brown and her long-time partner Monther Mardini, Nathaniel K. Brown, Jr. and fiancé Jayne Schmitz, and Kenneth E. Brown and wife Shannon, all of Bedford. He was also a significant other to the newest (and also one of the oldest) loves of his life Joan (Joanie) Birmingham a lady from Bedford he first dated when he was a teenager. Nat was also a grandfather to Amanda Brown, Alyssa Brown, Nathaniel Brown III, Mia Brown, Soren Brown, Jimmy McGinn and Kyle McGinn.

Mark your calendars.

Tuesday, April 2^nd - Ken’s N.Y. Deli & Pizzeria will be generously hosting a fundraiser to support Bedford Rotary’s Hope for the Hungry meal packaging effort aimed at addressing food insecurity locally. Ken’s, located at 72 The Great Road in Bedford, is donating 10% of all proceeds from 4:00 – 9:00 p.m., eat-in and take-out, to this year’s packaging project.

Plan that evening’s dinner at Ken’s. Bring the family and friends. Order take-out. You’ll be supporting Rotary, helping the hungry and food insecure who struggle to feed themselves and their families, and you’ll be supporting a worthy local business.

Saturday, April 27^th – at its Bedford campus from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00, Middlesex Community College hosts the Hope for the Hungry meal packaging event. And, with the event just two months away, Bedford Rotary’s event team is ramping up the necessary planning and preparations. Read on to learn how you can get involved by donating or volunteering. 

• Bedford TV
• Eagle Scout Project- Alex Mattson
• Child Welfare and Development Project in Sierra Leone
• Annual contribution to First Church
• Project Clubfoot
• Meals of Hope Meal Packaging
• Mental Health District Grant
• Pints for Polio
• Friendly Water for the World Global Grant
• Moving Health Global Grant
• DVSN
• BHS Addams Family Musical
• DECA Club at BHS

The Rotary Club of Concord in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Bedford is spearheading a donation drive for personal care items for Open Table. Personal care items are not covered by SNAP/food support programs. Donations will help reduce the cost of Open Table purchasing these items for the individuals and families they serve. The following items are being collected:

Diaper Sizes:  3, 4, 5, 6, Baby Wipes, Hand Lotion, Dish Soap, Sponges, Toothpaste, Shampoo

Taco Tuesday, 1/30/24.  There were no militia, revolutionary or otherwise, gathered at nearby Lexington’s Revolution Hall on Tuesday evening.  Rather, a mildly boisterous band of Bedford Rotarians gathered there for the revolutionary first-ever evening weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Bedford.

The about-face from the traditional midday meeting, initiated by member Paula Gilarde, was an experiment to see if an atypical evening option would bring together many club members who can’t get to the regular meeting in person or virtually because of work, family, or other reasons.

Food Insecurity – It’s more than someone feeling hungry. It’s the struggle that up to one-third of Massachusetts residents face when they don’t know how they’ll get their next meal or how they’ll feed their family. It’s a struggle between choosing food or paying the costs of housing, utilities, medical care, transportation, or other necessities.

The Bedford and Concord Rotary Clubs and Meals of Hope want to make that choice easier. With the financial support of sponsors and individuals and the physical support of volunteer packagers, the thousands of packaged meals that will be put together on Saturday, April 27th, will be given, free, to local food banks and food pantries in our area.

The Rotary Clubs of Bedford and Concord have their sights set on Saturday, April 27^th. That’s this year’s date for the clubs’ next meal packaging effort aimed at addressing food insecurity locally and beyond.

This year, we’re partnered with Meals of Hope, a nonprofit organization 501(c)(3) that is committed to bringing people together to fight the hunger epidemic. Originating in Southwest Florida, and now with its New England base in Chelmsford, Meals of Hope has packed more than 80 million meals that have been donated to communities across the country and in countries worldwide.

Also, this year, we’re grateful to Middlesex Community College for welcoming us back to their campus, where many of our pre-pandemic meal packaging events were held. In their Campus Center cafeteria, packaging teams of more than 100 volunteer packagers will devote two hours on Saturday, April 27^th, to preparing up to 50,000 meals.

Planning is underway, and there will be more to tell, so keep an eye on this website.

Danielle Williams and Julie Genova from the Bedford Health Department accepted the donation from Christine Pinney, from the Rotary Club of Bedford. This donation will assist the Town of Bedford in continuing to provide free COVID-19 test kits to Bedford Residents.

We were able to raise $4,675 for Friendly Water, including a district match, funds from our club’s foundation and individual contributions. This was enough to build 3 water catchment basins. We chose to build them all at the Namanja Primary School. This was a priority because half of the students and staff at the school, which serves 950 students, were spending half of their school days going to fetch water. This was necessary as the bore holes, from which they obtain water, run dry. Soon they will be able to spend all day learning.
Friendly Water for the World small non-profit with 7 board members and 5 staff, based in Olympia, Washington. It was founded in 2010.  Leaders from Friendly water start work in an area  with a community assessment, including all key members of a community who decide what their greatest needs are. It then trains and equips the community in sustainable technologies to safeguard, conserve and expand essential resources. The community assessment was done in Nov. 2020 in Matsakha, Kenya. The need for clean water was a priority, and the following technologies were identified to address their needs:

1. Soap-making
2. BioSand Water Filters
3. Rainwater catchment tanks
4. Interlocking soil stabilized bricks
5. Rocket stove
6. Permaculture
7. Microflush toilet

Plans for a potential outdoor performance center for Bedford are in their infancy. Barbara Purchia, Chair of the Bedford Cultural Council, joined our virtual meeting to give us the details, and to talk about how the club can fit into the planning. 

We really did not have a “guest” speaker today. Instead we were treated to some spooky stories told by our own Linda Cargiuolo and Ralph Hammond. All absolutely true with no embellishment, of course!

Leslie Harrison has been a member of the Northborough Rotary club for a number of years.  Leslie brought us the story of Zanmi Beni, a facility on the outskirts of Port of Prince Haiti.

Christopher Stein joined us to tell us a little about Operation Pollination. Chris has been with the National Park Service for over 40 years. He started with the National Parks Service right here at Minuteman National Historical Park. He then transferred to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park in Tennessee in the mid 1990’s where he joined Rotary. From there he was off to Yosemite National Park where he became president of the Yosemite Valley Rotary Club in 2005. Chris now lives in Northeast Iowa, is still a Rotarian in District 5970, is a member of that district’s “Path’s & Pollinator’s Committee,” and is a member of RI’s Environmentally Sustainable Rotary Action Committee (ESRAG). Chris gave his talk via zoom from Minnesota.

Funding for Rotary projects comes from The Rotary Foundation in a variety of ways. Are you aware funding for many of our clubs local projects comes from The Rotary Foundation of Bedford? The two are very different. From time to time we’ll present information regarding both in an attempt to keep you up to date. I hope.

Sze-Wen Kuo This year’s chair of the Rotary Foundation of Bedford was our guest speaker this week. What she said in just a few minutes spoke volumes of what we are all about.  We owe a great deal to Sze-Wen and her husband Victor Tom. Month after month, year after year, this amazing couple are giving of their talents (which are many), their time, and their financial resources to make our Rotary club and all its projects successful.

2 0 Rotarians and assorted spouses, children, grandchildren, and pets descended on the portion of Nat’s property known as “The Knoll” on Saturday morning (August 28, 2021) for a few hours of fellowship, good food, games, and a lot of catching up.  Like most of our gatherings used to be, it can easily be summed up by saying “just some old friends getting together to pass some time together.” Nat was his usual gracious host supplying and cooking hot dogs, hamburgers, salads, and soft drinks. Debi was there making sure everything was in order, she and Marc shared photography duties (I’m the one that caught Marc taking pictures of everyone else (gotcha)! There was also several plates of Watermelon and brownies. Someone brought a box full of thickly iced cupcakes which were also a big hit. (I tried to sterl them but got caught!).I’m sure we solved all of the world’s problems in 2021 but nobody would own up to it. Nat also brought along a few four-wheelers for all of us to drive around and explore. The event was supposed to be over at 2:00 PM but as we usually do, at 2:45 PM folks were still sitting around and talking. Nat, you had a wonderful idea and between you and Debi, you pulled it off. Thank you, thank you, thank you from all of us.

Check out the photo album for photos from the event (photo credits Christine Pinney). 

• ​Jake O'Neal, Class of 2020, past recipient of the Philip McGovern 1Year Scholarship, attending Middlesex Community College
• Pallavi Goel, Class of 2017, past recipient of the Rayford Williams 4 Year Scholarship, graduate of Brandeis University
• Current Recipients of the Rayford Williams 4 Year Scholarship
  • Jackson Collins- 2018, rising Senior at Clemson University
  • Nathaniel Kang- 2019, rising Junior at Brown University
  • Nicole Hebert- 2020, rising Sophomore at Northwestern University

As you have already read, were a busy bunch last year and apparently somebody was watching because when our district handed out the “end of the year” awards, Bedford was recognized in a number of categories:

• Gold award for work with the Rotary Foundation
• Tied for the Gold Award for Public Image
• Presidential Citation
• Received a citation for Diversity, Equity, and inclusion
• Special Rotary International recognition in the categories of “avenues of service to:
  • Ralph Hammond PDG for Community Service
  • Christine Pinney for Youth Service 

The actual certificates will be awarded to the club by PDG Diana Nestorova once we start meeting in person again.

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