Merrimack Valley Magazine

Methuen Family, UML Alumni Gift $50 Million to UMass

September 7, 2021 by Katie Lovett

Methuen natives Robert J. Manning and Donna Manning donated a $50 million cash gift to the University of Massachusetts — the largest donation of any kind in the university’s history.

The couple, high school sweethearts who later commuted to UMass Lowell, have long been generous supporters to the university. They previously committed more than $11 million to UMass Lowell, where the Manning School of Business bears their name.

Also on the Lowell campus, they have endowed several faculty chairs, sponsored a nursing simulation lab, and established the Robert and Donna Manning Endowed Scholarship Fund. The Manning Prize for Excellence in Teaching is awarded to faculty on all five UMass campuses for high-impact teaching.

Robert Manning received a degree in information systems management from UMass Lowell in 1984. Donna Manning earned a nursing degree in 1985 and a masters in business administration from UMass Lowell in 1991. They each received an honorary doctor of humane letters from UMass Lowell in 2011.

The couple credits their UMass education with giving them the foundation for success.

“Donna and I are at a point in our lives where we want to make a real difference, and this was the best way to do that, because we know what UMass does for students. It transforms lives,” said Robert Manning in a statement. “We firmly believe that UMass is the most important asset in the Commonwealth, and that the greatest thing we can do to support the Commonwealth is to support the UMass campuses and UMass students.”

UMass said the first distribution will be a $15 million endowment to the UMass-Boston nursing program, which will become the Robert and Donna Manning College of Nursing and Health, and will be geared to promoting student diversity and equitable patient care.

The remaining $35 million of the donation will go toward improving access and opportunity at the UMass campuses in Lowell, Amherst, Dartmouth and Worcester. Those plans will be announced in the coming months.

The couple, who now reside in Swampscott, plan to be heavily engaged in the UMass programs their gifts will support.

“The significance of this gift cannot be overstated,” UMass President Marty Meehan said in a statement. “Rob and Donna are two of our own. As first-generation college graduates, they experienced the transformational impact UMass has on students’ lives. Rob and Donna have always led by example in their philanthropy, and this remarkable gift is a call to action to the philanthropic community.”

NoteWorthy – 6/30/19

June 30, 2019 by Jaden Mendola Leave a Comment

AROUND THE VALLEY

Volvo Joins Jaffarian Family to Celebrate Grand Reopening of Volvo Showroom

Volvo Cars USA President & CEO Andors Gustafson, along with members of the local business community and customers, joined with the Jaffarian family to celebrate the grand reopening of its Volvo showroom. Jaffarian Volvo recently received the 2018 Volvo Excellence Award from Volvo Cars USA for a third consecutive year, an accomplishment no other dealer has achieved.

L-r: Gavin Jaffarian, Gary Jaffarian, Andors Gustafsson, President & CEO of Volvo Cars USA, Eric Miller of Volvo Cars USA, Mark Jaffarian.

Copper Door Restaurants Donate $25,000 to Children’s Scholarship Fund

Great NH Restaurants announced a donation to the Children’s Scholarship Fund New Hampshire of $25,000 from their Copper Door locations in Bedford and Salem, N.H. The funding will support scholarships for local N.H. children grades K-12. Forty-nine schools are part of the Children’s Scholarship Fund New Hampshire program, and the average school scholarship amount received is $2,402.

Lawrence General Hosts Event to Celebrate Launch of New Heart and Vascular Center

On Wednesday, June 19, Lawrence General Hospital held a special reception for area physicians and health care leaders to celebrate the launch of its new Heart and Vascular Center. Hosted by Lawrence General president and CEO Dianne Anderson, RN, the private event was held at the Lanam Club in Andover.

L-r: Ryan Messiner, DO, associate director/vascular surgery; Sunit Mukherjee, MD, medical director; James Meyer, MD, associate director/interventional radiology; and Ken Adams, MD, associate director/cardiology.

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union Awards $1,000 to Local Hometown Heroes

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union recently awarded a total of $1,000 to four local “Hometown Heroes” through its Small Acts That Give Back initiative.

Throughout the month of May, the Credit Union gave community members the chance to nominate someone who they believe goes above and beyond in their community. Between April 29 and May 24, Jeanne D’Arc received a total of 35 submissions, all of which described someone who has made a positive impact on the lives of others.

The credit union announced Kwame Asamoah-Addo of Lowell, Susanne Beaton of Lowell, H. David Reed of Carlisle and Craig Schorer of Andover as winners of the 2019 Hometown Hero campaign.

City of Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Park

On June 27, the city of Lowell celebrated the grand opening of Kerouac park with live music, games and family fun.

Thirty years ago the city formally dedicated the Jack Kerouac Commemorative in what was then called Eastern Canal Park. The commemorative honored Jack Kerouac, Lowell’s hometown literary hero and author. Last year, in an effort to restore and revitalize the park, the city successfully launched a funding drive in collaboration with MassDevelopment through the civic crowdfunding platform Patronicity. Now known as Kerouac Park, the almost one-acre space will provide local residents and visitors with a downtown destination to enjoy music, play games, take part in group exercise classes and celebrate Lowell.

To learn more about the park’s activities, click here.

L-r: Karen Cirillo, Rita Mercier, Jay McQuaide, Lowell Mayor William Samaris, Steve Edington, Judith Bessette.

SpaceX Launch Puts UMass Lowell Research Into Orbit

An Air Force satellite launched into orbit this week via SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket carries an instrument built by UMass Lowell researchers to conduct experiments in space.

Space is a harsh and dangerous place. Aside from temperature extremes, high vacuum and bombardment of cosmic rays, there are also extremely high-energy particles dubbed “killer electrons” that can pose a hazard to the health of astronauts and shorten the lifespan of orbiting satellites. These electrons are the subject of the research being conducted by UMass Lowell via the satellite.

“These electrons, traveling at nearly the speed of light, are capable of damaging the satellites’ sensitive electronics and exposing astronauts to high doses of radiation,” said UMass Lowell Physics Prof. Paul Song of the university’s Space Science Lab.

To help understand how these harmful electrons are generated and can be mitigated, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) awarded a three-year contract to a team of UMass Lowell researchers led by Song to support the Air Force’s Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX) mission to the Earth’s radiation belts. The DSX’s objective is to explore the role of “wave-particle interaction” in the dynamics of these killer electrons.

Left: Air Force Research Laboratory DSX spacecraft in the final preparation stages before shipment to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The satellite includes research instrumentation designed and built by UMass Lowell researchers. Photo credit: U. S. Air Force. Right: A research team led by Physics Prof. Paul Song, right, in UMass Lowell’s Space Science Lab designed and built instrumentation for the new DSX satellite launched by a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The team – which includes Research Prof. Ivan Galkin, left, and physics major and Air Force ROTC cadet Brianna Croteau, center – will use the technology to study so-called “killer electrons” in space that can put astronauts and equipment at risk. Photo credit: Edwin Aguirre for UMass Lowell.

Mayor Presents Proclamation to Retiring Lazarus House Executive Director

Over 300 civic, community, business and religious leaders joined in honoring the retirement of longtime Lazarus House Executive Director Bridget Shaheen with a mass and reception at her alma mater, Merrimack College, on June 13.

For over 36 years, Shaheen led the charge in building Lazarus House from a five-bed emergency shelter to a multiservice agency serving those materially poor and homeless with a food pantry, soup kitchen, transitional housing and job training programs.

Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera, who honored Shaheen with a proclamation, said when he needed help with the homeless or the hungry of the city, he would call her. “Thank you for making Lawrence better,” he said.

Bridget Shaheen talks about her tenure with Doug Cook, board president, and Jeff Hassel, incoming executive director. Photo courtesy of Lazarus House Ministries.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Lowell General Hospital and Circle Health President & CEO Joseph A. White to Chair Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association Board of Trustees

Joseph A. White, MBA, FACHE, president & CEO, Lowell General Hospital and Circle Health, is the 79th Chair of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association (MHA). He succeeds Mark A. Keroack, MD, MPH, president & CEO, Baystate Health.

The MHA serves as the unified voice for Massachusetts hospitals on Beacon Hill and Capitol Hill. Its members include 71 licensed hospitals, many of which are organized within 29 member health systems.

In his inaugural address, White urged attendees to think beyond the walls of their own facilities to connect all the components of the commonwealth’s health system, and to work collaboratively to advance and improve health for everyone in the commonwealth. White will serve a one-year term.

Pamela Huntley Named Megan House Foundation Executive Director

The Megan House Foundation announced Pamela Huntley as the organization’s executive director. Huntley previously served on the foundation’s board of directors before assuming the executive director role on an interim basis early this year. She came to Megan’s House after spending a decade at Lowell General Hospital, most recently as the director of community relations and at the Center for Community Health & Wellness.

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Catie’s Closet

October 24, 2016 by Jill Gambon Leave a Comment

A Local Charity Helps Keep Kids in School by Providing the Basics.

Stacks of neatly folded jeans line the shelves in a room at Lowell High School. Blouses, polo shirts, hoodies and other items are organized, sized and hanging from racks. Shoes, sneakers and boots are lined up in rows, waiting to be worn.

The room may look like a hip consignment boutique, but it’s Catie’s Closet, a nonprofit that offers students who are homeless or facing financial difficulties free clothing and other necessities — including shampoo, soap, shaving supplies, and even bus passes — that they cannot afford to buy. For many students, having the basics — a winter coat, clean socks and underwear, or a bottle of body wash — is what they need to keep coming to school.

“Catie’s Closet is a lifeline for some kids,” says Lyndsey Sousa, a social worker at the LeBlanc Therapeutic Day School in Lowell, one of 14 public schools in Lowell and Hudson, N.H., that provides space for a Catie’s Closet. “Some students have no access to things like hygiene products that most people take for granted.”

The organization was founded by Anne-Marie Bisson to honor her daughter, Catie, who died of a rare connective tissue disease in 2010. A 2008 graduate of Lowell High School who was studying English at Bridgewater State University, Catie firmly believed in the power of education to transform people’s lives, Bisson says.

In the aftermath of her daughter’s death, Bisson came up with the idea for an organization to help local high school students who couldn’t afford necessities (the organization has since expanded to help kids in the lower grades). Months before, she had read a newspaper article about the plight of local homeless teenagers that gripped her heart. Details of the teens’ struggles stuck with her, and as Bisson was driving home from work one night — she is vice president of financial education at Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union — the idea of “Catie’s Closet” was born. She has been on a mission ever since.

Anne-Marie Bisson, who founded Catie’s Closet to honor her late daughter, inside the organization’s Donation Center in Dracut. Photo by Kevin Harkins.

“It all starts with education,” Bisson says. “If kids feel like they fit in, they will have confidence and want to go to school. If their attendance goes up, their grades go up.”

Social workers or teachers who know students in need usually refer them to Catie’s Closet for help. For kids who are homeless or
live in poverty, the racks of donated clothing may provide a rare chance to score trendy teen labels such as Nike, American Eagle or Abercrombie & Fitch.

“For some kids, this is an opportunity they would never have,” Sousa says. “For teenagers, fitting in is so vital. A trip to Catie’s Closet brings them joy and excitement.”

Catie’s Closet accepts donations of new or gently used clothing in current styles in girls’ and boys’ sizes 4 to 20, teen girls’ sizes 3 to 15, and teen boys’ sizes extra small
to extra large. Cash donations help pay for bus passes, new underwear, socks or special requests that come in through school
social workers.

Groups and individuals have sponsored clothing and toiletry drives to help replenish supplies. Earlier this year, for instance, the Young Professionals of Greater Lowell collected 200 pairs of flip-flops just in time for summer. Volunteers have spent weekends at schools renovating, painting and retrofitting Catie’s Closet sites.
The organization has been awarded several grants, and now runs an annual fundraiser in March to raise money to continue its work.

Bisson says the outpouring of community support and the organization’s rapid expansion have been overwhelming at times. But with the need so great, she sees continued growth ahead. Her goal is to have a Catie’s Closet in all of Lowell’s public schools.

“It’s what Catie would have wanted,” she says. “I believe her purpose was Catie’s Closet.”

Former information including donation drop-off locations, visit CatiesCloset.org.