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Holding on to HOPE:
National Children's Grief Awareness Day 2017
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| TCR staff and interns hosted CGAD outreach and awareness activities at 7 different schools and community centers throughout Greater Boston |
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Thursday, November 16th, was National Children's Grief Awareness Day! We were proud to wear blue to show our support and to connect with the community to raise awareness of the unique needs of grieving children and teens.
Leading up to the event, we asked our TCR community to share their thoughts on the importance of grief awareness and support. Their beautiful handwritten reflections were written on blue hearts.
Once completed, every two hearts were joined together as a butterfly, symbolizing the integration of grief and awareness and the changes that occur as we support each other with care and understanding.
Ultimately, all of the messages we received were gathered and assembled by our incredible interns into one big, beautiful display.
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Grieving During The Holidays:
Tips & Tools To Help You Through
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If you celebrate, Thanksgiving Day may be a special moment of the year dedicated to celebrating and acknowledging our gratitude. Thanksgiving can be an especially complicated and difficult time for those who are grieving. For some, Thanksgiving ushers in the beginning of a holiday season that can feel relentless in the way it impacts our emotions.
Here are some tips on how you can help take care of yourself and those close to you during Thanksgiving and during the holiday season to come.
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Extending Our Welcome:
A "Vision of Hope" Tour of The Children's Room
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Our "Middles" Room set up for a fall tour
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Many people do not know that attending or hosting
"A Vision of Hope" tour is one of the most important ways to support the work of The Children's Room. Please help us spread the word about the lasting difference we can make in the lives of grieving children, teens, and adults by inviting your friends and colleagues on a tour of our Arlington home.
The philosophy behind our tours is an introduction to The Children's Room, and a way to spread awareness of the work we do with our families and in the larger community.
The tour is one hour and includes an overview of our history and services from our Executive Director, testimonials from our families, and a tour of our Arlington center led by our staff. Please know the tours are not about asking people to make a donation; the focus is to help spread awareness about the work we do.
We also offer a "tour in a box" where we can bring our tour to your home, community, or workplace. This is a good option if you have people who you think would be interested in learning about our work, but are not able to get to Arlington easily.
If you are interested in learning more about attending or hosting a tour, please email Becca Harris, Philanthropy Coordinator, at
tours@childrensroom.org.
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Teen Program Participants
Cheer on BU Men's Hockey
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"[It's a] good place to talk about your loss and meet kids
in the same position." ~ TCR Teen Program Participant
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On November 3rd, 12 participants from TCR's Teen Program enjoyed a night out together, cheering the BU Terriers Men's Ice Hockey team to a 2-0 win versus Providence College! Each of the teens received a new BU hat, stadium meal, and had the opportunity to go out onto the ice rink, meeting the mascot and collecting pucks.
Most importantly, the group had the time and opportunity to connect with one another in an engaging, exciting setting. TCR staff facilitated a round of icebreaker activities and Opening Circle at TCR so that the teens could relax, mix it up, and recognize shared experiences before departing for Agganis Arena. One teen shared "It's a good way to meet teens while also doing something fun," and another responded "It was great, I look forward to doing it again soon!"
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Teens had a great time out on the ice collecting
pucks from the "Chuck-a-Puck" fundraiser!
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The teens said that "the people and the event were very awesome" and expressed genuine appreciation for our BU hosts. In addition to donating the hats and tickets to the game, BU generously featured The Children's Room for the Chuck-a-puck fundraiser. This brought awareness of TCR's mission and raised important funds towards ongoing grief support programming. Special thanks goes out to
98.5 The Sports Hub for coordinating this wonderful event!
Upcoming Teen Event:
TCR Teen Culinary Day at Milk Street Kitchen
Registration for our TCR Teen Culinary Day is currently full, but there is a waitlist for this event. Please use the registration button below if you would like to sign up for the waitlist.
We are looking forward to TCR Teen
Culinary Day
at
Milk Street Kitchen
in Boston on
December 9th
.
Teens will explore a variety of unique flavor combinations and test their taste buds, as staff from
Christopher Kimball's Milk Street
provide demonstrations and inspiration in crafting several different recipes. Teens will collaborate in small teams to prepare and cook dishes, and then will enjoy a family style meal together, tasting the variety of foods created throughout the day.
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Our Next Volunteer Training
Begins Friday, January 5th
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We are currently planning our next Volunteer Facilitator Training that will occur in January 2018.
Trained volunteer facilitators are valued members of our bi-weekly family peer support groups.
If you are interested in becoming a TCR Peer Support Group Facilitator, please submit an application as soon as possible. Our next Volunteer Training begins on January 5th.
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Save the Date to Give Back:
#GivingTuesday is November 28th
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After Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, be sure to set aside some time after the shopping rush to kick off the season of giving with us on
#GivingTuesday
!
This year, we ask that you support The Children's Room by donating to our
2018 "Miles & Memories" Boston Marathon team as they prepare to run the Boston Marathon, fundraise for our hope-giving programs, and raise awareness for The Children's Room.
Stay tuned to our Facebook page for further details!
Meanwhile, mark your calendars for
November 28th
, and
please consider donating
to give the gift of hope to children and teens who are grieving the death of a parent or sibling this holiday season.
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Our Annual Appeal Mailing Volunteers
By our calculations, it took over 100 volunteer hours of folding, stuffing, and sealing to get this year's annual appeal mailing to the post office. WHEW! Huge thanks to all of our volunteers for all of their time and effort getting everything ready to mail, and a very special thank you to Board Member Mary Ellen Margosian
for once again offering her home as our mailing's assembly headquarters!
 Bill McFarland of JorAl Concepts
Warm thanks to Bill McFarland, of
JorAl Concepts, for his continued in-kind support! Each year for the past few years, Bill has generously provided all of the butterfly stickers that we distribute for Children's Grief Awareness Day. Receiving these stickers free of charge allows us to spread awareness of the unique needs of grieving children, teens, and families each year.
Susan Cormier & Kim Gruber
Thank you so much to our Master Gardener Volunteer,
Susan Cormier, and our Garden Volunteer Liaison,
Kim Gruber! Susan and Kim have dedicated themselves throughout the year to helping to keep our garden beautiful. By providing their expertise, their experience, and their time in our garden, and
by leading TCR volunteers and community volunteer groups, they have played a pivotal role in making The Children's Room a welcoming, peaceful place for grieving children, teens, and families.
Jonathan DeVito
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Holiday Shopping With A Purpose
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If you're using
Amazon.com to get a head start on your holiday shopping, p
lease remember to support TCR while you shop!
Log on at
smile.amazon.com, then select TCR as your charity of choice. A portion of your eligible purchases will be donated to us!
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Donate Today to Support
Grieving Children, Teens & Families
Your giving dollars matter to The Children's Room.
We thank you for your connection to our mission to create safe, supportive communities, so that no child, teen, or family has to grieve alone. It is critical that our services are offered to our families free of charge. Please donate today to provide the gift of hope to the families we serve.
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1210 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA 02476
Phone: 781-641-4741
Fax: 781-641-0012
childrensroom.org
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