Mayor Manzi and Representative Campbell have teamed up to fight hunger. They are asking city employees, residents and businesses to make donations of nonperishable items to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank. The Food Bank provides food to several local pantries and shelters. Your efforts will help to eliminate hunger in our community so that people are better able to face other daily challenges.

The Drive will run from March 19th to March 26th. Donations of nonperishable food items can be dropped off at the Nevins Memorial Library during regular Library Hours, the Methuen City Hall Lobby, or the Methuen Senior Center Lobby, Monday-Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Friday
from 8:00 a.m. to Noon.

Food Needs & Suggestions: Canned Vegetables (low sodium),
Canned Fruit (in lite syrup or juice), Canned Meat & Fish, Beef Stew/Soups, Peanut Butter, Baby Food/Formula, Mac & Cheese, Rice & Pasta, Spaghetti Sauce, Parmalat Shelf Stable Milk

Play a Role in Fighting Hunger – Your Help is Greatly Needed

Saturday April 10, 2010
11:00am

The race will begin and end at
the Fireside Restaurant and Pub located on 171 Pelham St. in Methuen, MA.

Registration: $25.00 per runner, you can print a standard registration form from this site.If you are registering more than one person, a separate form must be filled out for each additional person. Make checks payable to the:Dan Ford Foundation. Mail registration form and check to: RE/MAX Prestige – 100 Bridge St. – Pelham, NH 03076 – Attention: Malcolm Fulford. Online registration is also available.

On April 7, 2009, after a long, hard, tough, and brave fight, Dan lost his battle with cancer. Dan was a competitive person by nature. He was inducted into the Methuen Hall of Fame in 1997 for his athletic accomplishments while at Methuen High School from 1984 to 1988. Dan was one of the regions top running backs. He scored 10 touchdowns as a junior and 6 as a senior while being credited with back to back 1,000 yard seasons. The powerful Ford was also a top quarter-miler on the track team. He was the Class B runner up in both his junior and senior years (50.8 seconds). Dan was a powerful force on the hockey team as well. Therefore, to honor the life of Danny Ford, and to continue the fight against cancer we will be holding this race every year. All of the money raised from this event will go towards athletic scholarships, and aiding the victims of cancer. Please join us for this 2nd annual event. The race will begin and end at the Fireside Restaurant and Pub in Methuen, MA. The race will be followed by an award ceremony and an eventful post race party!

The 5 mile category is USATF Certified, and both categories will be chip timed by Yankee Timing and Race Management.

Trophies: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place trophies for the 5 mile and 5k categories, male and female ( A total of 84 trophies! ) 19 and under, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70 and over

Cash Prizes: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, male and female, for the 5 mile category. ( No age groups, top 3 male and female over all)

The 5 mile category is USATF Certified, and both categories will be chip timed by Yankee Timing and Race Management.

Raffles: We will be raffling off tickets to the Patriots, Red Sox, and Bruins! Mann’s Orchard has donated 4 raffles of 1 pie of your choice per month for 6 months! There will also be several other exciting raffles.

There will be a special performance by the band Prospect Hill from 2:00pm to 4:00pm in the afternoon!
Pre-registration and number pick up will be on Thursday, April 8th, from 5:00pm to 8:00pm at the Fireside Restaurant and Pub-171 Pelham St.-Methuen, MA ( No Credit Cards Accepted )

Race day registration and number pick up will be from 9:00am to 10:30am at the Fireside Restaurant and Pub-171 Pelham St.-Methuen,MA ( No Credit Cards Accepted )

Upon completion of the 5 mile and 5k categories, there will be a complimentary water station and a pasta salad & fruit station, for all registered participants.

Malcolm Fulford Event Promoter
RE/MAX Prestige
100 Bridge Street
Pelham, NH 03076

The Nevins Memorial Library has partnered with the Methuen Adult Learning Center and the Literacy Volunteers of Massachusetts to develop an adult literacy program to bring free, private, flexible, individualized instruction to adults in the community who are struggling everyday with basic reading and language problems. The waiting list for classroom programs in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and Basic Education (ABE) is long and so we are offering this alternative program to help those individuals who, for one reason or another, are unable to commit to those programs.

Volunteers need only be high school graduates and be fluent English speakers. While previous teaching experience and foreign language abilities may be a bonus they are not required to become a tutor. We will provide training, materials, tutoring space and ongoing support if you will commit only 8 hours a month to tutoring a needy student. We do ask that you take an 18 hr. training course spread over 6 weeks and commit to nine months as a tutor. Please contact Sue Jefferson 978 686-4080 x32 to reserve a spot in the orientations and/or trainings. You must have attended an orientation to be admitted to the training sessions.

Tutor Orientation:
Tuesday, April 6, 7-8 pm
Thursday, April 8, 10–11am
Saturday, April 17, 10-11am

ESOL Tutor Trainings (English for speakers of Other Languages)
Wednesday, April 21, & 28, 6:30-9:30 pm
Wednesday, May 5, 12, 19, & 26, 6:30-9:30 pm

Tutors must attend one orientation session and each of the training dates. For more info contact Sue, 978 686-4080 x32 or LitVolMeth@gmail.com

Methuen Department Of Emergency Management
Contact Person:
John Santoro, Executive Director
41 Pleasant Street, Suite 313

To inquire click here to get to Massachusetts Volunteerism Website

Volunteer Opportunity Details:

Emergency shelter volunteers will be responsible to staff and assist with setting up emergency shelters throughout the city in times of disaster and emergencies. Emergency shelter volunteers will be trained by various agencies and companies including the American Red Cross. All volunteers will go through a thorough screening process including, but not limited to a criminal background check.

Volunteers will be required to go through various training programs if not already trained. Those with prior training and experience in shelter operations are encouraged to apply.

Volunteers may be called upon during various times of the day and night for their services.

We need volunteers who are free at these times
Afternoons Weekdays
Evenings Weekends
Mornings

This volunteer opportunity is available to the following types of volunteers
Adults (26-54) Individual
Adults (55+) Young Adults (18-25)

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteers will be responsible to assist the City of Methuen’s Department of Emergency Management throughout the city in times of disaster and emergencies.

“The CERT Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community”.

CERT volunteers will be trained by various agencies and companies including; the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, American Heart Association, and the American Red Cross. All volunteers will go through a thorough screening process including, but not limited to a criminal background check.

Volunteers will be required to go through various training programs if not already trained. Those with prior training and experience in CERT operations are encouraged to apply.

Volunteers may be called upon during various times of the day and night for their services.

All volunteers will require a predetermined level of training as it relates to their role in the CERT.

We need volunteers who are free at these times
Afternoons Weekdays
Evenings Weekends
Mornings

This volunteer opportunity is available to the following types of volunteers
Adults (26-54) Young Adults (18-25)
Adults (55+)

go to Shaws.com

click on CARES – Helping our communities
Click on COMMUNITY
Click on COMMUNITY REWARDS
Click on SHOPPERS LOGIN

Enter your Shaws card umber off the back of your card;
Enter your phone number (the one you used when you signed up for your shaws card)

On the next screen, enter the ARMV Number 49001024694.

Thank you for this
ARMV can use the donations!

Animal Rescue Merrimack Valley will be producing a fundraiser cookbook in the next few months.

We are asking for donations of your best vegetarian recipe.
If you have a favorite recipe you would like to share please send it  to info@methuencommon.com

Sponsorship ads inside the book will also be available, please inquire.

Animal Rescue

Merrimack Valley
PO Box 8006
Bradford , MA 01835
978-374-7233
Adoptions@armv.org

METHUEN — A rivalry between Methuen Mayor William Manzi and former Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan will be renewed during a rumble on Burnham Road this Saturday. The two men, along with state Sen. Steven Baddour and Fox 25 television personality Doug Goudie, also known as VB, will square off in a charity dodge ball match at Interstate Gymnastics & Dance at 5 Burnham Road. “I thought the rivalry terminated Jan. 4 when I was no longer in office, but he just can’t get enough of beating me,” said Sullivan, who is now working at his family’s insurance agency, T.A. Sullivan Agency.

Some people may remember when Manzi and Sullivan went head to head in a 2007 dodge ball game, and Manzi’s team claimed victory. “There was a dispute about that, but seeing as though the competition itself was held in Methuen, my word was given a little more weight than his,” Manzi said. “Whether I actually did win or not may be open to question.”

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Saturday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Interstate Gymnastics & Dance
5 Burnham Road, Methuen

All the money raised will go to Children’s Hospital Boston.
People are asked to bring nonperishable food to help restock the shelves at the Lazarus House shelter in Lawrence.
For more information 978-975-8196.

The Merrimack Valley Food Bank will run out of food by the end of next month unless it steps up food collections, an official there said.

The Lowell-based organization, which supplies homeless shelters and soup kitchens in Greater Lawrence and throughout the region, is down almost 45 percent on food donations, while demand from the agencies it supplies is up by more than 60 percent, said Lisa Couturier, business development and fundraising coordinator.

As companies have laid off workers and cut employees’ pay, more people have turned to social services for help feeding their families, an increase that has led to the diminished supply at the food bank.

“We’re serving the working poor now,” Couturier said “It’s not just people who are out of work.’

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to Donate:
Merrimack Valley Food Bank

http://www.mvfb.org/

• Fundraiser at Papa Gino’s
Monday, February 1st, 2010 4:00-9:30pm
Papa Gino’s, Rockingham Mall, Salem, NH

Papa Gino’s Salem NH Feb 1st, 2010 COUPON

• Fundraiser at Papa Gino’s with Kitten and Cat adoptions next door at Petco!
Thursday, March 18th, 2010 4:00-9:30pm
Papa Gino’s, 9 Plaistow Rd, Plaistow, NH
Papa Gino’s Plaistow, NH, March 13, 2010 COUPON

Animal Rescue Merrimack Valley
www.armv.org
PO Box 8006
Bradford , MA 01835
978-374-7233

Letter: Thanks for helping with food drive

To the editor:

We at the Veterans Northeast Outreach Center would like to thank everyone for their support of the food drive at Thwaites Market in Methuen on Dec. 4. The donations go directly to the many veterans and families in the Merrimack Valley who utilize the food pantry at our 10 Reed Street, Haverhill campus.

We also would like to acknowledge the time, effort and support of Thwaites’ Ken Greenwood and his staff as well as WCCM’s Bruce Arnold and Andrew Sheehan. Their sponsorship of the food drive and continued support for our veterans is greatly appreciated.

BRUCE CAMPBELL
Veterans Northeast Outreach Center
Haverhill