Horticulture Therapy: It’s all About My Plants

The Horticulture class I had planned for this week did not pan out because of the unseasonable cold over the last month. The plants in my yard and garden that were supposed to be ready are not. So what to do? Well I figured that I would put together a slide show/video about my garden that I am calling, “Horticultural Therapy: It’s all about my plants.” These pictures give a glimpse of what is going on in my yard right now in mid-May.

Every year is different and this one is no exception. The rhubarb and sorrel have exploded from the soil with vigor as have the garlic that was planted in the Fall. Anything that was put directly into the ground or transplanted from my flats that were started over a month ago, not so much. But that is the fate of gardening: there are no failures, only lessons.

For those of you looking to go to Ann’s Place at some point in the next few weeks, I will have the raised beds holding herbs mostly planted up. Late this week, weather permitting, I will finish up the gardens with tender annuals (though I may hold off on the basil for a week) and renew the center bed with nearly a dozen scented geraniums including chocolate, lemon, rose and nutmeg. This, combined with the adjacent mint walk, offers a real scratch and sniff experience.

By the end of the week it looks like the cold weather will finally be behind us and warmer weather will greet us. Time to enjoy.

Three Keys to Wellness

By Alison DiPinto, MA, LPC

I believe there are 3 basic keys to wellness:

1. Connection to body

2. Connection to breath

3. Connection to nature

To illustrate, here are two collective experiences we may have had at one time or another:

You’re on the beach.  It’s late afternoon, and the heat from the sun is starting to weaken.  You notice and feel the warmth from the day on your skin (body).  You breathe in the smell of the sea air (breath).  You focus in on the tempo of the waves, the horizon that separates sky from sea (nature) and all feels right at that moment. 

OR….. maybe you’re more drawn to the mountains or forests:

You’re walking or hiking amongst the trees. You feel the quickening of your heart rate and some extra heat from within (body) you stop and take the clean air into your lungs (breath).  You look up or out and see peaks and trees, and a bird flying across the sky (nature) and everything feel as it should be.  

Of course, most of us can’t be in these scenarios every day, but we can connect to our body, breath and nature on a regular basis.  All it takes is a little intention and attention.

Try this every day for one week:  Walk through your door that leads to the outside.  Breathe in and out slowly and easily, 3 times paying attention to how this feels. Next, see if you can match a simple motion with your breath.  Try inhaling and moving your arms up above your head, and exhaling, bringing them back to your sides.  Or try just a simple shoulder shrug.  Do that 3 times.  Next, look at the landscape that holds you. It may be urban or rural or suburban.  All have their offerings; flowers, grass, trees, birds. But maybe where you are it’s hard to find the natural world. In that case, look up at the vast sky.  Whether it be blue, or gray, or a deep navy full of stars, it’s always there with its endless, mysterious beauty. Let’s take the time to connect to what is always available and there we can find what we need.

Virtual Horticultural Therapy: Take a walk on the wild side (at Ann’s Place)

By Erik Keller, Horticulture Therapist

One of the few things all of us can do (still) is to take a stroll outside and experience the awakening of the Earth as the days get warmer and longer this Spring. One of the best places to do this now is right here at Ann’s Place. A crackerjack group of volunteers have been helping me over the last few weeks tidy everything up so the place is looking great. I have put out most of the benches (some still need to be refinished) so there are plenty of places to walk, have a seat, and reflect on life.

And not to be missed is the display of nearly 15,000 daffodils.

Let’s go!

Starting on the left side of the building as you face the main entrance, take a peek at the Lenten roses (Hellebore) on the right as you pass the building. They are an early flowering plant that we put in last year and are having their first display. You may be distracted, however, by the nearby flowering weeping cherry (Prunus pendula) that is bursting with colorful blossoms.

Walking toward the back, on your left, the tuffs of recently cut sea oats grasses (Uniola paniculata) have just started their reemergence. Further down toward the picnic table, buds are appearing on the American holly bushes (Ilex opaca) as the sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) ground cover pokes its way thorough the leaf litter. Over the next few weeks, feel free to snip off a few woodruff sprigs before they flower to make a delicious Spring drink, May wine.

To your right, the plants in mint (Mentha) walk are coming back.  Bend down and rub your fingers in them, expressing their essential oils, to experience their different scents. The three raised beds nearby are in different stages of recovery. Many of the perennials in the kitchen garden, to the far left, have started to emerge. The annuals will be planted within a month as well as the scented geraniums that reside in the center raised bed.  Coneflower (Echinacea), sage (Salvia officinalis) and chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) are regrowing in the medicinal raised bed that is on the far right.

Going through the gate (please don’t forget to latch it,) the first swash of daffodils (Narcissus) will greet you on the left. This garden was the first we planted nearly 10 years ago and the first to be refreshed last Fall with nearly 3,000 new bulbs. If you look carefully in this area over the next week, new ferns are emerging including the very tasty and edible fiddlehead or ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris.) This fern is easily identified by the notch along its stem and should be harvested before its frond unravels.

Walking on the stone dust path toward the labyrinth, a few stray grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum ) dot its edges near the wetlands the defines most of the 4.5 acres that is Ann’s Place. Keep your eyes open for emerging Jack-in-the-pulpits (Arisaema triphyllum) plants. Before this plant flowers, it is often confused with poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) and trillium (Trillium) as all have a similar three-leaf configuration prior to flowering.

It is early but the buds on the red (Aronia arbutifolia) and black (Aronia melanocarpa) chokeberries, and azaleas (Rhododendron) along the back paths are swelling and ready to burst out in the next few weeks.

Exiting the enclosed back area (please don’t forget to latch the gate,) standing on a bridge you come into view of nearly 7,000 daffodils of different colors and scents. It washes over your eyes in a gentle curve leading to an arbor covered with four budding American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens,) which will flower out in the months to come. To your right are two stone benches adjacent to a wall, soon to be covered with hops vines (Humulus lupulus) that have sprouted at its base. These vines are sending up tendrils that in the summer months will cover the black wire fence above with green leaves and yellow cone-shaped flowers.

Resting, in front of the wetlands covered with invasive Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), you should consider a contemplative circuit around the labyrinth. But before you leave, take a deep breadth of clean air, listen for a lonely woodpecker bang out a rhythm against a hollow tree, gaze out toward the greening trees and try to look forward toward the better days that will come.

Virtual Horticultural Therapy: Microgreens and greens

Our class this week at Ann’s Place, for which many of you signed up, is on growing microgreens. Microgreens are fast and easy to grow: it is your own garden that will feed your inner herbivore within a few weeks of planting.  Here are two trays of greens that I planted a few weeks ago; the barren portion on the left is some space spinach that has just started to sprout. Juana, my wife is greedily looking to start eating. And she will in the next week.

Microgreens are a fun way to keep fresh veggies within arm’s reach. In a few weeks you can be feasting (well at least munching) handfuls of delicious stuff. You may feel your inner rabbit coming out during the growth phase (2-4 weeks) but withhold early desires to munch on anything until “true leaves” emerge.

To do this exercise you need three things: Seeds, soil and containers.

Lots of different seeds and mixes are available individually and in collections from companies including Johnny’s, Fedco, Territorial. The mix I will send you includes three different mixes from Fedco (Greens Mix: beets, chard, arugula, mustards, orachs, purslane, chervil and kales. Mustard mix: mizuna, chervil, endives, sorrel, Red Giant mustard, arugula and tatsoi. Lettuce mix: six unlisted varieties) Easiest seeds to grow: Arugula, corn, cress, kale, mesclun, nasturtiums, mizuna, sunflowers, pac choi, peas, mustards. Agway in Danbury is open (and does curbside delivery,) has seeds and soil last time I checked as do many local supermarkets.

Soil:  If you don’t have access to soil, let me know with your seed request and I will send you a recipe for soil that you can make from things in your house.  If you are digging some soil from your back yard, try to look for samples that are light in weight rather than heavy e.g. full of clay. It is best to sterilize it before using; put your soil on a cookie tray or oven-safe dish at 200 degrees for 30 minutes. Let it cool.

If you are buying soil, top soil is too heavy to start seedlings. Look for a good organic mix (Coast of Maine is particularly good; avoid Miracle-Gro) You can make your own, however, with the following recipe: 1 part peat moss, 1 part compost/manure, 1 part perlite, sprinkling of kelp meal.  This is also a great mix for potting up plants in the spring and summer.

Containers: Any container can be used to grow microgreens: plastic containers from the supermarket for greens, take-home clamshells, milk and egg cartons, etc. Commercial growers (and I) use 1020 trays (10”x20”) (You can get them on Amazon; don’t pay more than $2 each including shipping) Holes should be put in the bottom of any container to minimize threat of mold and fungus. Best way to prevent this is for each crop have two same-sized containers, one with holes one without. Put a thin layer of stones in the container without holes and nest the one with holes on top.

TECHNIQUE:

1)    Place around 2 inches of moist (not damp) soil in your container.

2)   Using a stick, etch rows in the container about 1.5 inches apart, ¼ inch deep. You can also use a “broadcast method” where you spread seeds over a wide vs. narrow space so it looks like a field of greens.

3)   Using a cup, hand seed spreader or fingers, put seeds in rows ¼ inch apart. Cover seeds with soil.

4)  Water containers with spray bottle.

5)  Container should get 6 hours of sun each day. Continue watering ensuring that soil does not dry out. Be careful, though that the trays are not waterlogged as microgreens are susceptible to fungus and mold. If there is not moving air near your tray, you might want to put a small fan nearby. As it is getting warmer, after the seeds germinate you can put them outside during the day. Just be careful of hungry critters. For now the greens should be brought in during the evening unless they are protected from cold and animals.

6)  Harvesting can be done when leaves reach a height of 1.5 to 2 inches in height; these are true microgreens and you can start to harvest them with a very sharp scissor. However, you can wait for other greens to reach heights of 3-5 inches where they will bunch up with multiple leaves. Some varieties can be harvested multiple times. Experiment to see what works best for you.

Reference book: Cooking with Microgreens: The grow your own superfood, Sal Gilbertie. Sal is a local farmer who has a great store in Westport, farm in Easton, and has contributed a lot to Ann’s Place. He is the largest grower of organic herbs in the U.S. The book is around $7.50 used on Amazon.

Now you can get both greens and microgreens from this planting. As your microgreens get ready to harvest, thin out those plants that are the closest to each other leaving space for the other ones to grow. In a few more weeks you can have full sized greens to eat. Thinning out the small makes room for the large.

So that is it for this class and I hope everyone is safe and healthy. At Ann’s Place we do have the capability for video conferencing via Zoom. If folks are interested, we could set up some video classes later this month. Just ping me and let me know.

Take care and be well,

erik

Virtual Horticultural Therapy: Forcing Flowering Branches

This year’s warm Winter is translating to an early Spring. Both daffodil gardens at Ann’s Place are beginning to show their colors so if you are in the neighborhood you should drop by to take a look. If you are new to AP, one swath is in the back yard area near one of the sculptures. The other is over the chain-link fence to the right as you enter the property.

Consider a taking singular and self-reflective walk around our labyrinth as you view the patterns of blooming narcissus.

Getting outside is healthy and happy. And one of the best things to do this week is to cut a variety of bushes and trees for forcing. A common stem that is at the top of the list is forsythia (Forsythia Vahl) with its delicate yellow flowers. But there are lots others including:

Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis)
Flowering quince (Chaenomeles japonica)
Crabapple (Malus sylvestris)
Pussy willow (Salix discolor)
Red maple (Acer rubrum)
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis)
Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis)

Here is a picture of a collection of pussy willows, forsythia, crabapple, flowering quince and eastern redbud that my wife Juana and I put together. (OK, I cheated and got the pussy willows from Trader Joe’s.)

Typically there is different timings to cut branches to force.  But the current spate of hot weather is causing everything to come out at the same time. Two good articles on the web for more detailed info and techniques are the Farmer’s Almanac and Fine Gardening.

But here is my quick and dirty way of doing it.

1) Get a pair of clean pruners and go out when the temperature is above freezing. Early sunny afternoons when the temperatures are the highest are best.

2) Look for branches with distinctive buds or leaves that are emerging. There is lots of things out there leafing out. My butterfly bushes already have leaves that are ½ inch large.

3) Cut branches on the diagonal 12-inches to 24-inches depending upon the size of vase you want to use. Try to cut branches that would be trimmed anyway and not ones that will compromise the shape of the plant.

4) Bring branches inside immediately placing them into water.

5) Fill up your vase with room temperature water.

6) Select your branches and cut again on the diagonal also making two thin, 1-inch vertical cuts on the branch’s bottom that will be placed in water. These cuts facilitate water transport. If branch is too thin or you don’t trust yourself, skip this step. No lost fingers here!

7) Place branches in water, tallest in the center. Arrange to taste.

8) Put vase in indirect light away from heat. If house is very dry, mist every day so buds don’t fall off. Change water every 2-3 days to minimize bacteria and rot.

If you do this, you should get flowers and lovely Spring green leaves in anywhere from one to three weeks.

Keeping You Safe at Ann's Place

UPDATE: Ann’s Place has closed to all in-person meetings. You may reach staff by phone and email during their normal working hours. Please note that some staff are part-time and will get back to you as soon as they can.

It is easy to get caught up in the news and overly stress ourselves about the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). It is important to follow some basic steps to reduce the spread of the Coronavirus, but please know that worrying more is not one of those steps.

Here at Ann’s Place, we are asking all guests to follow these best practices:

Washing Your Hands is Best: 20-30 seconds with soap and water as many times a day as possible. Everyone is welcome to use the kitchen and bathroom sinks anytime while visiting Ann’s Place. We also have Purell bottles in many locations if you can’t get to a sink.

Don’t Touch Your Face: The average person touches their face 90x a day! If you can’t stop, you may want to wear a light mask. The mask does not protect you from direct contamination, but it simply helps you break the habit of touching your mouth and nose. According to Dr. James Robb “The virus is on surfaces and you will not be infected unless your unprotected face is directly coughed or sneezed upon. This virus only has cell receptors for lung cells (it only infects your lungs) The only way for the virus to infect you is through your nose or mouth via your hands or an infected cough or sneeze onto or into your nose or mouth.”

No Handshaking: It is best to avoid handshaking until flu season is done. Try out a fist or elbow bump instead.

Clean Surfaces: The Coronavirus can live on a surface for up to 9 days. As a result, we will be wiping down surfaces before and after programs. There will be a container of wipes in the common areas, such as the kitchen and wait areas. Please grab a wipe and clean the area before and after use.

If Sick, Stay Home: We do not allow anyone into the building who is sick. Even if you just have a non-contagious lingering cough, this can cause a lot of anxiety to other people in the building who have compromised immune systems.

Keep Us Posted: Please alert us if you had contact with Ann’s Place after being near someone with Coronavirus so we can warn other clients and cleanse the building. If you have recently traveled to a “Level 2-3” travel advisory country (China, Iran, Italy, Japan or South Korea), you should stay home until you have been cleared by a doctor.

If We Close: We will send out a note by email and will post on our home page if we need to close. In the case that we do, many groups may have a dial-in option.

Questions?

Information in this email is not intended to be medical advice. If you have any questions about COVID-19, please visit the website of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

How to Qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits with Cancer

By Eric Minghella, emm@ssd-help.org

Cancer is one of the most common illnesses, and one of the most debilitating. That’s because there are more than 200 different kinds of cancer. Nearly two million people each year are diagnosed with some type of cancer. Some cancers, if caught early enough, are treatable but sadly others are not treatable or are caught too late for any treatment to be effective. People who are diagnosed with cancer and expect that they will be unable to work for at least a year because of that cancer can file a claim for Social Security disability benefits to help cover their basic living costs while they fight cancer.

Medically Qualifying for Disability Benefits Because Of Cancer

Before your claim for benefits can be approved you must medically qualify for Social Security disability benefits. All of the medical conditions that are eligible for disability benefits, including various kinds of cancers, are listed in the Social Security Administration’s Blue Book. Each individual listing in the book describes the requirements that someone must meet in order to medically qualify for disability benefits because of that illness.

Most cancers only qualify someone to receive benefits if that cancer meets one of these criteria:

• The cancer has spread beyond the region of origin

• The cancer is inoperable

• The cancer is recurrent despite treatment

Late stage cancer or terminal cancer can make a person eligible for a Compassionate Allowance, which means that the person’s claim for benefits will get processed quickly to allow them to start receiving money quickly. In this situation people can start getting benefits in as little as two weeks in some cases. When you file a claim for disability benefits you will need to submit documentation proving your illness, like oncology reports, treatment plans and records, and statements from a doctor. But, the strict medical requirements to qualify for benefits because of cancer don’t mean that someone with a less aggressive cancer or a cancer that was caught early can’t get benefits.

Medical Vocational Allowance

If you have cancer that can be treated but the treatments make it so that you cannot work you may still be eligible for Social Security disability benefits through the Medical Vocational Allowance. In order to get a Medical Vocational Allowance, you need to file a claim for benefits and ask for a Residual Functional Capacity evaluation. These exams are done by the Social Security Administration. They are designed to see if there is any type of work that you can do while you are sick. If the evaluation finds that there isn’t any kind of work that you can do with the skills, you have and the limitations of your illness then you can be approved for disability benefits.

Start Your Disability Claim Today

If you have been diagnosed with cancer and you can’t work don’t wait to file a claim for social Security disability. File a claim online or call your local SSA office and make an appointment. Bring copies of all of your medical records to the appointment and someone at the SSA will help you file a claim.

Resources:

https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/AdultListings.htm

https://www.disability-benefits-help.org/list-of-social-security-disability-resources/compassionate-allowance-explained

https://www.disability-benefits-help.org/glossary/medical-vocational-allowance

https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0424510006

https://www.ssa.gov/applyfordisability/

https://secure.ssa.gov/ICON/main.jsp

CIFC Partners With Ann's Place to Better Serve Local People Living With Cancer, and Their Loved Ones

Connecticut Institute For Communities, Inc. (CIFC) has partnered with Ann’s Place, a Danbury-based nonprofit that provides counseling and wellness services to people living with cancer, and to their loved ones, by giving Ann’s Place space in CIFC’s Greater Danbury Community Health Center (GDCHC), 120 Main St., Danbury, to meet clients downtown once a week. 

(Left to right) Candy Dayana Dube, a licensed clinical social worker from Ann’s Place, and Shinu Simon, GDCHC Administrative Director.

“Facing cancer is both emotionally and physically exhausting for everyone in the family. When you add in one or two barriers to getting services, such as lack of transportation, it can have monumental effects,” said Shannon Cobb, President and CEO of Ann’s Place. “Having a safe location downtown, right on the HART public transit routes, makes all of the difference for people facing cancer and struggling with transportation. We are so grateful to CIFC for providing this space so we can continue giving vital supports to our clients free of charge.”

James H. Maloney, President and CEO of CIFC, welcomed Ann’s Place to the downtown Greater Danbury Community Health Center.

“Ann’s Place provides vital services to those living with cancer, and to their loved ones,” he said. “We are gratified that we can be part of that and that we can help local residents access these services because of our accessible downtown location.”

The goal of the partnership is not just to make these important services accessible by expanding to a new location in downtown Danbury but to also meet in a place clients trust. “Ultimately we want to work together in complement with CIFC -- which is already so trusted in the community -- to listen to the needs of our clients and work together to meet those needs,” said Candy Dayana Dube, a licensed clinical social worker from Ann’s Place.

Ann’s Place is here to support, empower, and be part of each person’s cancer journey through counseling, support groups, wellness programs, education, case management and financial aid. Services are available to the person with cancer and to their loved ones at CIFC’s 120 Main St. principal downtown site and at Ann’s Place’s facility at 80 Saw Mill Road. A monthly support group is also offered at the Danbury Library in Spanish. All services are free of charge and a clinician is available in both English and Spanish.

CIFC sponsors the Greater Danbury Community Health Center (GDCHC), a federally qualified health center. The center, which has multiple sites in Danbury, provides health care to people of all ages on a sliding scale. No one is ever turned away. GDCHC’s services include pediatric and adult primary health care, women’s health, behavioral health and dental services. CIFC’s health center also manages school-based health centers in Danbury and Newtown, and the regional Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program.

For more information on CIFC, visit www.ct-institute.org.

Upgrades Provide More Services for Those with Cancer

(From left) Shannon Cobb, Ann’s Place, Jon Seaman, Seaman Mechanical Services, Joel Third, Rotary Club of Ridgefield, Chris Hoeffel, Rotary Clubs of District 7980, Frank Scahill, Jr., Rotary Club of Danbury, Lee Ogden, H&Y Construction, Charlie O’Neil, Paul Dinto Electrical Contractors. Photo credit: Ann Hermann

A host of volunteers and donors came together to make significant upgrades to the large community meeting room at Ann’s Place, a nonprofit that serves people facing cancer. The Rotary Clubs of Danbury, Ridgefield and Rotary District 7980 provided the seed funds of $10,000 to get the project started. Labor and support were donated by H&Y Construction, Paul Dinto Electrical Contractors, Doyle Coffin Architecture and Seaman Mechanical Services. None of these upgrades could have been done without the generous contributions of these companies.

The upgrades include 130 new conference room chairs, a high-quality sound system, and construction of a new privacy wall which separates a noisy entrance area from the main room.

Doyle Coffin Architecture created the original plans for Ann’s Place and John Doyle came back to help with the conference room upgrade.

 “These upgrades have made it possible to run a host of larger seminars and wellness programs, yoga classes, meditation, support groups and more,” said Shannon Cobb, President and CEO. “We even had an open mic night which included a lot of laughter and fun for people facing this pervasive disease.”

 Ann’s Place provides comfort, support and resources to people living with cancer and to their loved ones – all free of charge.  The clinical social workers, facilitators and wellness experts provide services aimed at improving quality of life during and after cancer. 

 Other volunteers who helped with the upgrades included members of the Rotary Clubs of Ridgefield and Danbury who unpacked and setup chairs and built the dollies; Marc Huberman and John Krieger who installed the sound system; and Colman Weir, Mike Keegan and Boehringer Ingelheim employees who painted after the construction was finished.

 “As with all Ann’s Place activities, it is heavily managed by talented volunteers,” Cobb said. “We are so grateful to everyone who helped pull this together.”

Employees from Boehringer Ingelheim painted the conference room with the building was completed.

 Ann’s Place relies on the generosity of donors to be able to continue providing these services free of charge. If you would like to find out more about Ann’s Place services, volunteer opportunities or upcoming events please visit their web site at www.annsplace.org or call them at 203-790-6568.

PATRIOTS PRESENT PATRIOTS DIFFERENCE MAKER OF THE WEEK AWARD TO WILDA HAYES FROM DANBURY, CONN.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (Oct. 5, 2018) – Eight years ago, the Kraft family and Patriots Foundation introduced Celebrate Volunteerism, a season-long initiative focused on recognizing community volunteers and promoting the importance of giving back to the community through service.

Throughout the 2018 season, the foundation will continue its Celebrate Volunteerism initiative by teaming with nonprofit organizations to educate fans about the need for volunteering, highlighting deserving volunteers from across the region and seeking to inspire Patriots fans to become lifelong volunteers. The foundation will present a weekly “Patriots Difference Maker of the Week” award, which recognizes deserving volunteers who go above and beyond to support their New England communities.

“We originally started the Celebrate Volunteerism initiative as a tribute to my sweetheart, Myra,” said Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft. “Over the past eight years, it has become the heart and soul of the Patriots Foundation, just like Myra was. We enjoy shining the light on local volunteers that are committed to improving the lives of children and families across the region and we hope that this inspires our fans to get more involved in their communities.”

Wilda Hayes from Danbury, Conn. was selected as this week’s 2018 Patriots Difference Maker of the Week for her commitment to Ann’s Place.

Wilda, a pharmaceutical marketing and advertising executive, was one of the first people to volunteer for the Ann Olsen Endowment in 1987, a fund designated to support cancer patients and their families. Ann lost her life to cancer at the age of 38, before she could fulfill her desire to support others on their cancer journey. The Endowment partnered with I Can, a support services group, and eventually merged into Ann’s Place, a full-service nonprofit agency that now supports more than 1,100 clients across Connecticut and New York.

Wilda joined the board of Ann’s Place and later served as its pro bono Executive Director, then President, for 16 years, leading the organization through dramatic clinical services growth during challenging economic times. She played a key role in creating and running key fundraising events like the Ann Olsen Golf Classic, now in its 30th year, and the Festival of Trees in its 16th year. Wilda currently serves on the board and chairs the festival which attracts 5,000 each year to support people facing cancer.

“What an honor to be recognized for my volunteer work as a Patriots Difference Maker,” said Wilda. “To fight cancer with only medical means is rarely enough. Dedicated volunteer support has allowed Ann’s Place to effectively offer amazing professional social, educational and psychological services with only a small paid staff.”

One of her greatest accomplishments was creating a permanent home for the organization. Thanks to Wilda’s efforts, thousands of volunteers came together to build a beautiful 17,000 square foot facility offering comprehensive counseling, support groups and wellness activities.

“Volunteers make it happen everywhere, every day and quietly solve problems that help keep the nonprofit sector delivering services,” said Wilda. “There is very little we could accomplish without volunteers.”

Fifteen individuals will be named Patriots Difference Makers throughout the season. The outstanding volunteers will be recognized on the Patriots website and in print materials, including Patriots Football Weekly and Patriots GameDay magazine. They will also be honored during a special ceremony at the Patriots final regular season home game against the New York Jets on Sunday, December 30.

Fans are encouraged to nominate a local volunteer for the Patriots Difference Maker of the Week award by visiting www.patriots.com/community.