August 2014 Newsletter

done for cancer patients and

their families, making a

difference in people’s lives is

an understatement. We make

an impact that does not get

lost. To hear the stories of

these people and their families

and then see the look on their

faces as they receive an award

is inspiring. I don’t think you

can be in the room and not be

moved by it. Once again it

exceeded my expectations.”

Al Petrilli said “This event is a

remarkable tribute to Marie.

It’s also a remarkable tribute

to others who walk the same

line that she did. Matt, my

Golf Tourney a Success

Beats 2013 Results

June 2014 Haverhill, MA.

For the 2nd year in a row

sunny skies welcomed nearly

240 people to the 2nd

Beantown Invitational tourna-

ment at Renaissance. Another

perfect event. 120 golfers

and nearly 240 friends came

to honor Marie along with

other people and families

affected by cancer.

The event generated over

$120,000 in pledges, once

again exceeding the goal.

The event featured some fun

contests, plenty of great food

and some incredible prizes

and auctions including trips to

Disney, Napa Valley, Costa

Rica and the Keys!

Chairman Matt O’Neill the

person who brought the idea

to life worked tirelessly to

make sure everyone who

played, supported and

volunteered for the event

contributed to a positive

outcome. “After the 1st year I

knew this organization was the

right one. For a small charity

you can’t believe the incredible

things this organization has

Beantown Invitational Raises over $120,000 for Petrilli Fund!

A Walk to Remember…SAVE THE DATE...Sept. 13th, at 11 A.M.

Please join the MCP Fund for an Exciting Family Event!!!!! Our great friends at

the MWRA at Deer Island in Winthrop have agreed to allow us to host Marie’s

15th anniversary walk-run on Saturday morning ,September 13th. We’ve done it

before but this year the event will be bigger and better. By joining us in this

exciting event we can continue to make a difference in the daily care of cancer

patients, caregivers, groups ,institutions and families that fight this dreaded

disease.

Visit us and sign up online on our new web site or simply use the Pledge Sheet

inside this newsletter. We’ll see you Saturday, September 13, Rain or Shine!

Now THAT’s the Spirit! Visit www.mariecpetrilli.com

Matt O’Neill presents $120k grant to Al Petrilli Left to Right, Matt O’Neill, Al Petrilli

Special points of interest:

BEANTOWN INVITATIONAL

BUSINESS SUPPORTERS CARE

LIGHTENING STRIKES TWICE!

CANCER FAMILY’S RECOGNIZED

NOLIE’S STORY CONTINUES

TOURNAMENT HIGHLIGHTS

SPONSORS

August 2014

A P U B L I C A T I O N A B O U T C A N C E R , R E C O G N I Z I N G C A R E G I V E R S A N D H E L P I N G F A M I L I E S

brother Dave, our Board, my

kids, my friend Heather,

Marie’s family we often refer

to as “the sisters,” put our lives

aside for the day to honor a

beautiful woman and raise

awareness of the difficult

challenges patients and their

families face. It’s difficult for

me to ask for money from

family and friends, but when I

see the results and the impact

we make I’m just so proud to

be part of this. We raised

more than $120,000. Where

do I begin thanking everyone.

But Matt, he’s the best, just

amazing.”

http://www.mariecpetrilli.com/

Fund Provides 2nd Grant to

Young Cancer Patient With

Ongoing Needs. Like the

Magic Kingdom, Nolie

pulled His Mother’s winning

ticket for our Grand Prize

Disney Trip!

Last year Nolan Smith’s

family was given an MCP

Fund award to take Nolan on

a once in a lifetime trip to

Disney. Well…. maybe

twice in a lifetime!

This year Nolan pulled the

winning ticket from the basket

(well it was really his Mom

Nicole’s ticket!) and won the

Grand Prize trip which this

year happens to be a trip to

Disney!

Nolan Smith has been

battling brain cancer almost

since birth. He’s become

somewhat of a folk hero for

the organization and many

ways is the face of the Fund.

He continues to amaze

everyone with his recovery

and development beating all

the odds.

Nolan…...will Meet Mickey….Again!

“Daddy are we staying in

room 4012 again?!”

“Mommy are we going on

the train.”

“Can I go on the rides

again?”

Good questions, with GREAT

answers! Go Nolie Go!

One year later and all grown up!

Nolan Smith

Providing a Helping Hand

It takes Courage to be a Cop, it takes Courage to beat Cancer. That’s why we created the MCP Fund Courageous Award named in honor of our friend Holly Fraumeni. Tim Crowley is a highly respected Massachusetts State Trooper, husband of wife Julie, and father of Jack, 10 and Kate 8.Prior to 2010 life was a lot like everyone else’s for Tim, juggling work, overtime details ,family and enjoy-ing all that having a beautiful wife and children gave him. Unfortunately, Cancer doesn’t really care about life’s great gifts because when it arrives, it

brings everything good in life to a screeching halt. It takes courage, persever-ance and a high tolerance for pain to deal with it. Tim was diagnosed with AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia), an aggressive cancer. He was informed he’d need a bone marrow transplant. Finding a matching donor from Israel, he had the transplant. While he was healing, his body rejected the new cells and a graft versus host disease devel-oped. The disease caused over 90% of Tim’s skin to burn off. Taking heavy doses of steroid treat-ments he was able to stop the disease and over time

his skin returned to its original state. However the heavy doses of steroids resulted in a painful arthritis condition affecting most of his bones causing tremendous dis-comfort in his knees and result in surgery and knee replacement s. So how do you define Courage? You can start with the Crowley family. Not out of the woods, In 2013,not only did Tim’s cancer resurface, but his wife Julie was diagnosed with breast cancer result-ing in a mastectomy. Both Tim and Julie were treated

together on what they referred to days as “chemo dates”. We were pleased to learn that both Tim and Julie are in remission and Tim is back to work with the State Police and Julie is busy taking care of her children. Through these 4 years Tim has remained positive and carries a ”beat this thing” attitude. Together with his family and the support of his fellow Troopers, Tim is back to doing what he loves to do. He has been an inspiration to MCP Fund and today we honor his courage and reward him with a prestigious MCP Fund award.

Trooper Tim Crowley’s Fight is

Not Just About Stopping Crimi-

nals……

State Trooper Tim & Julie Crow-

ley with Al Petrilli

Recipients of a 2014 MCP Fund

Spirit and Courage Award

Welcome Back Nolie!

sit down and ask, “Dad,

why?” My daughter would

ask, “is Mommy going to be

alright?”

Suddenly,15 years later, he

walks in to the same room

and says; “Dad, you know

my friend Chris right, well I

was just with him. He told me

Mrs. Carew has brain cancer.

Why does this happen Dad?

We need to do something.

Can we help them Dad?”

Now you know why we do

what we do.

Chris my son Albert’s lifelong

friend’s mother, Glenna

Carew, was diagnosed with

brain cancer.

She was operated on to

remove one of the tumors. A

single Mom, she rents an

apartment in Winthrop. Aside

from battling cancer, her

biggest concern was keeping

the roof over her head.

Financially struggling, a

single parent, raising a child,

her landlord was concerned

about her ability to pay her

rent and she might have to

find an alternative.

Food, insurance and living

expenses were already a

15 years have elapsed since

Marie passed away, but

you never forget. You’re

sitting home figuring out

ways to raise money for

you’re wife’s charity. Some

ask, why?

At times you say to yourself;

“this is a lot of work.” Some-

times you wonder why you

do it? At times it’s difficult

finding time between making

a living, raising your family,

having some quiet time to

yourself, yet….

Yet you make the calls, work

the phones, worry about

coordinating an event for

over 200 people so they can

golf, eat and enjoy the day

raise a little money.

Solicit sponsors, design signs,

obtain raffles, prizes, organ-

ize the golf, prepare remarks

you hope people will listen

to, select recipients for grants

and awards, and the beat

goes on and on.

It’s a lot of work. So Why?

Why? Because you remem-

ber when your son used to

walk in the door, a baby

then, watching his own mother

battle the disease, and he’d

challenge, but what would

she do without a roof over

her head?

We were NOT going to let

that happen.

So our thought was to pro-

vide some financial support

by offering to cover rent for

a period of time, maybe until

her treatments were over so

that during treatment she

would have one less thing to

worry about.

To add to the challenge she

was being put on unpaid

leave at the local pharmacy

she worked at as a customer

service rep.

We know Glenna personally.

When we think of her the

word that comes to mind is

“sweetheart.” We had to

act, so we immediately

approached the Board to

seek approval and obtain

input as to what level of

support the fund could

provide.

You need to understand,

Glenna was together with

Marie daily. During the

years when Albert and Chris

attended school together

starting in kindergarten.

Charity Hits Close to Home

Glenna’s support increased

when Marie died and she

was always available to help

my children.

This was a chance to give

back, to make an impact.

We moved quickly and were

able to provide her with

much needed support.

Glenna is still battling the

cancer and she still struggling

financially.

So once again we went to the

Board and came to the

unanimous decision to

provide Glenna a second

financial award. It’s not

enough, it’s never enough, but

it’s the right thing to do and

it’s why the Memorial Fund

exists. There are thousands

of stories all over the place,

but, this one hit close to

home.

Want to help?

If you would like to support

Glenna’s ongoing battle,

please feel free to send your

support to me, care of the

Marie Petrilli Fund. Please

specify your desire to help

Glenna. We will make sure

the money is provided to

her for her continued

support.

Al, Glenna & son Chris Carew with his Best Friend Albert

“Signs of Success!”

Joanne Trainor has been the glue that has held the New Hampshire Secret Service office together

for many years. Not only is she extremely detail oriented and a very hard worker, Joanne is a

loving and loyal woman and its an honor to know her. When we learned that Joanne was

diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer just a few weeks before the Beantown Invitational, we

knew we wanted to help her and we also knew she would never admit she needed help because Joanne is an extremely proud

woman. As you know, the Petrilli Fund is there for people when they need it the most. It was already a very tough year for

Joanne and her family and the Petrilli Fund was able to provide the peace of mind she needed to get her through to recovery.

We love Joanne as a mother and a dear friend and are thrilled that Joanne was able to accept the Petrilli Fund's grant during

the reception on June 16th.

Can Lightening Strike Twice? 3 Times?

Beantown Pride - Friends Helping Friends

“Brotherly Love,” By Al Petrilli Al Petrilli and the MCP Fund recognized one of its own. Al Petrilli shown recognizing his Brother David with an Award for waging and winning his own battle with Thyroid Cancer

You find out about Glenna Carew (story Page 3), you help out and you feel good. Then….just when you think you’re done,

you find out you’re not done! The evil disease strikes again.

“And then….. my brother Dave walks in…..Now if you know Dave, you know he does more for this tournament than just about

anyone. Truth be told, the Foundation was HIS idea.” A founding Board member, he does it all. “So Dave says to me calmly

and casually, “Hey, I just came from the Dr. and he gave me some interesting news...I had this little lump on my neck, decided

to go have it checked, you won’t believe this, turns out he tells me….I have Thyroid Cancer!”

“You pick yourself up off the floor and you say to yourself, what next? I think, I can feel sorry for myself; I can say why me;

or…..I can do something about it. So our family gets together and rallies around him and puts a support system in place to get

him through the unknown, because with Cancer of any kind, it’s always about the fear of the unknown. What’s the treatment?

How long? What about work? Will my insurance cover everything? Will I feel sick? What about the kids? The house? The

job? Always more questions than answers.”

“What people don’t know, because ‘Dave is Dave,’ is that he battled through the Thyroid cancer while running the tournament

the last 2 years! You can’t make this up. If you know Dave, his personality is unflappable. He handled this the way he

handles a busy night at the restaurant, or an irate customer, or how about 200 people showing up at the golf tournament at

the same time! Helping out everywhere, getting people registered, collecting money, bringing in prizes, running auctions,

making sure everyone is OK. His eyes are always wide open and he spots things most other people miss. Somehow he makes

it all right.”

So the question for me then was; “who worries about Dave? Will he be all right?” The answer is what you’ve come to

expect. No complaining, just results. So for 2 years in a row, we’ve run one of the best tournaments around, he runs one of the

best restaurants around, and he takes care of his family and mine. He just gets it done. When we created the Marie C. Petrilli

Spirit & Courage Award, I never thought I’d be giving it to another Petrilli, let alone my brother. Once you understand the

definition of the award and understand what it takes to go through the battle, you realize Dave epitomizes the award. I could

not be more proud to have him as a recipient. But here’s the best part, lightening did strike again, but Dave beat it! So we

fight on, because we know lightening will strike again. and we’ll be there to treat it and beat it. Because after all, Marie

taught us all well, that The River of Hope lives on. To stand in front of the room and provide an Award to Dave in front of 200

people was very emotional, very proud and very inspiring.” There’s Boston Strong, and then there’s Petrilli Strong!

A “Hole” Lotta Love Goin On……..

Families Show their Love and Support

Remembering Their Loved One’s

Participating as Sponsors in Our

“In Memory Of”

and “In Honor Of” sponsor signs!

Dozens of Signs Decorated the Course

Thanks to Our Sponsors Who Make It All Happen

Picture Perfect

The following story is provided

with permission from last years

MCP Fund Nursing Award

Winner and Oncology Nurse,

Jessica Kensky-Downes, survi-

vor of the Boston Marathon

Bombing.

Last summer I was honored to

receive the Marie C. Petrilli

Oncology Nursing Award.

The award acknowledged

me for my “caring, compas-

sion and courage.”

I was unable to attend last

year's award presentation,

but I’m so happy to be stand-

ing here with you all today.

Although tragedy and per-

sonal loss brought us to-

gether---the loss of Al’s

beautiful and loving wife

Marie and the Boston Mara-

thon bombings--I, along with

my family, are thankful to

have met the Petrilli family. I

have been inspired by their

dedication and commitment

to oncology patients and

their families and those who

care for them.

I am most excited to be here

today to introduce my dear

friend and wonderful co-

worker Leah Pike, the second

recipient of the Marie C.

Petrilli Oncology Nursing

Award. I’m here today to

relate to you Leah’s caring,

compassion, and courage.

Nursing was no Leah's initial

career path. She found her

true calling later in life and

chose not to ignore it despite

the challenges it presented.

She successfully uprooted

herself and applied herself

to achieving a degree in

nursing from Johns Hopkins

University.

Leah was brave and

determined to go back to

school to receive her

bachelors in nursing. She

dared to face students half

her age in order to enter and

learn the profession within an

academic setting that was

fast paced, rigorous and

technologically advanced.

Leah nonetheless adapted

and excelled in her classes,

comforted her patients during

clinical rotations, and as a

result, earned the friendship

and respect, and admiration

of her peers.

Initially, she felt a pull to-

wards oncology by the capti-

vating study of the disease

and the stunning pace of re-

search in the field. Later in

her training she was exposed

to oncology patients and

they quickly captured her

own heart and admiration.

She continued felt the pull to

be with them in the hospital,

in her view one of the most

vulnerable patient

populations during a most

difficult time of their life. She

so desperately wanted to

help and be useful.

Leah shifted her focus in

school and took elective

courses in oncology and

sought out clinical experience

in hospice settings. Upon

graduation she landed a

coveted position at the Na-

tional Institutes of Health

where she cared for patients

from around the country with

advanced disease, having

failed standard therapies,

still fighting to conquer the

disease with a treatment plan

that was experimental. Leah

listened and cared for these

patients and their families

while she navigated their

hope, pain, and despair with

grace and courage.

She is a recognized leader in

her family, circle of friends,

and now among her co-

workers at Mass General.

She continues to advocate

and care for cancer patients

on Lunder 10 at MGH where

she works full time, including

the obligatory nights, week-

ends, and holidays. Leah is

frequently volunteering to

care for difficult patients—

that may be struggling with

anger, denial, and fear. She

is extremely dedicated, thor-

ough, knowledgeable, and

caring—never leaving a shift

until her work is done. As a

result she is well respected

by patients, and their

families.

When reviewing the defini-

tion of the word courage I

found this, “strength in the

face of pain or grief.” I feel

that the best example of

Leah’s courage lies in a more

personal story. My husband

The Nursing Caregiver Award, by Jessica Kensky Downes

“MY ICU NURSE

ALLOWED HER TO

ACCOMPANY ME TO

MY CT SCAN BECAUSE

THE MERE SOUND OF

HER VOICE IMPROVED

MY VITAL SIGNS AND

KEPT ME CALM.”

and I were critically injured in

the Boston Marathon

attack—as a dear friend

and co-worker, Leah was the

first person to arrive at my

bedside after the bombing

and the last one to leave as

she is still found by my side

today on the more difficult

days.

It could not have been easy

for Leah to see me, a close

friend from nursing school—

fighting for my life after the

Bombing Tragedy, but she

stayed with me until my fam-

ily arrived from CA. My ICU

nurse allowed her to accom-

pany me to my CT Scan be-

cause the mere sound of her

voice improved my vital signs

and kept me calm. I was

hospitalized for 10 weeks

and Leah took it upon herself

to create and coordinate a

calendar of nursing friends to

volunteer to spend the night

with me. Leah also created

and maintained a website to

allow friends and family to

sign up to make meals for our

family. Leah herself spent

many nights on an

uncomfortable recliner and

has prepared so many meals

I have lost count. My family

was able to much needed

breaks and sleep at night

because they knew Leah or

another dear friend was by

my side---to reorient me,

listen, and distract me from

the pain. Leah has been my

dearest friend and my rock

during my recovery.

It is with great pleasure that I

present Leah Pike with this

much deserved award,

Congratulations Leah!

Visit us at www.mariecpetrilli.com


Our Mission

The River of Hope, Keeping Marie’s Spirit Alive

T H E M A R I E C . P E T R I L L I M E M O R I A L C A N C E R T R E A T M E N T & R E S E A R C H F U N D , I N C .

Marie C Petrilli Fund is a tax exempt 501C(3) organization

Visit us at www.mariecpetrilli.com

Over 15 years ago, 39 year old Marie Cavaleri

Petrilli, mother of two young children, Albert age 6

and Marielle age 4, was diagnosed with and later

died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

In her memory Marie’s family and friends created

a tax exempt foundation to help others faced with

a cancer diagnosis.

For 15 months Marie fought valiantly to rid herself

of the disease including a bone marrow transplant.

The caregivers at MA General Hospital (MGH),

Ellison 14 became a big part of Marie’s life and an

extension of her family.

On June 19, 1999 Marie lost her battle to the dis-

ease.

As a result a Foundation was born and the journey

began for the River of Hope.

To provide financial support to help benefit the patients, their families and caregivers who treat them and work tirelessly waging the battle each day, to further the research of this dreaded disease, and to honor the life and spirit of Marie Cavaleri Petrilli.

You arrived in silence and stayed obscure for awhile.

You took over her life

and with that erased her smile.

I never underestimated your power but with ignorance I was secure,

Until you hollered with your evil voice,

until you knocked on her door.

Your knock was oh so chilling, it left me in despair,

Your booming laugh has lingered

at the expense of a jewel so rare.

The tears that we all cry will melt the ice around your heart.

This river of hope will drown these demons,

and leave space for a brand new start.

The start may at first feel empty but my love always flows.

Our dear Marie a precious flower,

a rose is still a rose.

The River of Hope

11 Nahant Ave. Winthrop, MA 02152

Phone: (617) 901-5232

E-mail: [email protected]


August 2014 Newsletter

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