CHELMSFORD: Aldersgate United Methodist Church invites you to worship with us at the following Christmas Eve services:

The Family to Family course from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) could prove helpful to you. This is a free, evidence-based, weekly, eight-session virtual course for family members and friends of individuals living with mental health conditions. Topics include understanding the symptoms of mental health conditions, learning about treatments and therapies, practicing communication and problem-solving skills, creating a positive team approach, and self-care. Importantly, the course offers family members the invaluable opportunity of open conversation and mutual support in a stigma-free environment. The class is taught by NAMI trained family members from the local NAMI Central Middlesex affiliate. The course will meet Mondays via Zoom, starting January 16, 6-8:30pm.  Registration is required. Go to namicentralmiddlesex.org/educational-courses for additional information, the registration link, and more course offerings. To converse with one of the teachers, contact Patti at pjsardella56@gmail.com; (978) 621-1065 or Lindsay at linzbfar@gmail.com; (781) 864-7003.

LOWELL: Melissa Marrama’s initial efforts to assist Afghan refugees started modestly. Last summer and fall, the Andover financial planner rallied members of area mosques to collect household items for Afghani families newly housed in Lowell-area hotels. Now, thanks to grants from the Greater Lowell Community Foundation’s Afghan Resettlement Fund, Marrama has developed a network of individuals, businesses and religious organizations throughout the Merrimack Valley focused on helping more than 400 local Afghan refugees adjust to life in the United States.

Working through the Andover Islamic Center, Marrama assists refugee families and individuals living in Greater Lowell locate permanent housing, enroll in schools, line up transportation, learn English, and find jobs.

“Our generous donors who gave to the GLCF Afghan Resettlement Fund provided area nonprofits with the critical support needed to help welcome and resettle our new Afghan neighbors,” said Jay Linnehan, GLCF’s President and CEO. “This grant funding complemented the work of local nonprofits and expanded our community’s capacity to meet the needs of Afghans who fled their homeland to come to the U.S. seeking safety.”

“I’m not a resettlement agency,” stressed Marrama. “I’m trying to build support systems for these Afghan families. My thing is, when I help them, I help them as a group.”

For 25 years, Marrama had done charity work by writing checks. “But during the COVID-19 pandemic, I started volunteering and encouraged others to volunteer,” she said.

In August 2021, Marrama got a call from Patricia Coffey, Director of Community Relations at UMass Lowell, asking if she could help collect household items for newly arriving Afghan refugees. “So, I put out calls for help to my own mosque and other mosques,” she explained. “I thought we’d just do it quietly.”

But a story about their efforts ran in a local newspaper and Marrama’s phone started ringing. “We got calls from Jewish temples, Christian churches, local businesses, and community organizations – they all wanted to help. I would post on Facebook that we needed 50 microwaves or 50 sets of sheets, and the items would just come in.”

At first, Marrama brought everything she collected to resettlement agencies for distribution. But once the refugees arrived in Lowell, she began making home visits and asking them directly what they needed. “I got very close to these families,” she said. “Now, I’m in close contact with 90 percent of them.”

The local refugees fall roughly into two distinct group, she explained. The first group consists of single men who worked with the U.S. military. The second group is made up of large families -- married men who came over with wives and often six to eight children.

“Some of these men were military pilots, trained by U.S troops,” said Marrama. Others were military maintenance workers, journalists, or medical workers, she added. They come from all over Afghanistan, from many different walks of life. And the vast majority don’t speak English.

With the GLCF grant funds, Marrama helps the refugees work toward achieving three key milestones: learning English, earning a driver’s license, and finding a job.

“The biggest challenge is learning English. To get a driver’s license, you must be able to read road signs” she said. “I have airplane pilots who have never driven a car before!”

Marrama has helped many Afghans enroll in driving schools. Once they earn their licenses, they can better travel to and from work – and drive other refugees on the weekends. “I tell all the drivers we have assisted, ‘I will help you, but you need to help others by joining our network.’”
              
Through her local connections, Marrama has also generated a variety of other goods and services. “We work with companies like Timberland, which just gave us 86 pairs of boots for our men working in factories,” she said. The Bike Connector, a Lowell nonprofit, has donated free bikes -- often the first means of transportation for these refugees, Marrama explained.

“And a number of local businesses have reached out to us with job offers,” she said. “Recently Vicor Corp. hired 25 Afghans to make chips for electric vehicles. Plus, we were able to provide technology to help Afghani pilots training to be pilots here in the U.S.,” Marrama said. And Staples and Leap Year Publishing have donated school supplies for the kids.

However, Marrama realized the youngest refugees needed special attention. “These kids have no sense of normalcy,” she said. “They have been uprooted from their country, lived for months in refugee camps around the U.S., then moved here. They’ve lost their sense of play and how to have fun.”

So, she connected with Leah Okimoto, founder of the Lowell-based nonprofit Aaron’s Presents, who helped arrange playdates with the refugee children.

“Aaron’s Presents works with local students in grades 4-8 to give them the opportunity to do whatever they want to do -- as long as it benefits somebody else,” explained Okimoto. Last winter and spring, middle-school volunteers from Lowell Community Charter Public School elected to arrange fun activities with the Afghan children, to make them feel welcome, she said.

“We were simply trying to bring an afternoon of joy and fun to these kids,” Okimoto said. “We did about 20 projects this past school year, mostly playdates with our middle-schoolers and the Afghan kids. And we’ll continue arranging them this fall.
“Because of the language barrier, we couldn’t have done it without Melissa,” added Okimoto. “She knows many of these families and made the initial introductions.” And both groups of children benefited.

“It has been so amazing to see how just playing transcends language,” she said. “At the beginning of these playdates, the kids might gather in a circle and pass a ball around in a park. Within minutes, they just start playing together.

“It’s really impactful for our middle-schoolers,” said Okimoto. “They are learning that ‘Yes, these children are from a different country, but they’re just like us. All they want to do is play and be happy and make friends.’ Kids just instantly get that through in-person experiences like this.”

To learn more about GLCF’s Afghan Resettlement Fund, visit: glcfoundation.org.
 

CHELMSFORD: Chelmsford Stamp Club will be holding their annual stamp show, CHELMPEX 2022, on September 24 from 9am-3pm at Trinity Lutheran Church, 170 Old Westford Road. There will be multiple dealers, Fish Bowl, door prizes & more. For collectors of U.S. & Worldwide postage stamps, Postal History, Postal Stationery & First Day Covers, supplies & ephemera. Free admission & free parking. For additional information, contact Linda Gilmore 978-256-2256 or linda.gilmore47@gmail.com.

LOWELL/BEDFORD: Girls Incorporated of Greater Lowell (GIGL) is pleased to announce Bopha Malone has accepted the position of Interim Executive Director and has committed to that role for a full year while the Board of Directors conducts a thorough, nationwide search for a permanent leader.  Bopha resigned from her prominent VP position at Enterprise Bank to step up and guide Girls Inc. through a period of building upon strengths while developing new programming, hiring and training staff, and meeting the challenges of post-Covid learning loss head on.
 
“The GIGL Board is grateful to Bopha for stepping into this critical role and leading during a time of real transformation,” said Jennifer Aradhya, president of GIGL Board. “Her deep connection to Girls Inc. and the Greater Lowell community is unsurpassed and we look forward to working together.”
 
“Girls Inc. is an extraordinary organization that has nurtured, guided, and empowered girls for more than 100 years, preparing them for their futures and helping them to become the best versions of themselves,” said Jack Clancy, Enterprise Bank CEO. “Bopha has consistently embodied Enterprise Bank’s core value of ‘community’ during her time with us and I am delighted to see her bring her talents to this new role at Girls Inc., an organization she is truly passionate about with a mission she so deeply believes in. She will provide tremendous leadership, passion, and purpose to Girls Inc. and she will make a very positive and meaningful impact and difference.”

Bopha immigrated to the U.S. at the age of eight, and credits caring mentors for helping her get to where she is today. She joined Girls Inc. of Lynn at the age of 15 and worked as a Peer Leader, educating youth about racism, homophobia, and the dangers of tobacco use and gun violence, among other issues.  As a first-generation Cambodian American who benefited from the support and encouragement of others, her passion is to seek opportunities through her roles at the bank and in the community to give back and help others in the ways that she has been helped.
 
“Girls Inc. played a tremendous role in my life growing up and was instrumental in helping me become the woman I am today, “said Malone. “I am grateful to Enterprise Bank for supporting my involvement with nonprofits over the 16 years I’ve been with them and am honored by the opportunity to inspire the next generation of girls to be strong, smart, and bold as interim executive director for Girls Inc.”

"Girls Inc. provides a sisterhood of support and transformational programs to help girls tap into their inherent power and become the leaders they are intended to be," said Patricia Driscoll, Chief Operating Officer Girls Inc. National. "I have witnessed Bopha's evolution from a girl balancing traditional cultural norms with her new life to an impassioned professional supporting her community, running for Congress, and now leading Girls Inc. of Greater Lowell. She embodies 'strong, smart, and bold,' and her combined lived and Girls Inc. experiences will be a tremendous asset in the development of the new generation of girl leaders. I am honored to be working alongside her."

In addition to helping thousands of people create financial success for themselves, their families, and their businesses, Malone is actively involved with several nonprofit organizations.  She is a trustee of Middlesex Community College, Tufts Medicine (Lowell General Hospital), International Institute of New England, Women Working Wonders and is a member of the Bedford Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce. She lives in Bedford with her husband and two children and serves as a member of the Bedford Select Board.

CHELMSFORD: Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Chelmsford invites you to join us for Rally Day as they resume their regular worship schedule on September 11. Services are at 8:30am and 10:45am, and Church School classes for children and youth begin at 9:30am. (Adult classes will start September 18).

In addition to other special Rally Day activities, they will have a potluck lunch at noon, during which they will officially welcome new minister, Pastor Bob Jon, and his family to Aldersgate and to Chelmsford. Aldersgate UMC is an intergenerational church family with diverse programs and opportunities. All are welcome. The church is located at 242 Boston Road (Rt. 4). For more information, contact the office at (978)256-9400 or  aldersgatechelmsford@verizon.net, or visit www.aldersgateumc.us or www.facebook.com/aldersgateumc.chelms.

LOWELL: The Learning in Retirement Association (LIRA) invites all retirees to join their Fall semester classes (some live, Zoom or hybrid.) A sample of offered Fall classes;  1. Talk by Jonathan Lemire (Politico, MSNBC, AP) on his new book “THE BIG LIE”;  2. Lighthouses & the People Who Kept Them;  3. Unlocking the Hidden History of DNA;  4. Hands on Art Class;  5. The Election of 2022 – A shift in power?;  6. The Most Influential Characters of Literature;  7. Tour of the new Lowell Justice Center;  8. Articles of Confederation – Stronger than a Rope of Sand;  9. UMass Rist Center for Sustainability & Energy research overview; 10. New Refugees & Immigrants in Lowell; 11. America & the Global Economy; 12. Native Americans in Colonial New England; 13. Professor led Tour of the Oak Hill Conservation; 14. Critical Issues in K-12 Public Schools; 15. Great Decisions discussion group as well as Book and Film discussion groups.