thedrifter
11-26-08, 08:09 AM
The people who remind us of what matters
01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The holidays have begun, and I’m picking the best of them as occasion to look back over a very full year and single out some of the people who have done good and caring things because that’s what they do.
This is the Thanksgiving Collection:
•Builders Helping Heroes: This is supporting the troops. These builders, part of the Rhode Island Builders Association, have stepped up to respond to a heartbreaking loss with a reaffirming sense of community. They got together to help create better homes for wounded veterans or families of those killed in combat since Sept. 11, 2001. Their first project is on East Beardsworth Road in Tiverton. That’s where Christopher and Terri Potts bought a small ranch house with plans to deal with much needed repairs and improvements as their son, Jackson, grew up. But Chris Potts was killed in a gun battle while serving with the Rhode Island National Guard in Iraq. So Builders Helping Heroes stepped in on the home front. Enlisting the help of almost 50 local companies and with donations of almost $200,000, the builders built a new kitchen and deck, installed hardwood floors, did a lot of painting and rebuilt the drainage system. Now, a woman and her young son live in a good place that honors a fallen soldier.
•Susie Gallucci: She’s a Marine and she gives new meaning to the old and hallowed Leatherneck tradition of never leaving fellow Marines behind. Captain Gallucci serves in the Wounded Warrior Regiment that was created by the Marines last year. She deals with Marines and sailors who served with Marines who might have left military service, but not their problems, behind. She confronts potential suicides, substance abuse, domestic violence — all the things that Marines and sailors might bring home as the high cost of serving their country. She confronts a different kind of enemy with an enduring sense of duty.
• Jose Genao: He stood up for his rights as a citizen and against the awful stain of bigotry and racial profiling. And he furthered thoughtful discussion about immigration. When Genao and a friend were confronted by an angry store owner who demanded to see their Social Security cards and threatened to call immigration authorities merely because they were speaking Spanish, Genao made the incident and his feelings about it public. He and his friend, both citizens, brought the ugly side of anti-immigrant hysteria into the open. People learned about the issue because of them.
• Neurosurgeons and nurses at Rhode Island Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Center in Boston: When Rhode Island State Police Trooper Brendan Doyle suffered a severe brain injury during a confrontation with a driver in downtown Providence, his recovery was questionable. His return to the state police seemed extremely unlikely. But the pros went to work. And Doyle provided an inspiring dose of human spirit. And he is back doing the only job he ever wanted.
• Joanne Ramsey, Jody Fazzano, Brooke Lawrence: They are among the Rhode Islanders who put their lives on hold and headed south to help the victims of Hurricane Ike in and around Galveston, Texas. They brought food and comfort and created a bond that will long be remembered between the little state and the big one.
• M. Charles Bakst: Just because he was so darn good for so long and we miss him.
Thank you.
bkerr@projo.com
Ellie
01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The holidays have begun, and I’m picking the best of them as occasion to look back over a very full year and single out some of the people who have done good and caring things because that’s what they do.
This is the Thanksgiving Collection:
•Builders Helping Heroes: This is supporting the troops. These builders, part of the Rhode Island Builders Association, have stepped up to respond to a heartbreaking loss with a reaffirming sense of community. They got together to help create better homes for wounded veterans or families of those killed in combat since Sept. 11, 2001. Their first project is on East Beardsworth Road in Tiverton. That’s where Christopher and Terri Potts bought a small ranch house with plans to deal with much needed repairs and improvements as their son, Jackson, grew up. But Chris Potts was killed in a gun battle while serving with the Rhode Island National Guard in Iraq. So Builders Helping Heroes stepped in on the home front. Enlisting the help of almost 50 local companies and with donations of almost $200,000, the builders built a new kitchen and deck, installed hardwood floors, did a lot of painting and rebuilt the drainage system. Now, a woman and her young son live in a good place that honors a fallen soldier.
•Susie Gallucci: She’s a Marine and she gives new meaning to the old and hallowed Leatherneck tradition of never leaving fellow Marines behind. Captain Gallucci serves in the Wounded Warrior Regiment that was created by the Marines last year. She deals with Marines and sailors who served with Marines who might have left military service, but not their problems, behind. She confronts potential suicides, substance abuse, domestic violence — all the things that Marines and sailors might bring home as the high cost of serving their country. She confronts a different kind of enemy with an enduring sense of duty.
• Jose Genao: He stood up for his rights as a citizen and against the awful stain of bigotry and racial profiling. And he furthered thoughtful discussion about immigration. When Genao and a friend were confronted by an angry store owner who demanded to see their Social Security cards and threatened to call immigration authorities merely because they were speaking Spanish, Genao made the incident and his feelings about it public. He and his friend, both citizens, brought the ugly side of anti-immigrant hysteria into the open. People learned about the issue because of them.
• Neurosurgeons and nurses at Rhode Island Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Center in Boston: When Rhode Island State Police Trooper Brendan Doyle suffered a severe brain injury during a confrontation with a driver in downtown Providence, his recovery was questionable. His return to the state police seemed extremely unlikely. But the pros went to work. And Doyle provided an inspiring dose of human spirit. And he is back doing the only job he ever wanted.
• Joanne Ramsey, Jody Fazzano, Brooke Lawrence: They are among the Rhode Islanders who put their lives on hold and headed south to help the victims of Hurricane Ike in and around Galveston, Texas. They brought food and comfort and created a bond that will long be remembered between the little state and the big one.
• M. Charles Bakst: Just because he was so darn good for so long and we miss him.
Thank you.
bkerr@projo.com
Ellie