Compiled by Debra Scherban. Send items to dscherban@gazettenet.com.
Ella Smolenski, mental health advocate, support group leader, and member of Cooley Dickinson’s Patient Family Advisory Council, received the Unsung Hero award from the Massachusetts chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness at its annual convention Oct. 29.
Smolenski, of Florence, says she accepted the award in honor of all families who are unsung heroes in the area of mental health.
“I am proud to embrace the mission of the National Alliance on Mental Illness because I believe that self-stigma and stigma in general are obstacles to obtaining treatment for very treatable mental health disorders and funding,” Smolenski said in a prepared statement.
Called “one of those people who quietly and steadily gets things done,” Smolenski has taught Family-to-Family, a support group for families dealing with mental health issues for three years after participating in the class five years ago. She has been working with Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s inpatient behavioral health staff to co-facilitate the program and has organized community mental health fairs.
Because of her commitment to those living with a mental health diagnosis and their families, Smolenski was recruited to join Cooley Dickinson’s Patient and Family Advisory Council in 2014. Through Cooley Dickinson’s relationship with Smolenski, the hospital has worked more closely with the western Mass. Chapter of NAMI and CDHC President and CEO Joanne Marqusee was among the first in western Mass to sign the CEOs Against Stigma Pledge.
The trees in the Healing Garden at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton will again be aglow this year with lights remembering and honoring friends, family and neighbors.
Through a donation of $15 or more per individual, community members can designate a light for someone in the annual Trees of Love & Thanksgiving.
The lighting ceremony will be held Nov. 20 at 4:30 p.m. A reception will follow in the Kittredge Surgery Center waiting area located at the north entrance. Light refreshments will be served as the Horse Mountain Jazz Band performs.
Proceeds from this annual fundraiser support the purchase of equipment that enhances patient care. Funds raised last year will help furnish two pediatric rooms in the hospital’s emergency department with murals, distraction carts, a monitoring system and child appropriate equipment.
In addition, funds provide infant car beds for the transport of underweight babies. This year’s fundraising goal is $15,000.
Previous Trees of Love campaigns have supported an infusion bay in the Mass General Cancer Center at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, and 3D mammography.
Those wishing to donate can pick up a form at the Cooley Dickinson Hospital Coffee Shop or download the form at www.cooley-dickinson.org.
In addition to lights on the trees in the Healing Garden, names of those being honored and remembered are posted in the corridor adjacent to the hospital’s main lobby, in the chapel, and at the north entrance.
Trees of Love & Thanksgiving is a project of the Friends of Cooley Dickinson and Cooley Dickinson’s Pastoral Care department. For more information, call the Friends of Cooley Dickinson office at 582-2882.
Area blood drives
To schedule an appointment to donate, use the free Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
Following are some upcoming local blood donation opportunities.
Wednesday, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., University of Massachusetts Student Union, 41 Campus Center Way, Amherst.
Thursday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Williston Northampton School Athletic Center, 80 Park Street, Easthampton.