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www.charltonvillager.com Friday, June 6, 2008<br />
Fund keeps goals of two nurses alive<br />
•THE CHARLTON VILLAGER•3<br />
BY RYAN GRANNAN-DOLL<br />
STAFF WRITER<br />
SCHOLARSHIPS WILL AID TWO LOCAL STUDENTS<br />
CHARLTON — Monika<br />
Drabato has always wanted to be<br />
a nurse. Now, she’s getting a little<br />
boost toward her dream.<br />
Drabato, 18, and <strong>Southbridge</strong><br />
resident Maria Cancel have each<br />
been awarded a $1,000<br />
Olson/Fournier Memorial<br />
Nursing scholarship intended to<br />
propel individuals who can communicate<br />
with patients in more<br />
than one language into the nursing<br />
field, as a nurse or licensed<br />
practical nurse. The award is<br />
going to Drabato, a Polish speaker,<br />
this year despite the usual<br />
requirement that applicants<br />
speak Spanish. The awards, given<br />
to applicants already accepted<br />
into a college nursing program<br />
and living in the area served by<br />
Harrington Memorial Hospital,<br />
are named after two deceased<br />
nurses who worked at the facility.<br />
The awards were announced<br />
Monday, May 19.<br />
One member of the five-person<br />
committee that picks from a pool<br />
of applicants who had to submit<br />
essays, Harrington surgical nurse<br />
and Park Road resident Lois Fay,<br />
said after reviewing their submissions<br />
she knew both women<br />
deserved the award.<br />
“They both show a great deal of<br />
respect for their work,” Fay said<br />
during a May 27 telephone interview.<br />
Barbara Olson and Kathleen<br />
Fournier, for which the scholarship<br />
fund was created after their<br />
deaths, had both hoped to<br />
improve the Spanish skills to better<br />
communicate with the<br />
Hispanic patients they treated<br />
during their night shifts at<br />
Harrington. Both women died in<br />
separate car accidents, Olson in a<br />
2001 Massachusetts crash and<br />
Fournier in Oklahoma. Since<br />
then, the committee has solicited<br />
donations from the community to<br />
fund the program.<br />
Drabato and Cancel will carry<br />
the women’s wishes forward as<br />
they pursue their nursing studies<br />
and climb up the ladder of the<br />
health care field they have<br />
already broken into. Drabato’s<br />
non-English speaking grandmother’s<br />
struggle to speak with<br />
medical care providers inspired<br />
her to apply for the funding.<br />
Drabato learned Polish from her<br />
parents.<br />
“I have always wanted to be a<br />
nurse, however, I now know that<br />
nursing is so much more than<br />
helping people. I am fluent in<br />
English and Polish, and I believe<br />
that would be a great contribution,”<br />
Drabato said.<br />
Drabato, a senior at Bartlett<br />
High School in Webster who is<br />
scheduled to graduate Friday,<br />
recently completed her volunteer<br />
service at Hubbard Regional<br />
Hospital. There, she surveyed<br />
patients assisted nurses and<br />
observed hospital activities. The<br />
aspiring surgical nurse, whose<br />
interest in the medical field developed<br />
a year ago, will begin her<br />
medical studies in two weeks at<br />
Anna Maria College.<br />
Cancel already serves as a<br />
Spanish-to-English translator at<br />
Harrington, where she works as a<br />
certified nursing assistant, and<br />
plans to put her money toward<br />
her studies at Quinsigamond<br />
Community College.<br />
“This scholarship will help me<br />
tremendously with my day to<br />
financial responsibilities. I have<br />
been inspired to go to school, earn<br />
my degree and educate others in<br />
my community in their native<br />
language,” Cancel said in a press<br />
release. “This scholarship will<br />
help make my dream a reality.”<br />
This year’s awards, Fay said,<br />
At left, Monika Drabato.<br />
represent a dramatic improvement<br />
over last year after struggling<br />
to recruit Spanish speakers<br />
for the award. Only one $500<br />
scholarship was given out last<br />
year, to Dudley resident Amanda<br />
Wilson. This year, seven individuals<br />
applied for the awards.<br />
“We’re getting better,” Fay said.<br />
Ryan Grannan-Doll can be<br />
reached by phone at (508) 909-4050,<br />
or by e-mail at rgrand@stonebridgepress.com<br />
ACCURACY<br />
WATCH<br />
The Charlton Villager is committed to accuracy<br />
in all its news reports. Although numerous<br />
safeguards are in place to ensure accurate<br />
reporting, mistakes can occur.<br />
Confirmed fact errors will be corrected at the<br />
top right hand corner of page 3 in a timely manner.<br />
If you find a mistake, call (508) 909-4142<br />
during normal business hours. During nonbusiness<br />
hours, leave a message in the editor’s<br />
voice mailbox. The editor will return your<br />
phone call.<br />
CORRECTION<br />
In the May 30 edition of the Charlton<br />
Villager, it was incorrectly reported that town<br />
meeting voters approved adding language to<br />
the town’s bylaws that would allow town trucks<br />
to remove snow from Baker Pond Road<br />
Extension and Partridge Hill Road. In fact,<br />
action on the bylaw was postponed.<br />
PUBLIC MEETINGS<br />
TUESDAY, JUNE 10<br />
The Public Library Meeting Building<br />
Committee will meet at 7 p.m. in the Library.<br />
The Charlton Housing Authority will meet<br />
at 6:30 p.m. in the their office.<br />
THURSDAY, JUNE 12<br />
The Ad-Hoc Recycling Committee will<br />
meet at 7 p.m. in the Library.<br />
The Recycling Committee will meet at 7:30<br />
p.m. in the Town Hall.<br />
Credit Union offers financial support to OSV<br />
STURBRIDGE — Old Sturbridge Village’s historical interpretation of environmental issues,<br />
which the museum showcases through its network of rural walking trails, recently received<br />
support from the <strong>Southbridge</strong> Credit Union’s Community Champions Fund.<br />
Shown in picture, Thomas J. Smalarz, second from left, President and CEO of the <strong>Southbridge</strong><br />
Credit Union, presented a $1,000 check to James Donahue, CEO of Old Sturbridge Village, with<br />
Paul D. Raffa, left, the Credit Union’s Business Development Manager, and Aaron McGarry,<br />
right, Director of Development at the Northeast’s largest living history museum.<br />
Old Sturbridge Village recreates the work, family and community life of rural New<br />
Englanders from 1790-1840. The Community Champions Fund, now in its 16th year, recognizes<br />
annually four area nonprofit organizations whose programs improve life in the communities<br />
that the <strong>Southbridge</strong> Credit Union serves<br />
Les Gardner photo<br />
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508-347-2305<br />
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WE’LL GET RID OF WHAT’S BUGGING YOU!<br />
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