Knowledge is Power: The 15-40 Connection

The 15-40 Connection

I hate Cancer. I’m pretty sure most people would agree with me.

I was introduced to cancer at a very young age. A friend that I was in a karate class with sadly succumbed to it. I have fond memories of a large group of us in class, learning, laughing, and growing together…but at one point, she was no longer able to join us… and after some time, my parents had to break the news of what happened.

Since then, I have been reminded of the existence of Cancer all too often. Late in high school and early college I lost 2 of my grandparents to varying forms of it. I still get upset thinking about the excruciatingly slow process in which we were forced to say our good-bye’s.

More recently, my mother-in-law was diagnosed with it…. Lung cancer, to be specific.

While the 3 former examples ended in loss, the latter example of my mother-in-law ended with a more positive note. Why? Early detection. She did not feel well for a while. This past holiday season was very difficult for her. She had been coughing a lot and complaining of fatigue. She went to the hospital in January of this year, and after various tests, which were followed by biopsies, we had our answer. Stage 1 Lung Cancer. She immediately had surgery and the cancerous growths forming on her lungs were completely eradicated from her body. What helped to save her life? Early detection.

What exactly is early detection, you ask? That’s where the 15-40 Connection comes in.

The 15-40 Connection works to increase the cancer survival rate through teaching methods of early detection with 3 steps.

1. Know what “good” feels like for you.

  • You know yourself best. If you don’t feel well, listen to your body.

2. The two-week rule.

  • If you notice a change, even a subtle change, in your health that lasts over 2 weeks, call your doctor.

3. Share with your doctor.

  • You are your best advocate. Share all the details with your doctor… even if your symptoms are embarrassing. Have you ever tried to embarrass a doctor? It’s difficult… they’ve heard and seen everything.

The idea is that by following these 3 simple rules, if you have Cancer, you will increase your chances of detecting it early and thus increasing your survival rate. While many organizations focus on research, what makes this organization different is that their focus is education. Knowledge is power. Armed with the knowledge, you can save the life of yourself and hopefully others.

The 15-40 Connection is working to create educational materials for their key audience, adults between the ages of 15-40. This age group has not kept up with the increasing survival rates of other age groups.

With that said, I have the privilege of working with the 15-40 Connection as they work to build their curriculum. A few weeks ago, I visited the 15-40 Connection offices, and met with the Founder, Jim Coghlin, and two members of his amazing team, Kelly and Tricia, to review their current materials and talk about all things education and messaging. After the meeting, I spent the rest of the day poring over their materials and later provided feedback on how to reach certain audiences and ideas on how to increase knowledge retention (you know high school kids, in one ear and out the other).

Even though the give back day is over, I have offered to volunteer my time with 15-40 Connection in any way that I can going forward. I am not a doctor or a medical professional, but if I can do anything… even if it’s one little thing to help in the fight of Cancer… here I stand.

If you want to learn more about the 15-40 Connection and all of the work that they do, please visit: https://www.15-40.org/ . If you visit the site, you can watch video blogs/stories from Cancer survivors and learn more about how essential early detection truly is.


Laura Bortolussi | Instructional Designer | Kronos Incorporated


Giving Back Inspiration, Hope, Courage

Giving Back Inspiration, Hope, Courage

Tuesday 3/21, I used a giveback day (8 hours) to attend a photo shoot for an Ad Campaign, of which I am a selected spokesperson.  The organization, Amputee Coalition of America, is running this ad campaign both on social media, and other venues to give encouragement, hope, and strength to those persons with disabilities that struggle.  Insurance issues, mobility issues, bullying, acceptance, are all areas that are struggles for some.

My photo shoot took me into the heart of Boston, to Copley Square, to capture the business side of my life.  200+ photos were taken by a professional photographer, flown in from New Mexico.  With a background of the John Hancock building, and Trinity church, we captured me in business attire, showing off my advanced Microprocessor prosthesis.

We also took 200+ photos in Winthrop, on the beach, overlooking the ocean, the airport, and the Boston skyline (3 of my favorite things).

I hope that putting my story out into the world gives others like me the courage, strength, and hope to dream big, never give up, and fight for what they deserve.

One story has been published so far at http://www.amputee-coalition.com/sean-donnelly/

More to come.  In Motion Magazine, will be publishing a similar article in addition to the ad campaign, which is in the works now.

Thank you to my Kronos family for your constant support, overwhelming encouragement, and for always making me feel whole.

Thank You -

Sean P. Donnelly

Associate Manager, Education Delivery and Operations, Americas | Kronos Services | SmartValueFAST


Operation Cancer Care Giveback Event

Operation Cancer Care Giveback Event

We had a great Giveback event at our Education Symposium on November 18, 2016 at the Babson Conference Center. The Global team came together and started the Symposium with an Operation Cancer Care event to benefit children battling cancer. The recipient of our efforts was Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Giveback initiatives have become a cornerstone of the Symposium and this was a cause that we could all embrace, since we all know someone affected by cancer.

We had to get creative using poetry, drawing, and other events that culminated in putting together 27 personalized care packages from the 9 teams that would be donated to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Personalized notes and pictures of the teams with masks were included in our hopes to help lift the spirits of the children receiving the packages. We had great facilitators, high energy and a sense of accomplishment after the event. A Spokesperson from Dana Farber spoke to us at the conclusion about the programs at Dana Farber and thanked us for the donation.

 

Posting for Giveback site

 

 

Charity work is very important to my family. In fact, my husband is currently the President of a charitable organization called the 200 Foundation. We are very lucky that giving back is part of our everyday life and that we have an extended family through the organization.

 

The 200 Foundation, which includes an all-volunteer board of directors and countless other volunteers, has been giving back to the community for over 52 years. The organization raises money through events and donations and then redistributes 100% of the monies raised through grants to local non-profit organizations that help those most in need with food, clothing, shelter and rehabilitation services.

 

This year I volunteered to help with the summer dinner event. This event is very special. Every year a new honoree is nominated and selected based on the amazing work that they have done throughout their community. I am always so moved listening to the honorees speak about their missions.

 

During the event there is both a silent and live auction where bids are placed on donated items. Again, 100% of the funds raised from this event are filtered directly back into the community. This year, I spent time gathering information about auction items and helped with any other administrative tasks that were asked of me leading up to the event. During the event, I also spent time capturing the event with photos and answering questions that anyone may have had. 

 

While the summer dinner event is both a fundraiser and social event, it feels great knowing I was a part of something that helped raise a substantial amount of money to help those most in need in my community.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laura Bortolussi | Instructional Designer | Kronos Incorporated

tel: +1 978 947 4938 | 4 Omni Way, Chelmsford, MA 01824

 

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Robert's Field Giveback Event

Robert’s Field – June 24, 2016

 

The Education Services Giveback team had a Giveback event at Robert’s Field in Chelmsford on June 24. The organization, Friends of the Roberts Field was founded in 2013 to encourage greater appreciation and public use of the Chelmsford, Massachusetts park located at 260 Old Westford Road. The volunteer organization is comprised of neighbors and residents committed to enhancing and protecting Roberts Field Park for the enjoyment of everyone. Our team was asked to  build a bridge in a sensitive walking trail area where there tends to be some water flow in the spring. Also, establish a new pollinator garden using plants that the Friends of Roberts Field had collected. 

 

The team was interested in this event because it supported Chelmsford’s efforts to preserve and beautify their open spaces for the community to enjoy. It was also good to get out in the nice weather and to work as a team to improve the community. We completed the bridge, re-located and planted sod removed to make the pollinator garden and planted the pollinator garden with donated plants. We all had a sense of satisfaction with the results and the folks at Robert’s Field were very appreciative. Kronites taking part in the event were Alicia Alcaino, Lyn Bennett, Susan Charest,  Alex Cote, Tom Hanlon, Jon King, Colene MurphyLessard and Roger Tremblay.

 

 

Lazarus House Giveback Event

Lazarus House Soup Kitchen – June 13, 2016

 

The Education Services Giveback team started a Giveback event at Lazarus House in Lawrence. This will be an ongoing event that will take place the second Monday of each month. We will have 4 people serving lunch at the soup kitchen each month and many people within and outside the organization will be part of the rotation. We are participating in this activity to support the Lazarus House Ministries mission of providing food for up to 225 people a day that come to the kitchen. Volunteers are the life blood of the services that Lazarus House provides. Kronos has been a great supporter of Lazarus House and we want to continue that presence in supporting their efforts.

 

The volunteer coordinator gave us a synopsis of the Services that Lazarus House provides and indicated that the need for services continues to grow. We worked with some of the Lazarus House staff members and we were the servers of the lunch. The inaugural team for this initiative were Peter Broderick, LeAnne Gaudio, Colene MurphyLessard and Roger Tremblay. Pete and Colene served the entrée of spaghetti with meat sauce, mixed vegetables and some sandwiches. LeAnne kept the dessert table full and Roger kept the drinks flowing.

 

It was a gratifying day for all of us to see that we helped brighten people’s day a little. There was one man that came through the line that was asked: How are you doing? He looked down and indicated “I don’t even know how to answer that.” After finishing lunch the same man came by and said, ask me again. He was asked how are you doing? He said “much better now” and thanked us for coming. It doesn’t take a lot to brighten someone’s day, but we can do it through our Giveback events. There is a signup sheet to keep this going and we are now booked through the end of the year, and will continue after that.

 

 

Mill City Grows Giveback Event, May 13, 2016

The Education Services Giveback team had another successful Giveback event at Mill City Grows in Lowell. We participated in this activity to support the Mill City Grows mission of fostering food justice by improving physical health, economic independence and environmental sustainability in Lowell through increased access to land, locally-grown food and education. We participated in the event because we want to support our community in providing locally grown, healthy food to those in need, while spending time together as a team for a great cause.

 We learned that farming isn’t gardening and is a lot of hard work and sometimes takes a while to see the payoff, such as the 2 years it takes for the asparagus we planted. The organization we volunteered for grows 80,000 pounds of vegetables in a season  to help the local community, which is no easy task and volunteers are essential to its success. We were joined by another Kronos group of interns and a group from the Jean D’Arc Credit Union from Lowell and our combined efforts were impressive. We built mounds of dirt with trenches, laid irrigation and planted an area of asparagus in an afternoon that would have taken a month for the few people that work at Mill City Grows. There was also a lot of weeding also done across the farm that is essential to helping the crops grow strong. By representing Kronos at The Mill City Grows farm and sharing the experience on the giveback site, we will help to more bring visibility to this great cause so more Kronos teams get involved. The team included Alicia Alcaino, Lyn Bennett, Jane Bomengen, Alexandra Cote, Eileen Cushing-Craig, Jean Kilian, Colene MurphyLessard and Roger Tremblay.

Helping a Local Teacher Rebuild

Imagine that you’re a well-loved middle school teacher and lacrosse coach, when suddenly your life changes forever. You suffer a debilitating spinal cord injury and are paralyzed from the waist down. Then, a short time later, the unthinkable happens…your home is destroyed in a fire, leaving you and your family with nothing but the clothes on your back.

A few weeks ago, that was Tom Gallagher’s reality.

So many people would have been devastated by either of these circumstances. Rather than despair, Tom and his wife Annette have expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support they have received from the local Chelmsford community as they undertake the monumental task of rebuilding their home and their lives.

In the days following the fire, members of the Kronos Educational Services team felt so moved by the Gallagher’s situation that they began reaching out to coworkers across the company, gathering donations for the Gallaghers. Thanks to many individual donations and a corporate donation sponsored by Pete Broderick on behalf of the Educational Services team, the Gallaghers will receive $1500 from Kronos toward their rebuilding efforts. While the Gallaghers will certainly need many times more than this amount to put their lives back together, the Educational Services team is proud to be able to show Kronos’ support to a valued member of our hometown community. The definition of #GiveInspired!

Giving new life to a church

In 1976, a Cape Cod house that was built in the mid 1940’s was purchased for the Community of Christ congregation in Laurel, Maryland. After decades of dreaming, planning and fundraising, they were finally able to break ground this year to build a formal sanctuary.

Aside from retro-fitting a simple projector, screen and couple speakers in the pre-existing sanctuary a few years ago, the structure has never been outfitted with any new technology. That all changed starting May 7, 2015 when I led a group of volunteers to run cable in both the new sanctuary (currently under construction) and the pre-existing structure it is attached to. We ran cable for video projection, sound, distributed audio, distributed video, internet and network, phone, cable TV, security and IP cameras.

The church is growing from having very little technology to having a lot of technology. The cable we ran will offer many enhancements and possibilities that were never possible before such as: Participating in services remotely… Seeing and hearing the services from the nursery (among other places)… Participating in church-wide webcasts… Reviewing internet based content with a group… Monitor and control the facility remotely for safety… The list goes on. 

Prior to coming to Kronos, this is the kind of work I did. I’m glad to use this seldom tapped skill again and give back what I can. 

Mark Sadler | Application Consultant IV

I Taught a Self-Defense Class

On 1/14/15 I taught a free self-defense class to the residents of our 500 home community.  I was required first to get approval by making a presentation to HOA board and make available my certification as a 2nd degree black belt and instructor.

The purpose of the class was twofold – I wanted to help people:  1.) To avoid becoming a target of an attack; and 2.) To teach practical techniques if they were attacked.  These techniques included how to get out of grabs and holds along with basic strikes.  I taught the class alternating between lecturing and teaching the practical techniques.  The class was held in our community clubhouse  at 7pm with 10 students attending.  The students said that they found the class not only very helpful, but also enjoyable and wanted to know when the next class was going to be held.  I’m the one kneeling in front in the group shot.

Richard Wade | Sr. Workforce Solutions Consultant, OnDemand | Kronos Incorporated