Newtown residents Lisa Pollock and her husband George had a healthy son up until 2005 when he suddenly felt very ill. "My son was fine one day and the next day he was so sick. He had a bad headache, chest pain and swollen glands," Pollock said. She brought her son Zach to the pediatrician who did blood work and "they knew almost immediately something was wrong," she said. That something was called Acute Lymphostic Leukemia (ALL). Zach was nine years old when he was diagnosed with the disease, which is a type of blood cancer. Other names for ALL are acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute …
The Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network (CPBN) has chosen Whisconier Middle School (WMS) to compete for a chance to win $250,000 in professional video equipment. Not only that, if they win, the students will also receive free training and mentoring on how to use the state-of-the-art technology courtesy of CPBN. Striving to transform students into "21st Century Journalists," CPBN has selected students from a wide variety of backgrounds to compete for a chance to win the contest. According to their website, CPBN Media Lab's Future Producers Workshop Academy feels that "Media is magic. …
Laurie Klein, a world renowned photographer who studied under Ansel Adams, has built an international reputation as a photographer and educator from her studio in Brookfield. Her career has spanned over three decades and includes artistic portraits, unique fine art nature pieces, and occasionally some wedding photography. Klein's belief that it is important to give teens a creative outlet in the arts has spawned a photography mentoring program that has been going strong for over 15 years. This month and next, the youths are exhibiting their work on the walls of Brookfield Town Hall. A …
Connecticut Food Bank is pleading for help to keep its warehouses stocked with food as the summer months approach. The Food Bank has seen its food supply dwindle in the last few weeks as donations drop and the demand for food assistance continues to remain high. Connecticut Food Bank is running a special "virtual food drive" on its website, www.ctfoodbank.org, to try to raise much-needed funds to purchase additional food this summer to feed men, women and children in need. "Contrary to what many people may think, the highest demand for food is in the summer," Nancy L. Carrington, Connecticut …
Jo-Ann Bonenfant, Event Chair for Brookfield Relay for Life, has been involved with the fundraising event for eight years. She heard about it at work and decided to become involved after her father, Orain Ready, died of cancer in 1991 shortly after being diagnosed. Originally participating in Bethel's relay, she has relayed in her hometown of Brookfield for the last four years, since it began here. "Little did I know that I would be going through the same thing a few years later," she said. Bonenfant was diagnosed with a rare form of Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2002. Only 5 percent of people are …
