New Year, New Roof Giveaway 2020

Congratulations to the Manning Family!

Watch the surprise reveal and highlights from the sweetest campaign ever launched by a finalist.

Nominee: Robin & Jim Manning, Falmouth, MA
Nominated By: Lilly Wolf

Robin & Jim’s Story: My parents, Robin and Jim Manning came to Falmouth over 30 years ago when my dad got a job in Woods Hole working as an oceanographer for NOAA. Over the years they had three kids, myself, and my sister and brother. My mom worked at the Food Buoy in Woods Hole for several years and volunteered at Falmouth Schools doing Arts Alive and computer and science programs when we were young. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when I was about 12 and since then her health has been progressively deteriorating and she is now confined to a wheelchair, paralyzed almost everywhere from the neck down except for limited mobility in one of her arms. For a while she was continuing her passion for painting despite the fact that she could barely hold the paint brush. A few years ago she had an art show at the Maser Gallery in Falmouth to support Falmouth Community Television. Both of my parents were on the Commission for Disabilities in Falmouth for 12 years, advocating for others with similar challenges. Understandably, my mom needs a lot of care and my dad has been amazing doing it all while also still working full time. He has needed to pay for her care during those work hours and it adds up very quickly. They started to board students at their house around 2007 now that my siblings and I have all moved out. Mostly Chinese exchange students, some who have worked with my dad specifically, have helped to supplement what it takes to pay for mom’s daily care, which my siblings and I all help with, but it is still hard to get by. Their house is old and in serious need of a new roof, which would help them immensely. Thank you for listening!

Nominee: Raymond Gousie, Rehoboth, MA
Nominated By: Thomas Ranley

Raymond’s Story: Raymond Gousie is a second cousin of mine and is a special person in my life. Ray is a single, elderly male who lives alone in the house he grew up in. Ray was a well respected teacher in the Attleboro school system for somewhere around forty years before retiring. When I was younger, I was from a broken home and lived with my mother and sister in my grandparent’s home near Ray. Ray became more of a father to me and my sister and was the biggest single influence in my life when I needed it most. I was a mixed up little kid with anger and behavioral problems. When I was young, Ray was influential in getting me into the outdoors and took me hiking in the mountains of New Hampshire, he bought me skis and took me skiing as my mother could not afford it. Ray even took me fishing, knowing I loved it, even though he did not. Ray has spent his life taking care of other people but was forced to get a job after a cancer diagnosis. He worked at a retail store just to pay for his medication. Ray did that until further health problems prohibited him from being able to work. He had to undergo IV antibiotics on a couple occasions, each time he had to self administer for hours each day. Even though he’s not in the best of health he still takes care of others, including his elderly cousins. Ray’s selfless impact and influence kept me from going the wrong way in life and I became a police officer with a loving family of my own.

Nominee: Tiffany Lewis, New Bedford, MA
Nominated By: Samantha L.

Tiffany’s Story: I’d like to nominate my friend Tiffany Lewis. Her story began as a single mother of a 21 year old son, Kyien. Back in 2010 Tiffany had a good friend who suffered many losses trying to get pregnant. Tiffany selflessly offered to be a surrogate mom for that friend, free of charge. Then in 2013 Tiffany began fostering her cousin’s then 18 month old daughter, Ava. In 2014 she was also asked to foster a 3 month old baby boy, Joshua, who was born addicted to drugs. Joshua has endured over a dozen surgeries and multiple lengthily hospital stays. He is now 5 years old and still requires a gi tube to get him nutrients as he has a very hard time swallowing food. His doctor recently recommended Joshua stay in a hospital in Pennsylvania for 4-6 weeks for his feeding issues. In 2014 dcf again called Tiffany and asked her to foster one of Joshua’s siblings, Jayleana, who was also born addicted to drugs. Without hesitation she said yes. All three of these children are going to require to special medical care for the rest of their lives. In January 2016 Tiffany officially adopted Ava and then adopted Joshua and Jayleana in December 2018. In 2019, with all of the hurdles of having 3 young children who all have major medical issues, Tiffany bought a home. Unfortunately, the roof is in pretty rough shape. She works 40-50 hours per week, takes the kids to their specialists and cooks dinner every night. So I write to you in hopes you can see what I see as a beautiful person with a beautiful heart. I can’t think of anyone in this world more deserving. Can Tiffany get the blessing of a new roof since she has been a blessing in so many other people’s lives? I am honored to call her my friend.

Nominee: Janice Lynch, New Bedford, MA
Nominated By: Kate Dansereau

Janice’s Story: Janice has been a pillar of our community ever since she moved to New Bedford over 40 years ago. Janice relocated to New Bedford from New York after serving in the Navy for 3 years during the Vietnam War, where she met and fell in love with her husband. She started with volunteer committees through her church and children’s school, St. Mary’s. As her daughters got older her focus turned to Girl Scouts. She was a Brownie, Junior and Cadette/Senior troop leader for over 20 years. Her daughter was diagnosed with Autism, so she helped to start a Special Needs Girl Scout troop and has coached Special Olympics sports teams including Roller Skating, Soccer, Softball, Bowling and Bocce. While she has retired from being a head coach after over 30 years of volunteering,she continues to assist with paperwork and practices for the bowling team. She worked in the Human Services field at People, Inc for over 25 years until she was forced to retire due to a very serious infection in her hip replacement joint. At this time, Janice has no left hip joint as it had to be completely removed 7 years ago. She can no longer work or drive. She lives in the house where she and her late husband raised 4 daughters. Her Autistic adult daughter still lives with and is supported by her. Janice still manages to volunteer for Special Olympics, the St. Lawrence Church food pantry, Community Autism Resources and sing in the choir at St. Julie’s church. Most people would have lost hope and fallen into despair when losing mobility and independence, but Janice continues to shine and give back to her community in any way she can. She has needed a new roof on her home for many years but it is simply not within her fixed budget. Please consider Janice for this giveaway.