Officials with the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth (CHaD) have announced that they will be hosting a special event on Sunday, November 29 beginning at 3:30 p.m. to honor of the Marshall family of Lyme who will be featured later that day at 8:00 p.m. on ABC's hit television show Extreme Makeover Home Edition.
Members of the Marshall family will be hosting a special edition of "Be Positive Hospital Bingo" on Sunday, November 29 at 3:30 p.m. followed by a meet-and-greet reception at 4:30 p.m. which will include a slide show and short video about their Extreme Makeover experience and what it has meant for the family. These events will be held in Auditoriums E and F at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC).
The public is invited to participate in the special edition of Bingo, which patients can access on Channel 15 in their hospital rooms. There is no cost to participate, but participants must be on site at DHMC to play. TV Bingo has long been a feature at DHMC as a way for patients to pass the time while they are recuperating.
Earlier this month, officials with Trumbull-Nelson Construction and Upper Valley United Way announced two special community viewing locations for the premiere of the Extreme Makeover Home Edition program featuring the Marshalls. One viewing location will be at Hanover High School with a second at the Lyme School. At each site, before the broadcast, there will be a behind-the-scenes presentation featuring images of the build, and interviews with some of the thousands of volunteers. The Marshall family is scheduled to be at Hanover High School at 6:30 p.m. and in Lyme later in the evening. All are invited to attend. Seating is limited at both venues, so anyone interested in attending is encouraged to visit www.TNBuildCommunity.com and follow the links to sign up for free tickets.
The Marshall family and those who helped lead the effort say they are focusing on maintaining the momentum around the community spirit fostered by the event.
"This incredible project brought together over 3,000 people from throughout the Upper Valley, as well as all over New Hampshire and Vermont," said Trumbull-Nelson President Larry Ufford. "It forged new friendships and strengthened connections. We want to make sure people have the opportunity come back together, and bring their families to share in this accomplishment."
"As this is also part of the Thanksgiving week, we want encourage people to take the opportunity to step beyond the usual, to make a commitment to help, and to recognize the contributions of people around them," said Julia Hadlock, Executive Director, Upper Valley United Way. "With help from the Marshall Family, we will be putting the focus in particular on some projects for COVER and Habitat for Humanity that need help today. However, as we look around the Upper Valley, many organizations don't as much need someone to commit a day or days, as to share small amounts of their time on an ongoing basis. Now, people can go to our Web site, UVUW.org and click on the 'Volunteer' button to find a searchable of online database of other volunteer opportunities."
"For us, the most important thing is to have an opportunity to thank as many of the people who made this happen as possible," said Elena Marshall. "We are so grateful for everything people have done, and now we want to help lead the effort to make a difference in even more lives."
Indeed, it was a spirit of giving back that led to the Marshall family being nominated as participants in the Extreme Makeover program. Cameron (Cam) Marshall's inspirational story of perseverance and positivity has touched many people at CHaD and DHMC. While undergoing treatment for leukemia, Cam found out that his blood type was B+. He decided to make that his mantra in both spirit and practice. Cam and the entire Marshall family soon turned their focus to others, and Cam decided to expand his personal motto to benefit all CHaD kids and families and thus, the Cam's Be Positive for CHaD Kidsmovement was launched.
The B+ for CHaD Kids movement is operated with the expressed permission of The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation (www.BePositive.org).
More information on the Be Positive campaign can be found at http://chad.dartmouth-hitchcock.org/pc/learn_about_be_positive_fund.html.