The Board of the Monadnock Area Transitional Shelter in Peterborough would like to thank everyone who supported the family BBQ at Oak Park in Greenfield on Aug. 4. About 100 people attended the event which raised $1,700 for the Steven Fund for Kids.

This will provide the children at the shelter with fees required so they can participate in local activities which they could not afford otherwise. Thank you to all.

Other news at MATS is that there are two new Board members and one returning member. Bruce Simpson of Dublin and Bob Marrone of Peterborough have joined the Board while Julie Flood-Page of Rindge has returned to the Board.

Marrone is the pastor at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Peterborough and has been involved with issues around homelessness in other places where he and his family have lived. He believes that this is a major problem in our country, feels that the program at MATS is important due to our focus assisting people change their lives, and that this makes a huge and lasting difference for our guests. Marrone serves on the fundraising committee and helps with computer graphics.

As well as being a minister, Marrone is a working artist and currently has his work on display at the Monadnock Community Hospital’s Healing Art Gallery and at the Jaffrey Civic Center, where his is also Board Vice President. He lives in Peterborough with his wife, Jodi; they have four children and three grandchildren.

Simpson lives in Dublin with his wife and ten-year old son. He joined MATS because he appreciates the work that it does to address homelessness through counseling, assisting people find appropriate housing and offering them a safe home until permanent housing is found. He also appreciates that the Board focuses on the bigger picture of the lack of affordable housing in our area where the median cost of renting a two-bedroom apartment in Hillsborough County has risen to $1,500 per month.

Simpson feels that as the organization searches for solutions to chronic housing problems, his experience with the law and land development can be of assistance.

Simpson serves on the Dublin Planning Board, was involved with the Dublin Open Space Planning Committee and is a founder of the nonprofit which developed the Dublin Community Center housed where the Dublin Store was located years ago. He is also a trustee at the Dublin Community Church, and enjoys hiking, music, history and traveling.

Flood-Page has returned to the MATS Board after more than a two-year hiatus, before which she served three, three-year terms beginning in 2007. When she and her husband, Dwight Schenk, moved to Rindge, Flood-Page brought with her the conviction that everyone deserves a place to live. This began in the 1990s when she saw a man in Boston climb into a cardboard box where he could get out of the bitter cold on a November night. Soon after that, she then visited shelters in the Boston area and was surprised that not only single people lived there but families as well. She volunteered at the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless and at local churches preparing baskets of supplies for families moving into motel rooms.

Flood-Page is very happy to rejoin the MATS Board with members who bring refreshing ideas to enhance its program and mission. She appreciates that the volunteer Board is committed to providing people with a safe place as they work to stabilize their lives.

During her first terms at MATS, Flood-Page was part of the effort to collaborate with The River Center in Peterborough where our guests are able to access needed resources, and others can seek services when trying to stave off homelessness. She made special mention of the dedication of our Program Manager, Susan Howard, who assists our guests with weekly meetings as well as her willingness to stay in touch with former guests as much as possible.

We welcome these Board members with great appreciation for the special skills and the thoughtful inputs they bring to the organization.

WISH LIST: Reliable car; gift cards from local stores for children’s school clothes and shoes, gas and other supplies which cannot be purchased with food stamps; Pampers of all sizes, Wipes and Pull-ups, and feminine products. Please mail items to P. O. Box 3053 in Peterborough and/or call the MATS office at 924-5033 and leave a message for Susan re: pick-up.

Hope Pettegrew is a MATS volunteer.