Brown’s Harvest is a family owned farm located in Windsor, Conn. Since 2008, they have supported Shriners Hospital in Springfield, Mass through various fundraisers. Two October weekends were reserved for family fun days this year, and a portion of the daily proceeds were donated to the hospital.
What is a family fun day without clowns? We can always count on the Sphinx Shrine Funsters to draw a crowd and keep them entertained on a cloudy or sunny day.
The Melha Riders from the Melha Shrine Temple in Springfield, Mass attended the hospital’s October Board of Governors meeting to present a donation for $30,000. The money was raised from their 5th annual hospital motorcycle run.
Shriners Hospital’s patients and families express their thanks and appreciation in many ways. Supporting the Aluminum Can Tab & Recycling Program is one example. 
Every three months, Isaiah and his family travel over 3 hours for a clinic appointment and donate about 25 pounds of can tabs each visit. Aluminum can tabs are collected and recycled to raise money to purchase medical and non-medical items for patients.
Shriners Hospital is fortunate to be part of such a chartiable community. On Thursday, November 10th, two Melha Shrine Clowns (Beeper & Doc) and I enjoyed a visit at The Association for Community Living during their 1st annual toy drive kick-off event. The Association is gathering 
new toys from their 500 employees to be donated to Baystate Children’s Hospital and Shriners.
In March, we introduced you to Andrew in a post written by his mother.
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Since then, he has created his own website, underwent surgery, was the patient ambassador at the hospital walkathon and held numerous fundraisers in pursuit of his goal to make the U.S. Paralympic Ski Team and compete in Sochi, Russia in 2014. His family is holding their last fundraising event this year called Eat With Andrew.
 In March, we posted a story about the UMASS Club Hockey Team’s donation to the hospital. http://www.springfieldshrinersblog.com/2011/03/umass-club-hockey-visits-the-hospital/
The team continues to support Shriners Hospitals for Children’s mission. On October 29th the UMass team hosted the second Annual West vs. East Showdown against Boston University to benefit our hospital. Shriners Hospital patient, Troy Cronin was invited to participate in the ceremonial puck drop with #10 alternate captain, Bill Foard/NJ and #18 team captain, Adam Spunt/CA.
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BU came out strong in the first period leaving UMass scrambling to bounce back from a
4 to 1 deficit. With eight minutes left in the 2nd period, the MassMutual Center lost power as a result of the nor’easter barreling down on Western Mass. Fans and players waited 16 minutes before power was restored. With 7.7 seconds left in the third period, UMass #7 Craig Charest/NH netted the tying goal, making the score 5 to 5. In overtime, the game winning goal came from UMass #21 Mark Joyce/MA with less than 2 minutes remaining. While the fans and players enjoyed a fantastic game, the real winner was Shriners Hospital in Springfield, Mass.
