Lincoln youths turn to summertime service

It’s summer, and teens and kids have time on their hands — and several of them in Lincoln are using their time for nonprofit and charity projects.

Pushing against the tide of breast cancer

Zoe Borden, a rising high school freshman, will be participating virtually in her third year of Against the Tide events on August 15 and September 19 by completing one-mile recreational swims to benefit the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition (MBCC). She was encouraged to participate by her physical therapist, Laura Diamond, who co-founded Against the Tide 28 years ago.

Diamond has been working for years with Borden, who has nemaline myopathy, a rare condition that causes generalized muscle weakness, and the water has helped her immensely. “A couple of years ago, [Laura] mentioned that perhaps one day I could participate in the swim with her,” she said. “It was an amazing challenge for me and one that I felt strongly about when she brought it up. In the beginning of training, a mile felt so daunting, but she always made me feel like I could do it. Now, after a lot of hard work and effort, I’m swimming a mile every week.”

Borden also feels a personal connection to MBCC. “I’m swimming for my aunt who is a survivor of breast cancer and because I believe in MBCC’s mission. Their work is so important because they understand the environmental factors that cause cancer and put a focus on prevention, not just treating the disease after it becomes a problem.”

To donate to the MBCC in Borden’s name, click here.

Helping young voters navigate elections

Hamilton College sophomore Chris Harrison was increasingly frustrated by the political polarization in America and wished there was a way to make information about elections and voting easier for young people to access and understand. He wanted to empower those who, like himself, felt strongly about the fate of the nation but were turned off by traditional political coverage — which, he feels, tends to focus on drama and scandals rather than who would be the best person to lead.

With this goal in mind, Harrison taught himself how to code, designed a website, and enlisted two friends (fellow Lincolnite Cole Volpe and Miles Munkacy of Chestnut Hill) to gather material about candidates in the the upcoming presidential and Massachusetts elections and make the website a reality. Impact Change USA (www.impactchangeusa.com) has information in short, easy-to-understand segments on the candidates in the upcoming presidential and Massachusetts elections. For each candidate, the site gives an overall summary and then short summaries of their stances and actions on up to 11 relevant issues.  

“The energy and political involvement I’ve seen from a lot of my friends in the recent weeks and months inspired me to start this project,” Harrison said. “It made me realize the impact that our generation can have on the way our country is run. My hope for Impact Change is that it will help make political involvement — particularly voting — easier for other young people so that we can play a larger role in deciding our future.” The next step is to get other young people involved so they can fill in information on the other 49 states.

Flowers for food pantry

Katryn Roush and her five-year-old daughter Kyla Roush are selling fresh flowers, tomatoes, and herbs at the end of their driveway at 30 Old Sudbury Rd., with all proceeds going to the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry in Lincoln and Weston.

“I wanted to support Kyla’s need to feel helpful and connected to others,” Katryn Roush said. “We’ve bought groceries for the food pantry with her in the past, and she had a lot of questions about people needing food in our community.”

The sales idea was “a combination of wanting her to see how she could help out other families, and to have gratitude. Kyla also wants to see other people, which is rare in these days of Covid-19. She feels proud. We’ve already raised over $100 for the food pantry,” Roush said on August 11.