For Immediate Release
April 26, 2017 -- Members of AFSCME Local 1214, representing employees at Charter Oak State College and the Connecticut Distance Learning Center in New Britain, presented a $750 donation to the Saint Francis Hospital Foundation in Hartford.The union’s contribution will benefit a patient access fund to assist oncology patients and their families receiving cancer treatment at Saint Francis.

Nancy Taylor, head of the union’s charitable giving committee, and Paul Morganti, a member of the local’s executive board, presented the union’s donation to Lynn Rossini, Vice President and Chief Development Officer for the Saint Francis Foundation; Susan Joyse, Director of Philanthropy; and Kathleen Noone, RN, Regional Executive Director of Oncology.

“We are grateful to AFSCME Local 1214 union members for their support of our patients,” Rossini said. “These funds make a tremendous difference by helping our patients cope with expenses they are otherwise not able to meet while receiving cancer treatment.”

Taylor, the Assistant Director of Corporate Recruitment at Charter Oak, and Morganti, the Associate Registrar, said the union’s contribution was made in memory of fellow Local 1214 members Susan Champine and Debbie Flinn, both of whom recently succumbed to cancer after waging courageous fights against the disease.

“Our union is proud to honor the memory of Sue and Debbie as we support the wonderful work being done by the Saint Francis Foundation,” Taylor said. “It’s comforting to know our contribution will benefit patients in a significant and helpful way.”

Last month, Local 1214 donated $750 to Connecticut Children's Medical Center to help families defray their expenses whle their children are being treated for cancer. Click here to read the story.