Evening of Giving to aid Roland's House
By Sarah Freedman Contributing Writer

Marlborough/Hudson - For 18 years, the annual Evening of Giving in Marlborough has raised awareness, supplies and - of course - money for Roland's House, the Marlborough Hudson Homeless Shelter.

This year's event will take place Thursday Nov. 15 at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel in Marlborough from 7:30 p.m. to midnight. Tickets are $30 each and the proceeds from ticket sales will go to Roland's House.

According to Jean Simoneau, the organizing committee cochair of the event, Roland's House was established in the winter of 1986 after the death of a homeless man that same year.

Since then, thanks to the efforts of former Mayor Kuson Haddad, former Councilor at-large Roland Simoneau and members of the Interfaith Clergy, Roland's House was opened in the basement of the Walker Building.

Its roots were basic, off ering those in need a hot bowl of soup and cup of coff ee, as well as blankets. South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC) came into the picture in 1989, replacing volunteer staffers and relocating the shelter to 57 Mechanic Street.

With the involvement of SMOC, Simoneau said, came a longer list of services, including substance abuse and mental health treatment, medical care and housing and vocational services.

The new goal for the shelter, she added, was to "treat all of the problems that so often contribute to people becoming homeless."

Maurice Lewis has volunteered for the planning committee for five years.

According to Lewis, the volunteers planning and setting up the Evening of Giving are a "group of people who come together to create an event to serve people who need [aid]."

"The number of people who don't have a warm place to stay," he said, is surprisingly higher than most people think.

A great number of veterans have come upon hard times and end up in a shelter like Roland's House, Lewis said. He cited an editorial in the Boston Herald, in which it was reported that thousands of war veterans in the United States are in shelters.

"They can come to a place like Roland's House ... to get help," Lewis said.

Regardless of the circumstances, he said the goal of the shelter is working with other community agencies and making it a "one-stop career center" for the needy.

Last year's Evening of Giving raised $40,000, which provided for more than 200 individuals, many of whom were able to go to sober housing, substance abuse treatment programs or simply to permanent housing.

"Every year there has been an increase [in funds raised]," Lewis said of the event. "The giving is proportional to the need."

This year's event is sponsored by St. Mary's Credit Union, Rohm & Haas, Boston Scientific, Fidelity, Wells Fargo Foothill and Kennedy's Pub, who was one of 30 local restaurants cooking for a good cause and a good time.

"People have come to see this as the signature event of the year," Lewis said. "This is the best ticket in town."