Maureen had a beaming smile and greeted everyone with a big hug and love. Her kindness, acceptance, generosity, hard work, grace, openness, loyalty, leadership & joy were unmatched, even despite the many challenges she faced. Below are examples of how we've bittersweetly continued Maureen's legacy thus far.
Maureen was President of her Class of '94. She loved getting people together to show their school spirit, was a loyal classmate, always planning or participating. The MHF Scholarship was established to continue Maureen's legacy by focusing on the inner beauty and community involvement of the applicants. Recipients have been Cameron Pie
Maureen was President of her Class of '94. She loved getting people together to show their school spirit, was a loyal classmate, always planning or participating. The MHF Scholarship was established to continue Maureen's legacy by focusing on the inner beauty and community involvement of the applicants. Recipients have been Cameron Piecewicz '20, Olivia Reagan '21, Ava Spencer '22 & Olivia Bartholomew '23.
Maureen has a special connection to the East Los Angeles Salvation Army that we didn't know about until after her passing. Therefore, as part of our annual Holiday Initiative, we partner with this particular location to fulfill their child/teen holiday wish lists. We also started providing backpacks & school supplies every August. The
Maureen has a special connection to the East Los Angeles Salvation Army that we didn't know about until after her passing. Therefore, as part of our annual Holiday Initiative, we partner with this particular location to fulfill their child/teen holiday wish lists. We also started providing backpacks & school supplies every August. The kids are SO appreciative and love to hear from us!
As part of our 2021 & 2022 Holiday Initiatives, our board became real-life elves, adopting families in need. The families submit their must-haves & wish lists and we fulfill it all! Thanks to your donations, it's an amazing feeling to know many gifts are put under trees in Maureen's name.
www.newburyportyouthservices.com (Family To Family Holiday Program)
Connecting Our Paths Eternally (COPE) is an incredibly helpful organization for families grieving child and sibling loss. MHF continually sponsors one month's worth of phone line help with a psychotherapist for anyone in need of a call-in, and we have sponsored their "Cope Walk" two yrs in a row. If you are grieving the loss of a child (at any age) or sibling, please visit: www.copefoundation.org
Maureen believed everyone should have at least a second chance, and she loved empowering women in need. We chose this organization on Newbury Street, where women can come for food, counseling and job encouragement six days a week. We provided CVS gift cards and notes of encouragement to be disbursed.
As part of our 2020 Holiday Initiative, we chose this wonderful organization to help local students in need. If a local school has a "Catie's Closet," a student can visit it discretely to obtain anything they may need. The 'closets' are stocked with clothing of all sizes, underwear, uterwear, backpacks, female and male hygiene products.
Though Maureen lived 40 completely healthy years, she was suddenly diagnosed with aggressive glioblastoma IV, a terminal brain cancer. We are committed to helping fund research in the hopes that other families do not have to endure such a loss. For 3 yrs, we traveled to Capitol Hill with NBTS and advocated for those who cannot. We will ne
Though Maureen lived 40 completely healthy years, she was suddenly diagnosed with aggressive glioblastoma IV, a terminal brain cancer. We are committed to helping fund research in the hopes that other families do not have to endure such a loss. For 3 yrs, we traveled to Capitol Hill with NBTS and advocated for those who cannot. We will never stop fighting and donating towards research and a cure. We also continuously donate to GBM research, which is severely underfunded.
Maureen was a 1998 graduate of Emerson, and was an incredibly involved Broadcast Journalism student, both in Boston and LA, but also was a member of the national organization RTDNA (Radio, TV, Digital News Association). The inaugural 'RTDNA Maureen Heaton Entertainment News Award' was awarded to Kimberly Wilborn, class of 2019, who now also works at E! in Los Angeles. Congrats Kim!
This organization helps children who are victims of sex trafficking and prostitution and we were led here because of Maureen's love and concern for children in need. During our Spring Remembrance 2021 and Holiday Initiative 2022, we provided a donation specifically funding school tutoring for the Los Angeles victims in desperate need of a brand new start. www.childrenofthenight.org
As part of our 2022 Holiday Initiative, we provided countless warm coats and hot meals to the homeless. A few years back, Maureen actually suggested to her sister Katharine that she should start a winter coat drive for this organization at her work in NYC. Katharine keeps the email saved as a reminder of Maureen's constant ideas of how to help others.
As part of our 2020 Holiday Initiative, we helped this organization put food on the table for Thanksgiving (which is also the same week as Maureen's 44th Birthday). We supplied substantial gift cards to Market Basket in order to assist with families' meal of Thanks. They were very happy to meet us and receive our offering.
After an extremely difficult 2020, this women's shelter in NYC reopened its doors in January of 2021. We were there to help welcome new ladies arriving in need of housing, clothing, food and confidence. We armed them with empowering gift bags and helped them understand they have what it takes to start their new lives.