LYNNFIELD — Carmela Dalton, president of the Think of Michael Foundation, has announced that radio and television personality, Billy Costa, will be emceeing the foundation’s Second Annual Trivia Night.
This year’s event, featuring food, fun, music, raffles and a silent auction, will be Friday, Jan. 10 from 6:30-10:30 p.m. at Breakaway on Route 1 in Danvers.
“We are indeed fortunate to have Billy emceeing our event this year,” Dalton said. “Last year we had 400 people attend our Trivia Night event. We expect another great turnout (this year). Our goal is a good time for a good cause.”
Dalton said last year’s event raised more than $90,000, well in excess of the foundation’s goal.
“The goal was $15-20,000 with one presenting sponsor, but instead we got seven,” said Dalton’s husband, Dick. “The outpouring of support from the community was amazing.”
The Think of Michael Foundation is a registered 501c(3) non-profit organization that is dedicated to helping those individuals and their families who are struggling with substance use disorder.
The Daltons, along with their children, Stacie and Jamie, established the foundation in June of 2019 after their 39-year-old son, Michael, died in 2018 from an opiate overdose while in outpatient treatment.
The foundation provides aid to recovering addicts to pay for sober house living expenses following treatment. Sober house living, while a critical component of the recovery phase, is not covered by insurance. Think of Michael provides scholarship assistance ranging from $500-$900 to help defray the cost of housing for recovering addicts as they transition from rehabilitation to the real world.
Earlier this year, Jamie and Dick Dalton, a Lynnfield selectman, helped create a new foundation to address another important issue faced by recovering addicts — finding jobs. Recovery Works, a non-profit organization affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital, has hit the ground running with a $200,000 grant from the state legislature with a goal of developing a pilot program designed to assist recovering addicts attempting to re-enter the workforce. The Dalton family says this is hopefully the first step toward the creation of a permanent, state-wide job assistance program.
Costa is an Emmy award-winning and popular radio personality with KISS 108-FM in Boston. A former Lynnfield resident, Costa serves as a co-host of The Matty in the Morning Show and hosts the KISS Top 30 Countdown. He is also the host of High School Quiz Show on WGBH. He and co-host Jenny Johnson currently star on Dining Playbook, a 30-minute television show that combines two of New England’s favorite pastimes — food and sports.
This year’s event has a new twist as the foundation will honor several individuals who have made significant contributions to drive the missions of the A Healthy Lynnfield, Think of Michael and Recovery Works foundations as they work to provide the critical tools to help recovering addicts succeed.
“We are doing something new this year as we wanted to honor a lot of very nice people who are doing so many very nice things for all of those programs that are focused on helping people battling addiction,” said Dick Dalton.
The list of honorees includes Representative Bradley H. Jones, Senator Brendan Crighton, Lynnfield selectman and A Healthy Lynnfield founder Phil Crawford, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, “Leadership in Recovery” honoree Jon Cronin, Ummis House founder Ruth Kelley, Magnolia New Beginnings founder Maureen Cavanaugh, and Recovery Works founder Dr. Estee Sharon of the Massachusetts General Hospital.
For more information on how you can support the Think of Michael Foundation or to purchase tickets for Trivia Night, visit the foundation’s website, www.thinkofmichael.org; call: (978) 728-8350 or email [email protected].
