Fenway Park Sunday will be the site of a remarkable tribute to a Carver man and his family who are overwhelmed by the kind of support no one can expect.
The Carver Reporter
Kathryn Gallerani
Reporter
Posted Jul. 24, 2014 @ 10:00 am
CARVER – Fenway Park Sunday will be the site of a remarkable tribute to a Carver man and his family who are overwhelmed by the kind of support no one can expect.
Dan Grimes, 42, who is battling late stage lung cancer, returned to the hospital early this week and may not attend Sunday as planned but his family will be represented at the benefit to kick off a $1 million fundraising campaign to create a fund to support Dan and other employees affected by cancer.
Both Dan and his younger brother, Andrew, work for HealthBridge Management and CareOne, the companies that are making this all possible. A licensed nursing home administrator, Dan is regional director of operations for the company’s eight Southeastern Massachusetts nursing facilites.
“I’ve never heard of a company doing what CareOne has done,” Andy Grimes said. “It’s beyond anything we could have imagined, how much they are doing to support him.”
Dan was speechless when he learned he would be the first recipient of the new fund, his brother said. He said Dan is very proud that a fund that bears his name will help others.
“There are no words for it,” Andy said. “Our whole family is just blown away.”
The sons of former selectman Jim Grimes and his wife Mary, they are joined in this fight by Dan’s wife, Karen, his high school sweetheart, and their four young children ages 4 to 11. The Grimes family moved to Carver in 1984 when Dan was 12 and Andy was 6.
It’s a bright light at a time when Dan is in pain and in search of the treatment option that will save his life. A non-smoker healthy aside from his cancer, he was diagnosed in March.
Unfortunately, there has been minimal success with the first and second chemotherapy treatments ordered by his doctor, Dr. David Jackman, but they will keep on with different treatment options. A clinical trial may still be an option but has been postponed for medical reasons.
“He’s battling, and we have a lot of hope there are other treatments that will be effective,” Andy said.
Andy is at his brother’s side for all his appointments. He said it’s another benefit of working for CareOne that he’s able to do this.
When CareOne Chairman and CEO Daniel E. Straus learned of Dan’s illness, he launched the fundraising campaign to help Dan and other employees with unexpected expenses so they can focus on their recovery and their families.
“Dan’s story is our story,” Straus said in a statement. “Like all of our employees, he has dedicated his career to helping our skilled nursing care residents and their families. What we do in our profession is care for others, but we also need to take care of our own. We don’t just work in these communities. We also live in these communities and when something like this happens, whether it is one man’s battle with cancer or the ravages of a hurricane in New Jersey, it happens to all of us and we need to stand up as a community.”
CareOne has similarly supported other causes, including raising more than $1 million to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy, donating $250,000 to the One Fund for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing and raising more than $1 million for The Valerie Fund, an organization providing programs and services for children living with cancer and blood disorders.
The Fenway Park fundraiser is expected to attract more than 1,000 participants, many of them colleagues and friends. The event will have a baseball theme throughout and includes food, music, special guest appearances, ballpark tours, raffles, silent auctions and corporate sponsorship donations. Doors open at 4 p.m. and the event runs until 8 p.m.
Throughout the companies efforts are underway to support Dan and future beneficiaries of the fund. Nursing facility operators have been having their own fundraisers for the cause. Locally, businesses in Carver and Plymouth have been raising awareness of the cause and selling Save Dan T-shirts. The Plymouth Pilgrims baseball team is partnering with the #SaveDan fundraiser to raise money for the avid sports fan.
“It’s been an amazing outpouring of support for Dan, his family and his extended family,” Andrew said.
Follow Kathryn Gallerani on Twitter, @kgallreporter.
