Aarav Khanna
My school bus drops in front of Weston Walgreens and I wait there for my parents. One day in September 2024, when my school drop dropped me, I noticed a "STORE CLOSING" sign on Walgreens. Walgreens decided to close 1,200 stores and the Weston location was one of them. This was devastating for me because it was Weston's only pharmacy. I have visited this pharmacy since childhood and a very generous pharmacist, Bob Hesselberg always helped me and other Weston residents. Bob has worked in this Pharmacy for 30 years. I was concerned on what will happen to Bob especially because he is 75 years old. I got an idea to start a fundraiser on GoFundMe. I marketed my campaign to local residents. I was able to raise over $7,000 dollars for Bob's farewell. I did a news conference to send a message to the broader community. This was a good example of community giveback, which all my young friends should do.
Bob was surprised but he thanked all the local residents for their support in fundraiser. 30 years is a long time and the local residents gathered to thank him for his service. He took care of residents as if they were all his own family. He supported residents through different life events and made sure no one leaves without taking their meds. Bob has moved to the Waltham location and I wish him well.
I started the news conference by giving everyone a background of why we are here. There were 74 donors behind the $7,111 fundraiser.
In the last 2 years, our town has experienced a large number of break-ins. This created lot of unrest among the residents. During these uncertain times, my dad stepped up and worked closely with the Police Chief Denis Linehan and locals residents to implement programs to secure the community. His efforts led to fewer break-ins and some arrests were made in Rhode Island. My Dad asked me to start a fundraiser to thank the local police. I was able to raise $6,000 in 2023 and $4,000 in 2024.
We frequently go to the Ashland Temple and Westborough Gurudwara for worship and one of my favorite things is to serve food to all the visitors. I usually do it with my other friends. We take different appetizers, entrée, breads and go around the hall serving them to all the guests. It is lot of fun and I feel good upon doing so. Once we do that for all the guests, then we eat at the end. I learned this ritual from my Dad, who also enjoys doing it.
We live across from the famous Cherry Brook Field in Weston. On hot summer days, my sister and I usually do community work by setting up lemonade stand for the athletes. When the weather is above 90 degrees, they need an ice cold refresher to keep them going so our lemonade gives them the boost they need to keep fighting and register more wins for RCC. The club has 27 members from Weston, Wellesley, Newton, Sudbury, Wayland, Natick, Cambridge and Needham.
I accompanied my Dad to few Rec Committee meetings of the Town. There are different agenda items on every meeting essentially on how to make outdoor fun for residents. I provided some advice on things that are important to my age group. The chair wants diverse members and they want to hear on what is important to different age groups so they recruited me to be the advisor for the Rec committee.
In May of 2023, I did the PMC bike ride, at Weston High School. There was no admissions fee, instead, each rider was expected o raise at least $40 for Dana Farber Cancer Institute. I decided I want to raise more money for this good cause so I donated $80 myself, but I felt this was not enough so I asked many different people to donate, almost like a mini fundraiser. In the end, I was able to raise over $400 dollars through support of my friends and family for the bike ride. All the proceeds were donated to DFCI. The Bike ride was really fun, but I feel accomplished after donating for a good cause.
I frequently help the American Red Cross organization, they are an organization that helps people affected by natural disasters. I personally really support their cause so I have always donated and am subscribed to their emails. I have donated meals to kids in need with the American Red Cross and have also done a GoFundMe with them to help people when Hurricane Milton struck.
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