MERIDEN - The Ormsby family of Meriden invites the community to participate in the 15th annual Daniel B. Ormsby Memorial Blood Drive this Sunday at Francis T. Maloney High School, 121 Gravel Street, Meriden, from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in memory of their a loving son, grandson, and brother, Daniel.
At the age of five, Daniel required blood following open heart surgery.  Thanks to the generosity of volunteer donors, blood was available to help ensure Daniel survived his ordeal. Tragedy struck the Ormsby family again in October 1990 when Daniel was killed following a shooting during an armed robbery at the pizza parlor where he worked.  During emergency surgery, Daniel received blood transfusions to help sustain his life as doctors tried to save him.
“Dan’s family remains passionate and committed to helping save lives in Dan’s memory,” said Margie Butkiewicz, Dan’s sister. “We hope to collect at least 125 units of blood this year and ask the community to please roll up their sleeves to help ensure blood is available for patients and their families when needed.”
Since the first memorial blood drive in 1999, the Daniel B. Ormsby Memorial Blood Drive has helped collect over 1420 pints of blood to help accident victims, trauma patients, transplant recipients, and those receiving treatment for life-threatening illnesses.
Since one unit of blood can help up to three patients, up to 4,260 patients may have been helped in honor of Daniel.
“We appreciate the extraordinary dedication of the Ormsby family to help Connecticut patients and are grateful for the tremendous generosity of those who remember Daniel by donating blood,” said Michelle Kelch, Interim Chief Executive Officer for the American Red Cross Connecticut Blood Services Region. “This year, the Red Cross as added additional blood drive staff to help the Ormsby family achieve their goal.”Individuals who are 17 years of age, meet weight and height requirements (110 pounds of more depending on their height) and are in generally good health may be eligible to give blood.
Please call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or visit redcrossblood.org to make an appointment to donate.

Front, from left, Aleisha Lytle, Nakia Dawson and Crystal Beard-Morton of the Bereavement Care Network, with the family of homicide victim Marquise Eaddy. Melanie Stengel — New Haven Register

By Shahid Abdul-Karim

NEW HAVEN >> For Lauren Pittman, a 10 p.m. knock at her mother’s door led to her family rushing to the hospital to find her brother fighting for his life.

Pittman, 29, said her brother left the house riding his bicycle on Dixwell Avenue, where he was gunned downed last December.

Christopher Fain, 19, was shot once. He was pronounced dead at the St. Raphael campus of Yale-New Haven Hospital two days later.

Pittman said a piece of her slipped away when she stood at his bedside and watched her brother take his last breath in the early morning hours that day.

Read more here.

NEW HAVEN - It has been two decades since a drunk driver killed Julia Coppola, and this week, Mothers Against Drunk Driving will be honoring her memory.
Coppola’s daughter, Michelle Lettieri, is the director of victim services for MADD Connecticut, which is based in East Haven.
To mark the 20th anniversary of the fatal crash, the public is invited to a fundraiser and dinner on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 6 p.m. at Anthony’s Ocean View, 450 Lighthouse Road, New Haven.
“It is a way to keep her memory alive and remind people of the devastation caused by drunk driving,” Lettieri said.
The state dedicated Townsend Avenue the “Julia (Nana) Coppola Memorial Highway,” years ago in Coppola’s memory.
“We have had memorial dinners before, but not since the naming of the road, which was about five years ago,” Lettieri said. “My mom was caring, loving, a friend to all, a mother to all, and an all-around special person.”         
Money raised will go toward victim services, youth education and public awareness, according to Lettieri.
The crash happened on Oct. 20, 1993 on Townsend Avenue in New Haven. Coppola, 75, was the front seat  passenger in a car driven by Lettieri. A 17-year-old girl, Danielle McMorrow, was driving under the influence and crashed head-on into their vehicle. 
Tickets are $50 per person and can be purchased by calling MADD at 203-764-2566 in advance of the event.

By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo
BRANFORD >> This weekend’s 5K walk to benefit Mothers Against Drunk Driving will be in honor of a Shelton mother and daughter who were killed by a drunken driver 12 years ago.
The “Walk like MADD” event on Saturday starts outside Branford Town Hall, 1019 Main St., with registration at 8:30 a.m.It is dedicated to the memory of Kathy Wills, 48, and her daughter, Brittany, 14, who died after their vehicle was struck by a truck on Route 110 in Shelton Dec. 13, 2001.  Read more here.

By Douglas P. Clement

Among Daniel U. Ndamwizeye's memories is one from a dozen years ago. Then, the West Haven resident was 11 and getting on a plane to leave his native Rwanda for Zambia, the first leg of a journey from pain to salvation, from tragedy to opportunity and freedom.
That freedom means the Southern Connecticut State University graduate and TD Bank employee can live openly, and comfortably, as a gay man, a status that parts of the world and some of its cultures still struggle to understand, and to accept as simply another shade of normal.
But Ndamwizeye, who goes by the Americanized name Daniel Trust (Ndamwizeye means “I Trust Him” in Kinyarwanda), is not content to rest on the acceptance that has followed his “coming out story.” Instead, he has world-altering aspirations.

Read more on Connecticut Magazine's web site here.