Dedham Residents Rally to Fix Failing Boiler at Mother Brook

A group of residents from Dedham are working to raise funds to offset costs associated with replacing a failing boiler at the Mother Brook Arts and Community Center. 

To pay for the costs, MBACC officials are looking at residents from each of Dedham's seven neighborhoods to host all-inclusive dinners to be followed by dancing and entertainment at MBACC. 

The town wide in-home dinners to raise the funds beginning March 1. The dinners will be held at homes across town as part of the "Heat it Up! Replace-the-Dying-Boiler Fundraiser," according to MBACC officials.

"The boiler crisis came as a bit of a shock," MBACC Executive Director Jean Ford Webb said in a statement. "We knew we took over a fixer upper, but didn't realize it would give out in the first year. But having this kind of response from the community is its own kind of fuel, and will help us all power through one of the first major obstacles we've been given on our quest to build a first-class facility for everyone in Dedham."

The concept behind fundraising effort is to have residents from each of Dedham's seven neighborhoods host dinners in their homes, followed by dessert and dancing to a live band at MBACC. Transportation will be provided to shuttle guests to and from the MBACC building. The cost of the all-inclusive event is $50 per person with a suggested donation of $100 per person that would include a family membership to the center. 

Hosts are asked to serve a dinner of their choosing and style for a minimum of eight people including themselves. A suggested timeframe for drinks and dinner is 7-9 p.m. with a free bus transport provided to pick up guests between 9 and 9:30 p.m.

"In addition to dinner hosts, we are looking for two people from each neighborhood willing to serve as Neighborhood Dinner Co-Captains," said organizer Louisa Miller in a statement. "These people will be encouraged to identify potential host families and oversee the coordination of dinners with transportation. We hope that every neighborhood will be well represented in supporting this wonderful new addition to Dedham."

Those interested in helping out can contact Louisa Miller at lmiller@hammondre.com or 617-645-5450, Eileen Kelly at eileenfit6@msn.com or 617-953-9436 or Hope McDermott at hopemcdermott@gmail.com or 781-696-8325.

More information about the fundraiser can be found at motherbrookarts.org/heat2014 or on Facebook here.