JUNKDRAWERS

Dads, Your GUY TIME is NEEDED

The Home for Little Wanderers, a nationally-renowned, private, non-profit child and family service agency, is looking for male mentors to work with adolescent boys between the ages of 10 and 17. Quality "guy-time" could be as simple as a walk through local college campuses, attending sporting events or even taking the T around Boston.

Opportunities are always available in the Home's programs across Boston and Eastern Massachusetts. For more information visit thehome.org/volunteer.

Easy SHIRT-SHOPPING for Dad

Amy Mancini, a busy Central Mass mom of three and a professional photographer, is now a founding partner of New England's J. Hilburn.

Mancini offers luxury custom-fit shirts for the men in your life (dads, granddads, college grads). "It's Ralph Lauren marries Amazon," says Mancini, "You get a high-quality shirt, for half the price because I come directly to you." A personal style advisor will visit at the location of your choice to choose everything from collar, cuff, even the placket. A few weeks later, the shirt will arrive, made just for your man. Amy is selectively looking for other high-energy moms to join her 10 to 15 hours in the Metro-West/Boston area. For more information on the shirts or the opportunity, contact Amy at amy.mancini@jhilburn.com or 508-688-2772.

How Well do you Know your MONTHLY BILLS?

Do you know how much your monthly bills are? Have you written a detailed list of all of your financial information and placed it in a safe? Do you update it ever 6 to 8 months? Do you know what an FSA account is? Do you use bill pay, an online service from your bank guaranteed to pay all of your bills on time? "Head Coach," Mary Ellen Regele of Worcester, is getting busy families in financial shape for a coaching fee of $79. Look for the baystateparent Budget Coach Family Giveaway and story in our August issue. To contact the Budget Coach, call 508-793-9087 or e-mail thebudgetcoach@aol.com.

BMI Screenings Come TO SCHOOL this September

During the upcoming school year, the Massachusetts Public Health Council will require all public schools to regularly perform Body Mass Index (BMI) screenings to determine body fatness for students and to notify parents four times during a student's 13 years of schooling. The state says that the purpose of the new regulation is to provide parents with important information on the health status of their child, and to help parents work with health care providers on ways to promote healthier eating and exercise habits for children. The newly-enacted regulations are part of the Mass in Motion anti-obesity initiative announced earlier this year by the Patrick administration. - Caitlyn Kelleher, editor@the communityjournal.com. Parents: weigh in. How do you feel about the new BMI screening in schools? We're talking about it in baystateparent's August Back-to-School issue. To join the discussion, email editor@ baystateparent.com. Parents have already begun discussing this hot topic on baystateparent's Facebook page.