Woburn Couple Wins $20,000 In Boys & Girls Club Raffle

From The McKeown BGC: The McKeown Boys & Girls Club of Woburn held it’s annual Pot of Gold fundraiser on Saturday, March 17th. The Pot of Gold social event is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Boys & Girls Club and has become a signature event within Woburn. At the social, the raffle ticket for the Pot of Gold is drawn with the grand prize being $20,000.

This year’s winners are Tom and Janine Block, of Woburn. Sgt Block is an Army Ranger veteran, who was severely wounded in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. While on his fourth combat rotation in 2013, Sgt Block was injured by an improvised explosive device. He lost his right eye and most of his vision in his left eye, in addition to withstanding severe leg injuries and shrapnel wounds across his body. “Absolutely amazing! We could not have more deserving Pot of Gold winners! It was such an emotional moment for everyone at the fundraiser and the highlight of the night” stated Matthew Donaghey, the President of the McKeown Boys & Girls Club.

Tom and Janine were invited to the event by Bobby Rufo. Bobby is on the Board of Directors for the Club and also a Captain on the Woburn Police Department. Donaghey, a Marine Corp veteran himself, further explained that this was the first time the Pot of Gold was held in the new gym. The club was fully rebuilt in 2017 and the gymnasium was named in honor of Keith Callahan, a Woburn native and Army veteran who was killed in Iraq. “The stars really aligned on this one” he went on to say. Upon winning, the Blocks told Donaghey and Rufo that they intended to donate a sizable portion of the winnings back to the Club. “I was speechless. Here you have these folks who have already sacrificed so much and in that very instant they were
already trying to give more back. That goes to show you the type of people that Tom and Janine are”, stated Rufo. The proceeds from the Pot of Gold are used to fund the operations of the McKeown Boys & Girls Club, which serves thousands of kids across Woburn and the neighboring communities. The Club is in the midst of a capital campaign for their new facility and are still trying to raise the last $1.8 million that is needed to be debt free. For further information, please contact Julie Gage at 781-935-3777 or at info@bgcwoburn.org

Image Via BGC McKeown