Unselfish Giving: Help the Victims of the West Newton Car Crash

I'm writing this for all readers, but especially for those who live or are from Massachusetts, especially the Greater Boston area.

In my 10+ years of writing Selfish Giving, I don't think I'v ever asked my readers to donate to a cause I was personally supporting. This is my first.

On Tuesday night, just a few blocks from my house in West Newton, Massachusetts, a SUV careened into Sweet Tomatoes Pizza, a popular restaurant in my town. Two people died and seven were injured.

It was a senseless, terrible tragedy.

This shirt benefits the victims of the West Newton Car Crash at Sweet Tomatoes Pizza.

I can't tell you how many times I or a loved one ate at that same pizza place. It could have easily been me or them.

To support the families of the two victims, my daughter, Cate - a sophomore at Newton North High School - and I have launched a t-shirt fundraiser with Booster. The t-shirt design is an outline of the City of Newton. While Newton up made up of 13 different villages (West Newton, Newtonville, etc), we are ONE NEWTON and act together in times of tragedy.

These are the two people we want to help.

Gregory Morin, 32, of West Newton was on his way home from his job as a lawyer at Latham & Watkins LLP in Boston when he stopped in to Sweet Tomatoes to pick up a pizza for his family. Moments later, the SUV plowed through the front of the restaurant. Greg is survived by a wife and young child.

Eleanor Miele, 57, an officer manager for a law firm, was also killed. She had stopped at the restaurant for pizza before heading to her church to stuff Easter baskets for the homebound and elderly, as she had every Easter for more than 20 years. She leaves behind her husband, George. They were married 38 years.

Whatever you do after you read this, do this first. Hug your loved ones and be thankful you are alive. You just never really know when everything is going to change.