She's here to help
Volunteering in son's memory keeps
Charlotte Blood going strong at 93

By John Basilesco
MethuenLife Writer

Charlotte Blood is surprised she has so much energy at the age of 93.
In fact, she's surprised she's still alive. Her mother only lived to 69, her father died at 73 and two of her brothers died at young ages.
She thinks helping others, including the city's senior citizens, gives her a real purpose in life and promotes her boundless energy.
This month, Blood will be recognized by the Methuen Exchange Club and Methuen Council on Aging for her volunteer efforts. She will receive the prestigious Rene J. Morissette Service to Seniors Award. The award is named after the man who spearheaded the fund-raising effort that turned a corner lot of land on Lowell Street into the spacious Methuen Senior Activity Center 25 years ago.
Blood joined that fund-raising effort in honor of her late son, Bruce Blood, who was killed in 1982 in a car crash. Bruce Blood wanted Methuen's seniors to have a place of their own for activities, and he was serving on a committee working to make that happen at the time of his death.
He was only 25, and his mother was heartbroken.
"If I couldn't jump in the grave after him, I had to do something," she said about his death.
She asked her two daughters, Nancy Murphy and Susan Nicholson, what to do in his memory.
"They said, 'Why don't you help build the senior center? That's what Bruce wanted,' '' she recalled.
She threw her heart and soul into raising money to build the center, and she's been helping as a volunteer there ever since.
As a member of the center's Board of Trustees, Charlotte Blood is credited with securing fund-raising donations for the center from community groups and businesses on an ongoing basis.
Her energy and spirit are an example to everyone, regardless of age, said Senior Activity Center Director Corinne LaCharite
She volunteers at the center's Thrift Shop every Thursday, and helps out at health clinics, craft fairs, music festivals and other events at the center.
"She's a familiar sight at the center and throughout the community," LaCharite said about Blood. "She's really someone we can count on, continually. Charlotte has this unique way of twisting people's arms so that you cannot say no to her. Where many people have difficulty asking others for money for various things, she's absolutely not shy about that.
"Of course, she's never asked for a dime for herself. It's always for the cause. Whatever cause she's supporting at the time."
The year her son died, she enlisted the services of her second son, Bill Blood, a Methuen teacher, to start a scholarship basketball tournament in memory of Bruce Blood, which is still going strong today, she said.
She's also an active volunteer at her synagogue, Congregation Ansha Sholum in Methuen, where she has helped raise money for new windows and carpeting.
The retired Avon sales representative and homemaker was born and raised in Lawrence. She moved to Methuen about 45 years ago.
"Why do I volunteer? Because I'm capable of doing it," she said. "I have the strength to do it, and I'm tickled silly to do it — to help out."