Brown med student one of 2007 ‘Angels Among Us’

DUBLIN, N.H. – Brown University medical student Rajiv Kumar, 24, of Providence, is one of five New Englanders featured by Yankee Magazine in its November / December issue.
The five individuals profiled by Carol Cambo in the article “Angels Among Us, 2007,” are the second group of “angels” to be recognized by the magazine for making a difference in the lives of others. The magazine reports that last year’s article drew such a positive response that editor Mel Allen decided to make it an annual feature.
Kumar was honored for his work as chairman and co-founder of Adopt a Doctor, the nonprofit he established together with former state Rep. Ray Rickman to provide financial aid and other support to physicians in four of the world’s poorest nations. By doing so, Adopt a Doctor hopes to enable more African doctors to remain in their home countries, saving thousands of lives. (READ MORE)
“I’m giving people the opportunity to do good in the world, and giving them my word that I will help steward it,” Kumar told Yankee magazine. “Most potential donors aren’t as concerned with the actual dollar amount as with how much good it can do, how much value there is.”
Kumar also was one of eight Rhode Islanders honored this morning by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and the American Red Cross, Rhode Island Chapter, at their Sixth Annual Commmunity Heroes Breakfast – this time, as the founder of statewide healthy living and weight-loss challenge ShapeUp Rhode Island. (READ MORE)
The other New Englanders ranked among this year’s Yankee angels are: Patricia Franchi Flaherty of Natick, Mass., founder of ovarian cancer nonprofit Ovations for the Cure; Gwen Fletcher and Dotti Volosin of Guilford, Conn., volunteers with the medical equipment charity Charlie’s Closet; and Robert Chambers of Lebanon, N.H., co-founder of Bonnie CLAC, a program that offers financial counseling and low-interest car loans to people in need.
“These angels represent the best we can be,” Allen said in a statement. “They’re ordinary people – our neighbors, really – helping others not for fame or fortune, but because there’s something inside them that says it’s right.”
For more information about Yankee Magazine or its Angels Among Us 2007, or to nominate a New England “angel” for the magazine’s 2008 awards, visit www.YankeeMagazine.com.