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Letter: Russo Called ‘Ultimate Volunteer’

Please vote for and support the ultimate Tewksbury volunteer, Rich Russo for School Committee.

We have three children ages 9, 8, and 7 and all attend Tewksbury Public Schools and are very active in sports and activities in town. We first met Rich about 5 years ago after moving to the Town of Tewksbury a couple years prior. It seemed as though every youth sport that our children wanted to be a part of, Rich volunteered his time on the Board of Directors for those organizations, so we took it upon ourselves to get to know him better. Since then we have served on the Board of Directors for Tewksbury Youth Football and Cheerleading for the past 4 years with Rich and have seen firsthand the commitment to our youth that he continues to put at the center of all decisions that are made.

Rich formerly served as a member on Tewksbury Boys Basketball League board, Tewksbury Youth Baseball board and still currently serves as the President of Tewksbury Youth Football and Cheerleading (a league with over 450 student athletes registered each year). While serving on the board next to Rich, I can say that we have had differing viewpoints on several issues along the way, but he’s never quick to overshadow ours or anyone else’s viewpoints as the leader of the organization; instead he is open to discussion and fully educating himself on matters before any type of final decisions are put forward to a vote; and those final decisions are always based on the entirety of the program and what makes the most sense for the program.

Rich helped navigate thru uncharted territories that COVID presented for our youth while serving on two youth sports boards as well as the Reopening Schools Task Force. With the knowledge he received he was able to help with solutions to be able to get youth cheerleaders, football and baseball players back on the fields and eventually students back into the classroom. This was no easy task as he took the safety, health and well being of our youth in consideration with the current local, state and federal guidelines and was able to help the kids get back to being more active both mentally and physically as they were able to enjoy activities safely again with their friends, teammates and classmates, and we will forever be grateful for this.

Rich sees hundreds of Tewksbury children and parents each week as he’s serving in his volunteer roles and is able to communicate and educate himself on what it is that parents feel is important for our children overall mental and physical health, well being and overall success. He’s always one to want to learn more about any ongoing issues and jumps right into problem solving mode to help make it better, which ultimately benefits the community.

Rich is a multi tasking professional; while serving in these volunteer roles as well as being a member of the Tewksbury Finance Committee, Rich also serves as the Chief Executive Officer and has been the Chief Financial Officer of Bionik Laboratories for 18 months, all while being a loving, devoted family man.  

Whether its managing schedules for over 300 games for an upcoming baseball tournament, representing Tewksbury at the Central Mass Youth Football and Cheer Conference, working the concession stand at Ballou Del Rossi Football Field so parents can enjoy their student athletes’ games, helping lead the way for our kids to safely return to school, or enjoying one of his own kids competitions or games, Rich is always a listener to all and good friend to many of our small town of Tewksbury.

The role of wanting what’s best for our youth in the schools, does not start when a person is elected, nor when they decide the time is right to want to join the School Committee, instead it starts several years before that with the devotion to the youth of this town and taking the time to really learn and hear more about what the community desires are for our children and our schools. Rich is a proven leader, has been a staunch advocate for the youth in this town, his volunteerism is second to none, and he is committed to putting the students before all else and continues to be an ambassador for the youth of Tewksbury. For these reasons and several others; he has our endorsement as the best candidate for Tewksbury School Committee.

Billy & Mandy Grant

Tewksbury Youth Football board members and volunteers

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