Huggins Hospital pediatrician, Dr. Matos, receives Patriots Foundation MVP Award

WOLFEBORO — Huggins Hospital's Wolfeboro pediatrics physician, Michael Matos, MD, FAAP, was recognized as one of this year’s Patriots Foundation MVP Award honorees for his volunteer work as medical director at Camp Carefree, an overnight summer camp for youth with type 1 diabetes. The award was accompanied by a $10,000 donation for the American Diabetes Association.

For the past 25 years, the Kraft family and the New England Patriots Foundation have been recognizing volunteers for going above and beyond to give back to their communities through the Myra Kraft Community MVP Awards program.

Camp Carefree is an overnight summer camp in Durham, NH for youth with type 1 diabetes. For more than a decade, Dr. Matos has taught over 100 campers each year how to count carbs and calculate their insulin levels based on what they eat and how much they exercise. Dr. Matos takes two weeks of vacation time each year to volunteer at the camp.

“Type 1 diabetes is a lonely disease, affecting about one out of every 500 people in our country,” said Dr. Matos. “Although that’s pretty common, many of these children are the only ones at their schools who have type 1 diabetes. Camp allows them the opportunity to know that they’re not alone. That is why I volunteer at diabetes camp each year.”

Twenty-six volunteers gathered at Gillette Stadium to be recognized for their contributions and given the Myra Kraft Community MVP Awards on Wednesday, June 8. In total, $275,000 in donations were distributed to the nonprofits represented by each volunteer.

Gillette, a longtime supporter of the New England Patriots and a cornerstone partner of the Patriots Foundation, served as the presenting sponsor for this year’s program. On hand to congratulate the award winners were Robert Kraft, president of Kraft Family Philanthropies, Josh Kraft, Patriots, College and Pro Football Hall of Famer, and Patriots Executive Director of Community Affairs Andre Tippett and John Claughton, VP of Grooming, North America, Procter & Gamble.

The 2022 Myra Kraft Community MVP winners range from 15 to 85 years old and represent every New England state. The selected nonprofits provide support for many causes, including education, domestic violence prevention, healthcare, homelessness, mentoring and military support.

The Kraft family and the New England Patriots Foundation received more than 250 applications this year from nonprofit organizations looking to recognize their outstanding volunteers.