Daily Five: Mancinelli Scores at Brandeis, Rain Today and Become a Volunteer

1. What's the Weather? A chance of light rain, mainly after 3 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 45. Tonight: Rain likely, mainly after 9 p.m. Cloudy, with a low around 36. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.

2. Ballin' for Brandeis Former Coginchaug High School star Samantha Mancinelli scored 7 points to help the Brandeis women's basketball team defeat previously unbeaten Endicott College Thursday night 59-48. 

Mancinelli, a member of last year's state championship winning Blue Devils team, has started all 8 games for the Judges at guard. She's averaging 4 points per game and scored a career-high 9 points vs. Daniel Webster on Dec. 1.

Brandeis is 4-4 on the season.

3. Volunteers Needed Middlesex Hospital currently needs volunteers Monday through Friday during the daytime hours. Volunteers provide invaluable assistance and support to all areas of Middlesex Hospital. As patient services grow and expand, there is a greater need for additional volunteer support to ensure patient satisfaction and a positive patient experience. The commitment is only one day a week for a four-hour shift. The hospital has many openings right now and especially is looking for people willing to visit patients, do limited office work or be a patient aid on an inpatient unit. Openings are also available in the Hospice Volunteer Program, which will be starting a new training program in January.

Integrity, caring, excellence and safety are priorities at Middlesex Hospital. If you have a few hours to spare and have excellent customer service skills and want to be a part of this great organization, please contact the Volunteer Services Office at 860-358-6735 to find out how to start the application process to become a volunteer.

4. Santa and Hurricane Sandy From our friends at Lyman Orchards:

The Apple Barrel is a drop-off location for a toy drive organized by Dolphin Days Learning Center. We are accepting gifts for children up to 18 years old who are being affected by Hurricane Sandy. Please bring a new, unwrapped toy to Lyman's by December 14th. The Dolphin Days team will be driving the toys to Toys of Hope on Long Island.

5. Open House & Holiday Party The Skincare Studio is hosting our 3rd annual Open House on Friday evening December 7th from 5:30pm to 9pm. Come peruse our boutique of specialty one of a kind gift items including hand made jewelry, scarves, pashminas, hand crafted Peruvian alpaca wool gloves, hats and hand warmers, soy candles, gourmet teas, specialty food items and many other unique gift ideas. Hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, holiday treats and wine will be served. We hope to see you there. Happy Holidays!