Berkshire United Way, Northern Berkshire United Way kick off volunteer month
BERKSHIRE COUNTY — Berkshire United Way (BUW) and Northern Berkshire United Way (NBUW) will kick off the second annual #HereForGood Volunteer Month on Monday, April 18, to coinciding with National Volunteer Week April 18–25.
BUW and NBUW have organized a range of volunteer opportunities across Berkshire County throughout the month (April 18–May 18), including assembling meal packages, trail maintenance and playground cleanups, restocking book houses, and more.
Saturday, April 30 has been designated a Day of Caring, during which volunteers will pack 14,000 pounds of nonperishable food into 1,000 bags to be distributed to local food pantries, senior housing, and other agencies in need. Guido’s Fresh Marketplace has provided the food at a discount and L.P. Adams Co. has donated time, equipment, and warehouse space for this event.
Sign up to participate at any Volunteer Month event or with a nonprofit of your choosing using BUW’s Volunteer Center. Nonprofits are encouraged to enter their own activities in the portal. For assistance, contact Brenda Petell, director of volunteer engagement, at bpetell@berkshireunitedway.org or 413-212-1431.
Berkshire United Way will close out Volunteer Month with its Live United Community Celebration on Wednesday, May 18 from 4-6 p.m. at Berkshire Money Management, 161 Main St. in Dalton. The celebration will include the presentation of the Robert K. Agar Jr. Volunteerism Award to Jewish Family Services of Western Massachusetts and the Daniel C. Dillon Helping Hands, Caring Hearts Award to Shirley Edgerton.
—A.K.
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Community Health Programs names new board members
GREAT BARRINGTON — The Community Health Programs (CHP) board of trustees has named two new members: Arlene D. Schiff and Katherine Westgate.
A resident of Lenox, Arlene Schiff is the national director of LIFE & LEGACY®, a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation that assists organizations in building their endowments. For 12 years, Schiff was the executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, and she previously worked as an administrator with the former Berkshire Children and Families (now 18 Degrees). She also led the North Adams Office of Community Development for seven years.
Schiff earned her master’s degree from Harvard University and completed her undergraduate education at the UMass Amherst. She brings extensive experience in nonprofit leadership, fundraising, grant writing, program management, board development, and other leadership skills to the CHP board.
Katherine Westgate is the global head of mobile commerce for Google Play Partnerships. She has broad digital industry expertise, reflected in a series of leadership roles she has held at Google and Microsoft, at the travel technology company Amadeus, and with the global consultancy Mitchell Madison Group. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Yale University.
—A.K.
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Flying Cloud Institute welcomes new board members
GREAT BARRINGTON — Flying Cloud Institute (FCI) announces that Catherine Burns, Daniel Medwed, and Dana Vorisek have joined its board of directors.
Catherine (Kate) Burns has worked in the financial services profession for over 10 years and has been elected FCI’s Treasurer. She began her career in higher education, where she developed a passion for helping families plan for the costs of college. In her current role as a financial advisor with Apella Capital, she helps families navigate and plan for their financial futures.
Daniel S. Medwed is a University Distinguished Professor of Law and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University, and the legal analyst for GBH, Boston’s local NPR and PBS affiliate. His latest book, “Wrongful Convictions and the DNA Revolution,” was published by Cambridge University Press in April 2017.
Dana Vorisek is an economist for the World Bank Group in Washington, D.C. She has worked extensively on the institution’s outlook for the global economy, with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean, and has published on a variety of macroeconomic and international development topics. As a board member, she hopes to contribute to the organization’s fostering of varied intellectual and skills development among school-age children.
These new members join a board which includes Susan Russell as Chair, Cathy Ingram as Vice Chair, Kenzie Fields as Clerk, and Directors Lindy Marcel, Mary Nash, Barbara Viniar, and Julie Webster.
—A.K.
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Roots Rising awarded $430K towards youth farm in Pittsfield
PITTSFIELD — Roots Rising is planning a Pittsfield-based youth farm and has recently been awarded a Food Security Infrastructure Grant for $430,219 by the state of Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs towards this groundbreaking project. The farm will be a resource for the city of Pittsfield, including youth, local farmers, and the broader community.
Roots Rising’s Youth Farm will be teen-powered and community centered, and will be an innovative approach to youth empowerment, food justice, and sustainable development.
The farm will address the deepest needs of our community, including the vulnerabilities in its food system made evident by the pandemic. For instance, local farmers are experiencing a shortage of experienced workers, and the Youth Farm will serve as a training ground to cultivate the next generation of changemakers and land stewards.
More than just a work site for Roots Rising’s Youth Crews, the farm will be a community and food hub, a green oasis in the city, and a headquarters to amplify Roots Rising’s legacy of food justice work. Youth Farm programming is currently being developed in conversation with the community and Roots Rising’s youth.
—A.K.
