WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITY SERVICE CREWS ASSIST FINANCIALLY-
STRAPPED AGENCIES SPREAD HOLIDAY CHEER TO STRUGGLING FAMILIES

Probationers ordered by the court to do community service work are spending hundreds of hours assisting food pantries and aiding Christmas toy drives during a holiday season in which community agencies are struggling to stay afloat due to the recession.

Work crews from the Massachusetts Trial Court Community Service Program are unloading food donations and sorting canned goods for food pantries as well as unloading and separating donated toys for local toy drives. In some cases, the Community Service Program provided its own vans to transport donated toys.

“There is nothing more gratifying than to have the ability to assist these agencies during our difficult times. It is amazing to witness how our court-ordered participants express their concern and interest for the individuals who benefit from our services. A sense of accomplishment and pride is quite apparent on the faces of participants and is demonstrated through their actions. This is why we strive to provide meaningful community service projects,” said David Skocik, Community Service Statewide Supervisor.

In Hampden County, Community Service crews will continue its tradition of helping out the Salvation Army, located on Pearl Street in Springfield. Community Service crews unloaded two tractor trailer loads of donated toys and assisted with separating the toys and placing them in groups for distribution by age and gender.

“This year, we have had such a cry for services, it has been almost overwhelming. And, it certainly would be overwhelming if it were not for friends like the Community Service Program,” said Major Thomas D. Perks of the Salvation Army’s Springfield Citadel Corps.

Major Perks added, “We have had a long-standing partnership with the Community Service Program, more than 10 years.

The Salvation Army in Springfield, according to Major Perks, helps more than 30,000 families throughout the year and over 6,000 families during the holiday season.

Additional crews from the Hampden County Community Service Program will help the Gray House, a human services agency that provides resources for low-income families located on Sheldon Street in Springfield. The crews will unload 900 donated toys at the Gray House and help sort them.

“The Community Service crews are a HUGE help,” said Dena Calvanese, Executive Director of The Gray House. “The first year I was here, I got a call from an organization and was told they were going to give us 1,000 toys. ‘Can you come pick them up?’ It took four cars and four trips to pick up all of those toys.”

“The next year, one of our board members said ‘call Paula Therrien (Hampden Community Services Court Services Coordinator). I bet she can help.’ Paula sent her crews and it only took one trip to pick up the toys. We saved so much time and energy. Having the Community Service crews is a true blessing.”

The Gray House, which celebrates its 25th anniversary next year, is a private, non-profit organization which serves individuals and families in the North End of Springfield, providing food, clothing, and educational services.

Community Service crews also assisted with the annual Rock 102 Mayflower Marathon, a Thanksgiving Food Drive held at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. The offenders unloaded tractor trailer loads of food donations into a Community Service moving truck. The food donations were transported to the Open Pantry, a food pantry located on State Street, and then unloaded the food.

“We really depend upon the volunteers from the probation department and the Trial Court Community Service Program to load and unload non-perishable food items donated to our emergency food pantry,” said Kevin J. Noonan, Executive Director of Open Pantry Community Services, Inc. “Since we have a limited budget and an ever increasing number of people seeking food assistance, it is wonderful to receive these very helpful volunteers. It is also reassuring to see people on probation who are willing to give back to the community.”

In Franklin County, Community Service crews were also dispatched to the Adopt-A-Family Program at the St. James Church in Greenfield where they unloaded donations of food, clothing, and toys at the church over a three-day period. They were also on hand to help load the vehicles of the families when they arrived to pick up the donated items.

The Adopt-A-Family Program at St. James Church services more than 200 families in Franklin County during the holiday season. The families are sponsored by local companies and donors who provide food and gifts.

“The volunteers at the program are mostly a bunch of older people. We would not be able to do all of the work required of this program without the help of the Community Service people,” said Libby Kolasinski who along with Joan Arms serves as coordinators of the program.

Kolasinski added, “The people from Community Service are very energetic. They seem to be happy to do what they are doing. Some of the workers have come back to help after they completed their (Community Service) hours. They realize how important it is for these families.”

In Berkshire County, the Community Service Program has worked in collaboration with the Pittsfield District Court, Berkshire Superior Court, the Berkshire Community Corrections Center and the Northern Berkshire District Court to help The Christian Center. Community Service crews have sorted non-perishable food collected in food drives; helped make Thanksgiving Day Food baskets for people in need; and organized toys collected at holiday time for distribution to underprivileged teens and children in the community.

The Center serves 100 people lunch and provides 15 to 20 food bags each day at its site where Continental breakfast is also available. In addition to food, the Center offers clothing as well as educational services and programs—all of which are available free of charge to anyone.

“The Community Service group helps us at the Christian Center throughout the year. They help us organize donated food and stock the shelves for our food pantry. They have helped us prepare for our annual block party in the fall and prepare bags of food at Thanksgiving. I think they are a good group of people who are giving back to their community. We can call anytime and they come right away,” said Hand.

The Trial Court Community Service Program is a division of the Office of Community Corrections (OCC). OCC is an independent division of the Office of the Commissioner of Probation, the administrative office for the Massachusetts Probation Service which is comprised of 105 probation departments throughout the state.