Berkshire Bank Conducting Company-Wide Care Package Drive

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — In support of American troops fighting overseas, Berkshire Bank is conducting a company-wide care package drive through its Employee Volunteer Program. The goal of the program is to raise community awareness of the needs of soldiers while showing them the support they have throughout Berkshire County, the Pioneer Valley, Eastern New York, and Southern Vermont.

The drive will run from Monday, March 29 through Friday, April 9, and donated items will be collected in all bank branches and insurance offices. The bank is partnering with local service-connected organizations to distribute the care packages to soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
       
Collection boxes are set up at all bank branches and Berkshire Insurance Group offices throughout the Berkshire Bank system in Massachusetts, New York and Vermont. Customers and the public are invited and encouraged to participate in the care package drive by donating non-perishable foods, toiletries, games, DVDs, and certain clothing items. Recommended items include granola bars, microwave foods, coffee, hearty soups, cereals, socks, sunscreen, phone cards and body wash. A complete list of items can be found at any Berkshire Bank or  www.berkshirebank.com.

Organizations partnering on the project with the bank are: Berkshire County Red Cross and Soldier On (Berkshire County & Vermont); the USO of the Pioneer Valley (Pioneer Valley); and Blue Star Mothers (New York). Representatives from these organizations and bank employees will package and ship the care packages overseas.

In addition, bank employees and students from local Berkshire County schools will write letters to the troops that will be included in the care packages as a way of saying "thank you" for the work they are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This project is another in a series of being undertaken by the bank’s Employee Volunteer Program that was established to help the bank and employees give back to the communities in which they do business in. This fall, the bank conducted a company wide food drive which raised over 6,642 pounds of food for local pantries and food banks. In addition, the Volunteer Program will hold a company-wide volunteer work day on May 26 to carry out a variety of projects throughout all the bank’s market areas.

Pittsfield Holds Second Master Plan Workshop

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:43PM / Wednesday, April 01, 2026

Participants added notes to the sectors — such as transportation, open space and neighborhoods — being reviewed by the Master Plan Steering Committee. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— The city is about halfway through developing its new master plan, and held a second community workshop this past Thursday. 

"Basically, we're talking to people from Pittsfield and trying to figure out, among a broad sector of issues that affect us, what is our goal and vision for the next 10 years, where we want Pittsfield to be in 10 years, and what changes do we want to see?" Director of Community Development Justine Dodds explained to about 20 community members and city staff at Conte Community School. 

"That will be broken down into some goals and objectives and then some measurable action items that we can all take as a community to move that forward."  

The Pittsfield Master Plan is the policy guide for future physical development, covering land use, infrastructure, sustainability, and more. The plan was last updated in 2009, and Pittsfield has engaged the VHB engineering firm and CommunityScale consultants to bring it through 2036. 

There have been two public listening sessions, a Master Plan Advisory Committee guiding the work, and small focus groups for each section. On poster boards, residents were able to see and mark the draft goals and actions under six themes: economic development, housing opportunities, transportation and infrastructure, environment and open space, neighborhoods and community, and governance and collaboration. 

In November 2025, community members participated in a similar exercise at City Hall. 

Transportation and infrastructure had several notes on them. Suggestions included using infrastructure to address the urban heat island effect, a light rail system, and continuing to implement Complete Streets standards for roadway construction projects. 

"I want to ride my bike to my friend's house safely," one respondent wrote. 

Under economic development, people suggested digital business infrastructure for the downtown, food hall opportunities, and nightlife opportunities.