Volunteers Needed for 23rd Annual MLK Day of Service

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition encourage all community members to participate in volunteer service projects for the 23rd annual MLK Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 18, from 9 a.m. to noon.

Youth and youth groups, in particular this year, are encouraged to participate. All volunteers are urged to register for the service task they would like to take part in.

In addition to the volunteer service projects, a free community lunch and celebration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will take place from 12:30 to 2:20 p.m. in the MCLA Church Street Center. The program will include the presentation of this year's MLK Peacemaker Award to PopCares Inc., in recognition of the difference the nonprofit organization makes in the lives of more than 310 local families who are battling cancer.

According to the event's coordinator, Thomas Alexander, MCLA's Multicultural Education Resource Center coordinator, MCLA students participate and benefit from this day of service year after year.

"They're interacting with others, whether they're working with youth or seniors," Alexander said. "It's people from all different backgrounds gathering to make a difference for their community, and also connecting together with one another. That's a major aspect of the program."

On-site projects at the MCLA Church Street Center include mitten making, a quilting project, a discussion of recent national events entitled "Prejudice and Privilege," assembling military care boxes, putting together meal kits for later distribution by local food pantries to those in need, blanket tying, and making Valentine cards and gifts for the elderly in a local nursing home.

Cost, Access to NBCTC High Among Concerns North Berkshire Residents

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:15PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024

Adams Select Chair Christine Hoyt, NBCTC Executive Director David Fabiano and William Solomon, the attorney representing the four communities, talk after the session. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Public access channels should be supported and made more available to the public — and not be subject to a charge.

 

More than three dozen community members in-person and online attended the public hearing  Wednesday on public access and service from Spectrum/Charter Communications. The session at City Hall was held for residents in Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg and North Adams to express their concerns to Spectrum ahead of another 10-year contract that starts in October.

 

Listening via Zoom but not speaking was Jennifer Young, director state government affairs at Charter.

 

One speaker after another conveyed how critical local access television is to the community and emphasized the need for affordable and reliable services, particularly for vulnerable populations like the elderly. 

 

"I don't know if everybody else feels the same way but they have a monopoly," said Clarksburg resident David Emery. "They control everything we do because there's nobody else to go to. You're stuck with with them."

 

Public access television, like the 30-year-old Northern Berkshire Community Television, is funded by cable television companies through franchise fees, member fees, grants and contributions.

 

Spectrum is the only cable provider in the region and while residents can shift to satellite providers or streaming, Northern Berkshire Community Television is not available on those alternatives and they may not be easy for some to navigate. For instance, the Spectrum app is available on smart televisions but it doesn't include PEG, the public, educational and governmental channels provided by NBCTC.