Union members did all of the shopping and wrapping ahead of time.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city's firefighters are helping to provide a good Christmas to children in DCF care.
The firefighters union continued its annual holiday tradition of buying gifts for more than two dozen local children involved with the state Department of Children and Families.
The firefighters had taken the names of 25 children, what they'd like for Christmas, and then headed out to shop for them.
"We take 25 names that are organized by the Department of Children and Families and buy gifts. We get anywhere from clothing to toys for each individual," said Union President Robert Leary.
DCF provides the information to the International Association of Fire Fighters Pittsfield Local 2647 and the Pittsfield Permanent Firemen's Benefit Association and the firefighters do the rest. On Tuesday, the gifts were delivered to DCF's Eagle Street office.
"A group of guys go out and do all of the shopping and then as a group we do all of the wrapping," Leary said.
The gift giving has been a long tradition for the union. Leary sees it as a way to give back to the community.
"This is just one of the things we try to give back to the community through," Leary said. "This is been a yearly thing probably going on close to 20 years now. This has been one of the ones we really tried to stay connected with."
The union is one of a number of organizations that support DCF during Christmas. DCF collects information on sizes and wants from the families they work with and then partner with various organizations in the community to provide them.
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Central Berkshire School Officials OK $35M Budget
By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The Central Berkshire Regional School Committee approved a $35 million budget for fiscal 2025 during its meeting on Thursday.
Much of the proposed spending plan is similar to what was predicted in the initial and tentative budget presentations, however, the district did work with the Finance subcommittee to further offset the assessments to the towns, Superintendent Leslie Blake-Davis said.
"What you're going see in this budget is a lower average assessment to the towns than what you saw in the other in the tentative budget that was approved," she said.
The fiscal 2025 budget is $35,428,892, a 5.56 percent or $1,867,649, over this year's $33,561,243.
"This is using our operating funds, revolving revenue or grant revenue. So what made up the budget for the tentative budget is pretty much the same," Director of Finance and Operations Gregory Boino said.
"We're just moving around funds … so, we're using more of the FY25 rural aid funds instead of operating funds next year."
Increases the district has in the FY25 operating budget are from active employee health insurance, retiree health insurance, special education out-of-district tuition, temporary bond principal and interest payment, pupil transportation, Berkshire County Retirement contributions, and the federal payroll tax.
The students have also been able to build friendships and experience new things, such as dancing for community events, taking a trip to Ireland and participating in competitions.
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Independent Connections officially unveiled its Massachusetts branch on Thursdsay with a ribbon cutting. The IT solutions company's specializations include consulting, cloud computing, and cybersecurity.
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