Letter: Get Information About Dangers of Youth Vaping

To the Editor:

The start of the school year and new routines brings new worries about teen vaping. These concerns are important, especially now, because smoking and vaping may put people at higher risk of complications from COVID-19.

One in three Massachusetts teens vape and talking with young people about the dangers of vaping can make a difference. Learn more and watch videos at GetOutraged.org, part of a public information campaign from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Get Outraged! aims to spread the word that vaping products contain nicotine, can damage a teen's developing brain, and are addictive. The campaign also shares tips on talking with kids about vaping and resources to help them quit.

Get Outraged! complements "Facts. No Filters." a campaign with videos and information about vaping for youth at mass.gov/vaping by the Department of Public Health in collaboration with the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation.

In addition, handouts about vaping and quit resource cards for youth are available free of charge at the Massachusetts Health Promotion Clearinghouse.

For more information and to help you educate young people about vaping, contact Joyce Brewer at the Berkshire Tobacco-Free Community Partnership, jbrewer@berkshireahec.org
 

Joyce Brewer
Dalton, Mass.

Joyce Brewer is the program manager for the Berkshire Tobacco Free Community Partnership of Berkshire AHEC.

Northern Berkshire United Way: 1950s Sees New Name, Same Mission

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
07:01PM / Sunday, March 29, 2026

Northern Berkshire United Way is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. Each month, we will take a look back at the agency's milestones over the decades. This first part looks at its successes and challenges during the war years.

 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Frank Bond, a founding member of the community chest, had the honor of cutting a cake at the 1956 annual meeting to mark the 20 years since its establishment. 

 

The organization had successfully grown over the past 20 years and, by the end of the decade, would see its campaign drives pass the $100,000 mark and the number of agencies under its umbrella grow to 17. 

 

The community chest had also changed names, becoming a United Fund, a natural outgrowth of its establishment to bring multiple local social service campaigns under one umbrella, and would include both Clarksburg and Stamford, Vt.

 

But that impetus for its founding would continue to bedevil the United Fund as more organizations, some national, would continue to compete for local dollars. 

 

At the beginning of the decade, Executive Secretary Estelle Howard said there were still too many independent appeals and that "serious thought must be given to this problem."

 

"Competition for the contributors' dollar, for volunteer workers' time and for publicity are getting out of bounds," she said.