Elizabeth Freeman Center Hosting Walks for Fall Fundraiser

PITTSFIELD, Mass. For the third consecutive year, Elizabeth Freeman Center's fall fundraiser will take a different form than it has historically as part of September's Third Thursday celebration in Pittsfield. 

COVID-19 still discourages one large, community walk but there are several options for those who want to take a stand against gender-based violence while raising funds to support Elizabeth Freeman Center (EFC). 

"Unlike many other programs serving abuse survivors, we have not closed our doors for one day during this pandemic," said  EFC Executive Director Janis Broderick, "The world changed; the violence worsened; we remained here providing help and support to those who need us. We expected that as the pandemic abated, the violence would diminish, but I am distressed to report that has NOT happened!" 

Six small walks are scheduled across the county between Sept. 14 and Sept. 22 according to the following schedule:

Great Barrington - Wednesday, Sept. 14, 5:00 p.m.; meet in front of Town Hall 

Lee - Thursday, Sept. 15, 5:30 p.m.; meet on the green next to Town Hall 

Williamstown - Friday, Sept. 16, noon; meet in front of Tunnel Street Café  

North Adams - Monday, Sept. 19, 5:30 p.m.; meet at City Hall  

Pittsfield - Tuesday, Sept. 20, 5:30 p.m.; meet at Persip Park at the intersection of North Street and Columbus Avenue 

Lenox - Thursday, Sept. 22, 5:30 p.m.; meet at Roche Reading Park next to Lenox Library 

"A series of small walks across the county is important not only because of continued concerns about COVID. We walk in 6 communities from north to south because gender-based violence is not restricted to Pittsfield and North Adams. Every year we provide services to abuse survivors from almost every town in Berkshire County," said EFC Board President, Marie Paradise. 

With offices throughout the county, EFC provides direct victim services for more than 3,000 survivors from almost every city and town in Berkshire County as well as serving youth through its violence prevention programs. Services are free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day every day via the hotline. In addition, services include: shelter, emergency transportation, counseling, court advocacy, Safe Pet, supervised visitation, and specialized services for immigrants, LGBQT+ persons, disabled people, and rural survivors. 

The EFC has currently raised almost $75,000 from underwriters, walkers, teams, and individual donors, but this year's goal is $125,000. Major sponsors for this year's walks include: Berkshire Bank, Berkshire Food Co-op, Black Rock Foundation, Greylock Federal Credit Union, and Onyx Specialty Papers, Inc. 

To register as an individual or as a team or just to donate to EFC go to: https://p2p.onecause.com/risetogether. Invite your friends, families, and colleagues to support you as you walk to ensure safety and justice for all Berkshire residents.  

For more information email info@elizabethfreemancenter.org or call 413-499-2425.

Lenox Class of 2024 'a Really Good Bunch of Kids'

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
08:43PM / Sunday, June 09, 2024

Valedictorian Genevieve Collins tells her classmates that they have had a bountiful harvest in what they had experienced at Lenox Memorial. See more photos here. 

LENOX, Mass. — The Lenox Memorial High School class of 2024 will be remembered as "a really good bunch of kids."

 

Superintendent William Collins said they earned the label early on — it's followed them from kindergarten through high school. 

 

"There was something special about the chemistry and history of individuals comprising the class of 2024," he told the family and friends in the Shed at Tanglewood for graduation ceremonies. I need not remind you that this is a class that began high school during the pandemic, a fate undeserved by anyone. It is a testament to their resiliency. They not only returned to in-person instruction but they made up the lost time. They've done a lot."

 

Collins called the 61 graduates on the Tanglewood stage "doers, achievers and accomplishers, highly intelligent and exceedingly kind."

 

He noted that the pursuit of happiness was held as equal to life and liberty in the Declaration of Independence. And rarely is the shortest line between two points the fastest road to happiness. A study on common factors of happiness, he said, found that rather than material wealth, "having a happy, connected friends for a wide social network, we are more likely to bring about enduring happiness."

 

"Circuitous routes are the best routes, serendipity by its very nature lives where we don't expect a pleasant surprises lie waiting unseen and unforeseen around the next bend on paths that we've never expected or intended to do," he said. 

 

Don't be afraid to ask for help, Collins said, make friends, or a friend. Know that Lenox Memorial is a better place because of the class, he said, "we know that you will carry a piece of us with you whether you stay in Lenox or travel halfway around the globe."