NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Northern Berkshire Veterans Agent Stephen Roy said the veterans food pantry is in short supply with an increased need in the community.
"We continue to see more and more folks in this time of need," Roy said. "The price of retail food in grocery stores has exploded, nearly doubling since 2021 with no end in sight. Although our food bank certainly doesn't have everything, it surely lessens the sting at the cash register when folks must buy what we don't have."
He said, with his assistant Tina Samson, the department has helped save local veterans many tens of thousands of dollars since the pantry opened in 2018 as a permanent home for the office's food and clothing donations.
He added that since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been harder to stay stocked.
"We have a constant need for supplies, year-round. The time of year doesn't really affect how often those in need visit the pantry," Roy said. "Ever since COVID, we've seen our suppliers diminish and/or disappear altogether. We've been surviving almost exclusively on donations since 2021 but hope to see things change in the future."
Specifically, the food pantry needs nonperishable food items including canned goods, dried and boxed food items and generalized, bulk food items as well as toiletries and personal cleanliness items. Items can be dropped off at North Adams City Hall
"City Hall in North Adams is always best since there is an appropriate loading dock behind the building located adjacent to the food bank," he said. "However, if folks have donations needing to be picked up, we could certainly make a special trip."
Roy's office is located in Room 101 on the first floor of City Hall. He can be reached at 413-662-3040.
Roy services veterans in North Adams, Williamstown, Adams, Dalton, Clarksburg, Florida, Savoy, Lanesborough, Cheshire and New Ashford.
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North Adams Hopes to Transform Y Into Community Recreation Center
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
Mayor Jennifer Macksey updates members of the former YMCA on the status of the roof project and plans for reopening.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city has plans to keep the former YMCA as a community center.
"The city of North Adams is very committed to having a recreation center not only for our youth but our young at heart," Mayor Jennifer Macksey said to the applause of some 50 or more YMCA members on Wednesday. "So we are really working hard and making sure we can have all those touch points."
The mayor said the city will run some programming over the summer until an operator can be found to take over the facility. It will also need a new name.
"The YMCA, as you know, has departed from our facilities and will not return to our facility in the form that we had," she said to the crowd in Council Chambers. "And that's been mostly a decision on their part. The city of North Adams wanted to really keep our relationship with the Y, certainly, but they wanted to be a Y without borders, and we're going a different direction."
The pool was closed in March 2023 after the roof failed a structural inspection. Kyle Lamb, owner of Geary Builders, the contractor on the roof project, said the condition of the laminated beams was far worse than expected.
"When we first went into the Y to do an inspection, we certainly found a lot more than we anticipated. The beams were actually rotted themselves on the bottom where they have to sit on the walls structurally," he said. "The beams actually, from the weight of snow and other things, actually crushed themselves eight to 11 inches. They were actually falling apart. ...
The fate of the facility attached to Brayton School has been in limbo since the closure of the pool last year because of structural issues and the departure of the Berkshire Family YMCA in March.
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