Letter: Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

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To the Editor:

The Board of Directors of the Al Nelson Friendship Center Food Pantry in North Adams wishes to thank the North Adams, Clarksburg and Florida Mountain community for their generation donations to the May 11 Letter Carrier Food Drive.

We received a total of 3,595 pounds of food and personal care items.

We equally want to thank our Letter Carriers who work out of the North Adams Post Office. They again went above and beyond in collecting the donations and bringing them to the collection and sorting site. They are always a pleasure to work with.

We also want to thank the Northern Berkshire United Way, the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, and the Berkshire United Way for their support, as well all of the volunteers who helped on the day of the Food Drive.

Lois Daunis
North Adams, Mass. 

Daunis is the board president of the Friendship Center.

 

 

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Ex-Veterans Clerk Charged With Larceny

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city's former veterans services administrative assistant was arraigned Friday on larceny charges related to the theft of gift cards donated for local veterans.
 
Tina Samson, 65, pleaded not guilty, was released on personal recognizance and given a pretrial hearing date of Sept. 4.
 
According to a report by Police Detective Matthew Meranti, city officials became suspicious when they learned that Samson had been stopped in Walmart for allegedly trying to shoplift about $200 worth of merchandise. According to the police report, Samson told the store management she worked in Veteran Services and was taking items to support them. Walmart trespassed her from the property but did not press charges.
 
The report does not indicate when the Walmart incident happened but notes that Samson was first queried about the gift cards in October.
 
According to the report, city officials noticed discrepancies in accounting for gift cards donated to or purchased for the Veterans Service Office and contacted Walmart Asset Protection was contacted about four e-gift cards totaling $575 mailed to Samson's city account last year.
 
The cards were loaded into Samson's personal Walmart account, according to the police, and used for clothing, groceries and cash. In one instance, clothing ordered online was shipped to Samson's home address.
 
The police investigation was launched Jan. 13 into the Veterans Services Office, where Samson had worked for 12 years before retiring in December, and a search warrant was issued for her Walmart account connected to her personal email.
 
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