PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Lions Club International gave Berkshire Health Systems a boost in its COVID-19 efforts Tuesday with a $10,000 donation.
The presentation was made by Art McConnell, former governor and club member of the Lions Club District 33Y in Dalton to Jack Henault, director of supply chain and clinical engineering at Berkshire Medical Center.
The funds will go to Berkshire Medical Center's COVID-19 Relief Fund for the purchase of personal protective equipment.
With this donation BMC was able to purchase about 7,800 N95 masks, which are medical grade masks used by health-care workers and first-responders to protect both them and the patient from airborne particles that spread the illness.
"Prior to COVID, we were using around 60 of these masks a month" Henault says. "During our peak time during COVID, we were going through 630 a day."
He said it was important to have PPE on hand for BMC staff and that inflation because of the novel coronavirus has made it harder to keep supplied. Before the pandemic, N95 masks could be purchased for about 70 cents per mask, but after the increased demand at the peak of the pandemic the price increased to about $6.40 per mask.
BMC is now purchasing about 5,000 to 10,000 N95 masks a month just to keep up with demand. Regular masks, gloves, gowns, and face shields also skyrocketed in demand, leaving the nonprofit hospital in a position where it needs help from the community to be able to purchase these necessary supplies.
Henault says it is the community that has helped BMC get through the COVID 19 pandemic.
Joining them outside the hospital's Warriner Memorial Building on North Street were Jennifer Vrabel, director of development at BMC and Michael Leary, director of media relations.
The Lions Clubs International includes about 1.4 million members across about 220 countries and has been donating to disaster relief funds since 1968. Since then, it has given away more than $1 billion. The volunteer organization donates 100 percent of its earnings directly to the community or to relief funds. COVID-19 has sparked the need for more aid and the Lions have so far raised $5.1 million in relief funds worldwide.
McConnell was governor for the Lions Club District 33Y last year and has held various positions in it for 41 years. When he was offered a chance to help with COVID relief, he jumped on the case and worked with LCI to be able to secure the $10,000 donation for BMC.
He explains that he saw a bill for $84,000 that BMC paid for personal protective equipment and was amazed.
"We had to make sure that the money was going strictly for COVID-19," he said. "It's a drop in the bucket, I'm sure, for that kind of payment that they had to pay."
Each Lions Club governor is allowed $10,000 in donations for a disaster. In recent years, the club donated $10,000 for relief after the tornado in Springfield and an additional $10,000 for the tornado in Conway.
Locally, the Lions Club district is made up of about 38 clubs between Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, and Berkshire Counties.
"Where ever there is a disaster, the first one there is a Lions member," McConnell said. "It's unfortunate that the hospitals are suffering, and so are the businesses, and the people that have lost jobs because of COVID but if we can help in this small way, we are happy to do it."
Both Berkshire Medical Center and Lions Clubs International will continue to accept donations. More information about BMC's COVID-19 Relief Fund can be found here. www.berkshirehealthsystems.org/COVID19ReliefFund
Donate to Lions Clubs International here. https://www.lionsclubs.org/en
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Dalton Man Accused of Kidnapping, Shooting Pittsfield Man
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Dalton man was arrested on Thursday evening after allegedly kidnapping and shooting another man.
Nicholas Lighten, 35, was arraigned in Central Berkshire District Court on Friday on multiple charges including kidnapping with a firearm and armed assault with intent to murder. He was booked in Dalton around 11:45 p.m. the previous night.
There was heavy police presence Thursday night in the area of Lighten's East Housatonic Street home before his arrest.
Shortly before 7 p.m., Dalton dispatch received a call from the Pittsfield Police Department requesting that an officer respond to Berkshire Medical Center. Adrian Mclaughlin of Pittsfield claimed that he was shot in the leg by Lighten after an altercation at the defendants home. Mclaughlin drove himself to the hospital and was treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries.
"We were told that Lighten told Adrian to go down to his basement, where he told Adrian to get down on his knees and pulled out a chain," the police report reads.
"We were told that throughout the struggle with Lighten, Adrian recalls three gunshots."
Dalton PD was advised that Pittsfield had swabbed Mclaughlin for DNA because he reported biting Lighten. A bite mark was later found on Lighten's shoulder.
Later that night, the victim reportedly was "certain, very certain" that Lighten was his assailant when shown a photo array at the hospital.
According to Dalton Police, an officer was stationed near Lighten's house in an unmarked vehicle and instructed to call over the radio if he left the residence. The Berkshire County Special Response Team was also contacted.
Lighten was under surveillance at his home from about 7:50 p.m. to about 8:40 p.m. when he left the property in a vehicle with Massachusetts plates. Another officer initiated a high-risk motor vehicle stop with the sergeant and response team just past Mill Street on West Housatonic Street, police said, and traffic was stopped on both sides of the road.
Lighten and a passenger were removed from the vehicle and detained. Police reported finding items including a brass knuckle knife, three shell casings wrapped in a rubber glove, and a pair of rubber gloves on him.
The response team entered Lighten's home at 43 East Housatonic before 9:30 p.m. for a protective sweep and cleared the residence before 9:50 p.m., police said. The residence was secured for crime scene investigators.
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