Big Brothers Big Sisters of Berkshire County Receive State Funding from the Massachusetts Service

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PITTSFIELD - Big Brothers Big Sisters of Berkshire County has received a Massachusetts Service Alliance grant of $17,883.05 for the 2007-08 year for mentor programming, which represents the agency’s first award of state mentoring funding. The Berkshire County agency serves boys and girls aged 6-14 through one-to-one mentoring relationships with an adult. Volunteers in the community are recruited to be matched with a child for one year to meet a minimum of two hours weekly. The Massachusetts Service Alliance, established in 1991, is a private, nonprofit organization that serves as the state commission on community service and volunteerism. Its mission is to catalyze the innovation and growth of service and volunteerism by creating partnerships that maximize resources, expertise, capacity, and impact. Training and technical assistance for the grant will be provided by Mass Mentoring Partnership, a Big Brothers Big Sisters of Berkshire County partner. Mass Mentoring Partnership, headquartered in Boston with a Western Massachusetts regional office in Springfield, is the only statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to strategically expanding mentoring to meet the needs of youth across Massachusetts through more than 130 programs. The funding cycle for this grant begins September 1, 2007. BBBS will aim to make matches throughout the county for children currently on the waitlist, through an aggressive volunteer recruitment campaign. The anticipated hiring of a new staff person as a result of these funds will facilitate the recruitment of new volunteers, especially men, to fulfill the need for the children waiting for mentors. This funding will allow BBBS to be more present in South County. Information on this new opportunity can be received by calling 413-443-9471. BBBS has offices in Pittsfield and North Adams and maintains collaborations with the Lenox Community Center and Berkshire South Regional Community Center to meet with potential volunteers from South County. Southern Berkshire youth have benefited from high School mentor programming in the 2006-07 school year through a grant from Berkshire Bank Foundation. BBBS of Berkshire County is the only nationally affiliated mentoring program in Berkshire County.
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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."
 
The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School. 
 
The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday. 
 
The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season. 
 
The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations. 
 
"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said  interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.  
 
"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."
 
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