Berkshire Bounty Receives Donation from Warrior Trading

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Berkshire Bounty, a 501(c)3 food rescue organization, received a donation of $30,000 from Warrior Trading, an online educational platform that offers a wide range of courses, training programs, and software for individuals interested in day trading.
 
The company was founded in 2012 by Ross Cameron. Warrior Trading is providing the donation to help Berkshire Bounty reach fundraising goals for its end-of-year fundraising campaign.
 
"Berkshire Bounty is concerned about rising food insecurity rates and the impacts of impending cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The most vulnerable Berkshire County residents will bear the brunt of these cuts: nearly half (44 percent) of SNAP households include older adults, 50 percent include a person with a disability, and 40 percent include children,” said Morgan Ovitsky, Berkshire Bounty's Executive Director. "Our goal is to raise $175,000 from individual donors and local businesses by the end of 2025. This is an increase from previous years because of the need in our community and an increased dependence on private funding sources.”
 
As the size of the food-insecure population in Berkshire County continues to grow, Berkshire Bounty has dedicated itself to meeting a need by growing both functionally and geographically. In 2025, Berkshire Bounty:
  • provided nutritious food for 21,000 individuals weekly by partnering with 32 emergency food sites, including food pantries, schools, and senior centers.
  • continued a program that purchases locally grown foods for the food-insecure population
  • continued and grew a food box program that delivers food to the homes of people who are food insecure in Berkshire County.
"We are so pleased to be able to give back to our community! Warrior Trading is proud to support Berkshire Bounty as they help our neighbors in a time of need,” said Ross Cameron, founder of Warrior Trading.
 
"We are so grateful to our supporters.  Unrestricted donations from our end-of-year campaign will be used for our day-to-day work and for food purchases, allowing us to increase the amount of food distributed to vulnerable people in our county,” stated Mark Lefenfeld and Jay Weintraub, co-founders and Board members of Berkshire Bounty. 
 
Berkshire Bounty is a food rescue organization providing food to those in need by collecting and delivering nutritious food to food pantries, senior centers, school districts and other food access sites. 

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King and Confidantes Debate Hope and Change in 'American Five'

By Alan PetrucelliSpecial to iBerkshires
STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — Fiction and fact meld in the regional premiere of "The American Five," now playing at the Larry Vaber Stage of the Unicorn Theatre. 
 
The play takes a fictionalized look at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his four closest confidants in the months leading up to the famed March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. The quintet, through differing opinions, animated arguments, constant threats of violence and a late-night meal featuring challah bread and wine, become a family as they prepare for the history-making march that galvanized the Civil Rights movement.
 
Most of us know the King saga. It's the second act in which playwright Chess Jakobs' genius shines. Prejudice runs rampant here: Is Stanley Levison, a Jewish lawyer from New York who shows up in Montgomery to join the fight for racial equality and "to repair the world," viewed as white? Jewish? Both? And march strategist and organizer Bayard Rustin experiences his own fight for civil rights because of his homosexuality. Here, Jakob explores prejudice on different levels.
 
The cast is top-notch with many emotional highs. As King, Rashun Carter (who would look more like his character if he had a full moustache) and Sydney Elisabeth (as Coretta Scott King) are at their best during a scene that bounces between humor and poignancy. 
 
She questions her husband about his meeting with President John F. Kennedy; he is angry and refuses to discuss it. "There is no 'you' out there, without a 'me,' in here," she says, leading King to agree that because of her self-worth and unwavering devotion to him, she is "Coretta Scott Queen."
 
As Clarence Jones, King's personal counsel, Brett Diggs has assurance and dignity; Harry Smith's portrayal of lawyer Stanley Levison, is nothing short of extraordinary. Destan Owens' performance as gay Bayard Rustin is the play's most outstanding performance as he defends his relations with men: "You don't get to judge me!" he tells King. "I'm just trying to find love."
 
"The American Five" is tightly directed by Gerry McIntyre; the historic period projections and footage/designed by Alex Hill remind people that there are dreams, such as hope and change, that are still being fought.
 
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