NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Northern Berkshire United Way rolled through the "Me Decade" on a high. 

 

The "Massachusetts Miracle" ushered in a boomtime — despite gloomy local indicators like the relocation of Sprague Electric, loss of Adams Print Works in a massive blaze, and Photech's bankruptcy.

 

The agency failed to reach its fundraising goals only two times during the decade even as the region's needs grew. For the first time, homelessness and substance abuse were listed among its allocations.

 

Fundraising grew by leaps and bounds as critical human service relief agencies asked for more. An estimated 36,000 people in North County were being served by the agency's affiliates. The funds went to support between 14 and 17 agencies over the decade for health services, youth support, mental health, child care, and family needs. 

 

NBUW was making enough toward the end of the 1980s that it could provide help to nonmembers such as the Dalton Community Chest, a rape crisis center and two homelessness initiatives. It also worked with the Piton Foundation of Colorado on venture funding, including for a peer mentoring program at Drury High School 

 

Mary G. Dailey had given her first dollar to the original Community Chest in 1935 as a worker at Arnold Print Works. As keynote speaker at the 1981 kick off, she credited North Berkshire's generosity as "enthusiasm."

 

"I'm all for enthusiasm," she told the 150 gathered at the Eagles Hall that fall, with her sister, Catherine, as toastmaster. "No other characteristic, with the possible exception of kindness, has contributed so much to happy and successful living."