Greylock Federal Awards Special Grants to Local Food Pantries

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(left to right) Rachel Mabee, Vice President, Culture & Brand at Greylock; Cindy Shogry-Raimer, Vice President, Director of Community Development at Greylock; Katelynn Miner, Founder & Executive Director at Berkshire Dream Center; and Jamie Moncecchi, Senior Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer at Greylock.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Greylock Federal Credit Union has allocated a special $50,000 donation to support local food pantries.
 
Recipients include Berkshire Bounty, Berkshire Food Project, Berkshire Community College (BCC) Campus Cupboard, Berkshire Dream Center, People's Pantry and Pittsfield Community Food Pantry.
 
"Food is a basic need that we all share. That's why our board and senior leaders wanted to allocate a special contribution to support the work of our local food pantries. It's our hope that this funding will help to ease the strain and allow more families and individuals in our communities to access the resources that they need," said Jamie Moncecchi, Senior Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer.
 
This donation comes in the wake of Greylock's recent allocation of $100,000 to 10 nonprofit community partners whose missions focus on a range of human services.
 
Berkshire Bounty, BCC's Campus Cupboard and People's Pantry all focus on distribution of rescued, locally sourced and donated foods. Other selected organizations help to alleviate social isolation through varied meal offerings. Berkshire Food Project serves hot meals five days a week, and Pittsfield Community Food Pantry offers grab-and-go meals from their food pantry kitchen. Berkshire Dream Center has a restaurant-style soup kitchen, as well as market and mobile food pantry.
 
"At a time when needs are increasing across our community, this gift was nothing short of a miracle. Our partnership with Greylock is not just support—it's a shared vision and truly foundational to the work happening at the Berkshire Dream Center. This investment came at a critical moment, helping us meet the growing demand we're seeing across the Morningside community and throughout Berkshire County," said Katelynn Miner, Founder & Executive Director for Berkshire Dream Center.
 
"It's partnerships like this that remind us we're not doing this alone and make it possible for us to keep showing up, serving others, restoring hope, rebuilding lives and helping others realize their dreams," said Miner. "Everyone deserves to dream again, and we are so thankful to Greylock for helping others begin to dream again with us!"
 
The collective impact of the six organizations is significant in the lives of community members. Pittsfield Community Food Pantry delivers to 500 families each week, and the Berkshire Food Project prepares 200 meals a day. According to 2024 impact reports on their websites, Berkshire Bounty collected 621,000 pounds of food to serve 16,080 people, and the Berkshire Dream Center served 15,568 people. In 2025, People's Pantry stocked 33,000 fridges with eggs.
 
"I am so grateful to receive this grant from Greylock. The Berkshire Food Project has recently experienced an increase in numbers similar to last fall," said Matthew Alcombright, MDiv., Executive Director at Berkshire Food Project.
"We rely on community support and sponsorship to continue our 40-year tradition of providing a no-cost, no-questions-asked, homemade-from-scratch lunch, five days a week to combat food insecurity and social isolation in our community. This grant will certainly be put to good and prudent use. BFP is so fortunate to have Greylock Federal as one of our close community partners and cannot thank them enough for helping to carry out our mission in a dignified and professional manner," Alcombright said.

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Pittsfield OKs Statement of Interest for Future PHS Repairs

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city will submit a statement of interest to the MSBA for repairs to Pittsfield High School

In three consecutive days this week, the School Building Needs Commission, City Council, and School Committee authorized interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips to submit an SOI for repairs to the almost century-old building. 

Mayor Peter Marchetti explained to councilors that they are asking to take a proactive approach to trying to get PHS into the queue for a future MSBA project. 

"I think I don't need to share with all of you the condition of Pittsfield High School. I think you've probably all been in there and you know the condition of the high school," he said on Tuesday. 

"So we're asking tonight for that first step to be taken, to put us in the queue. We are not asking for any funding request. We are not asking, 'Should we add on to the school? Should we take away from the school?' We are simply looking to get us into the queue, to get us into the eligibility phase, which will take about a year's time, and then hopefully get into the feasibility stage." 

During a special meeting last Monday, the School Building Needs Commission unanimously voted to move forward with a statement of interest. The City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved submitting a PHS statement of interest, and that was followed by an affirmative vote from the School Committee on Wednesday. 

Priority areas identified for an SOI to the MSBA Core Program will be for the replacement, renovation, or modernization of the heating system to increase energy conservation and decrease energy-related costs, and replacement or addition to obsolete buildings to provide a full range of programs consistent with state and local requirements. 

This is what the school was found to be most eligible for.  If invited into the program in December, a draft schedule places construction between 2031 and 2033. 

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