MHC Group Spruces Up Community Nonprofits

For members of MHC’s buildings and grounds department, September 21 was a day of giving and receiving. Forty-three members of the department, along with MHC students and staff, volunteered the full day, grooming landscapes and providing carpentry, painting, and plumbing skills to help improve the facilities of seven local nonprofit organizations. The sites included four locations in South Hadley, two in Holyoke, and one in Chicopee. While the organizations benefited from the work given, the volunteers “received” the sense of accomplishment and joy that comes from helping others.

The successful event, known as the Day of Giving, was the brainchild of Stephen Page, a heating and air conditioning specialist with building and grounds, and was organized by his department in partnership with the College’s Office of Religious and Spiritual Life.

“I am extremely proud of MHC and our B and G staff, deeply touched by the enthusiasm the workers brought to their jobs, and moved by the gratitude expressed by the folks at the agencies where we worked,” says Andrea Ayvazian, dean of religious life. “The group accomplished in one day of work is staggering. The volunteers cleaned and buffed floors, installed outdoor lights, built steps, cleared conservation trails, painted several rooms, washed walls, fixed roofs, cleared brush, repaired faucets, lay pipes—and the list goes on. What impressed me even more than the work that was done, was the high energy and loving attitude that was evident in all our workers. At each site folks worked hard, enjoyed each other, and gave 100 percent-plus.”

Donations, in addition to the full day of labor and equipment provided by the College, were made by Falcetti and Clark of Holyoke (electrical supplies), F.W. Webb of Northampton (water piping), Clark Paint Factory of Springfield (paint), Street Supply of Granby (lumber), Kellco Products of Springfield (weather matting), and Dwight Pearl of Holyoke (transportation of heavy equipment).

Seven organizations received the following assistance: Electrical work was completed for a housing project at the Valley Opportunity Council in Chicopee, and hallways in a Chicopee lodging house received a fresh coat of paint; a chain link fence from the Sycamores’s garden area was removed at the South Hadley Historical Society; the South Hadley Council on Aging’s Dayton Street facility had an interior paint job and an exterior light installed; trails were trimmed at the South Hadley Conservation Commission, near the high school and off of River Lodge Road; carpentry projects and plumbing jobs were completed for the Girl Scouts of South Hadley at the Camp Lewis Perkins site; the Soldiers Home in Holyoke had its grounds spruced up; and the floors at Girls Inc. were stripped and waxed.