The REACT Committee, chaired by Mary Jane Dunlop, has been hard at work planning and performing charitable works in the community. We have a full slate of events coming up, and are hopeful that you will join (or volunteer) in one, several or all of these!
St. Joe Soup Kitchen Meal: Each year, REALTORS join together to prepare and serve a meal through the St. Joe Soup Kitchen, located at South Congregational Church in Pittsfield. This year, we’ve volunteered for a second time. At noon on May 30th, we will prep the meal to be served at 5:30 that same night. Many hands make light work. If you can assist with the prep, the serving, or both please contact Mary Jane Dunlop to volunteer. Thank you!
Habitat for Humanity – Women’s Build: A team of ten have been formed to assist in the build of a Habitat homestead on June 8th. We have received an expressed interest from additional folks, so if you’re interested, please contact Mary Jane Dunlop to volunteer. If we can, we’ll form a second team! Each participant is asked to raise $100 as part of their commitment to the build. Did you know, your sweat equity hours can be donated to a homestead recipient? Yup! If you’d like more information about that, please contact Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity at 413-442-3181.
Central/South Battle of the Bartenders: One of our biggest fund raising events of the year, the Central/South Battle of the Bartenders will be held at the Olde Heritage Tavern, in Lenox, on Thursday, June 14th. This event runs from 5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m., and this year Construct, Inc. will be the recipient of funds raised. It’s a fun competition between bartending teams to see who can raise the most tips during their hour long shift. Think it’d be a blast to be a bartender? We do too! Please contact Mary Jane Dunlop to volunteer. Not into working behind the bar? That’s cool! Come and support your favorite team, and stay for the raffles! We’ll announce the teams as soon as Mary Jane has volunteers in place. Want to donate an items for the raffle? Please let Paula McLean know. We’re also working on an event in North County, so please stay tuned for more details on that. If you’d like to volunteer to assist with that event, please contact Sue O’Brien.
Chili Cookoff: This is definitely our biggest fundraiser of the year, and it sure is a blast! Please mark your calendars for Wednesday, October 24th at the Country Club of Pittsfield. This year’s event will follow the annual meeting, which was a smashingly successful change last year. So wonderful, in fact, that we’re doing it again!! Details to follow as they unfold.
Thanksgiving Angels: The Thanksgiving Angels partners represent Pittsfield’s food pantries, faith communities and civic groups. Each partner contributes financial support or designated goods, organizational help and volunteers. Last year, REALTORS worked parking detail to ensure that traffic flow was interrupted as minimally as possible and to assist with families picking up meals getting in and out of the parking lot with the least amount of hassle. If you’d like to volunteer for parking duty this year, on November 19th, please contact Mary Jane Dunlop. The Thanksgiving Angels partners are also reaching out for monetary donations as they anticipate that changes coming in health and basic support for our less fortunate neighbors will spike a rise in requests for assistance. Last year they provided the makings of a Thanksgiving dinner to 1450 families and estimate that 5700 people shared in-home Thanksgiving celebrations with the food they received. The turkeys alone cost $23,000! If you’re interested, as in individual or as a firm, to provide a monetary donation, please go their website, to make an online payment. Be sure to indicate that you want to donate to a specific fund, and select Thanksgiving Angels from the drop-down menu. Or, checks, payable to Thanksgiving Angels – South Church, can be mailed to South Church, 110 South Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201. Thank you!
In addition to all the exciting events mentioned above, REACT has ongoing projects that you can participate in at anytime of the year:
Cancer Center Chemo Caps: The Hematology Oncology Services of BMC is seeking donations of yarn and knitting needles for the creation of chemo caps. These caps are provided, free of charge, to patients receiving chemo treatments to help them stay warm. Often times, cancer patients have trouble regulating their body temps and these caps are a literal life saver! At this time of year, the best types of yarn are cotton or baby fine – but they can also use warmer yarns for the cooler months. If you have yarn or knitting needles you’d like to donate, please drop your donation off at the Hillcrest campus, located at 165 Tor Court in Pittsfield. Thank you!
Berkshire United Way Book House Project: REALTORS have adopted the Book House located at Krispy Kone in Lanesboro. What is a book house, you say? During the summer months, we stock shelves, shaped like a house, with books that are appropriate for children and young teens. These books are provided on a rotating basis – leave a book, take a book, but our book supply has been depleted. We just love that the kids are enjoying those books! If you have age appropriate books to donate, please feel free to drop them off at the Board Office. We’d sure appreciate it!
Interested in participating in REACT? We’d love to have you join us at our next meeting on June 15th at 10:00 a.m. This meeting will be held at the Board Office in our conference room. You can attend, no commitment necessary, to learn what REACT is all about. Have a suggestion for a project or like to recommend a non-profit charity that we may be able to assist? Please let either Mary Jane Dunlop, or Sue O’Brien know! Thank you!!