Hello Westfield! Hope you all had a good week and have enjoyed the nice weather. I can’t believe it’s already the end of May. As per usual, my office had a very busy week with all the events around Westfield.
One of my favorite events took place on Monday, The Annual Westfield Dollars for Scholars Award night. It’s amazing to see the amount of community support behind our local students, and it’s always a pleasure to speak to the scholarship winners. Thank you to all the hardworking volunteers who make this night possible every year, and congratulations to all the scholarship recipients- keep up the great work!
This week I also attended two more events to honor graduating students in Westfield. The first, also on Monday, was a celebration of 4th year and transitioning students in the Westfield State Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment Initiative, a state program that offers grants to young men and women with intellectual disabilities to help them attend college. The second event on Wednesday was the Bridge to Adulthood Ceremony with the East Mountain Road Transition program, another great program for young adults with developmental disabilities. It was wonderful to meet all the graduating students and celebrate their successful transition out of school.
On Thursday, my colleagues and I attended the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council’s Annual Meeting. The EDC is a private, non profit corporation that is leading the region’s economic development by helping businesses to expand, relocate and succeed in Western Massachusetts. Speaker DeLeo was the guest speaker this year and spoke about expanding economic growth to the four western counties, something that our delegation has always considered to be of the utmost importance to our region. It was interesting to hear about the EDC’s efforts in helping our economy to grow, and I look forward to continuing to work with them to bring more business to the Springfield area.
Finally, on Friday morning I sat down with MassLive reporter Dan Glaun, State Senator Eric Lesser, and my good friend Eric Segundo, a veterans’ services officer and State Sr. Vice Commander of the Massachusetts VFW, to have a lengthy conversation about veterans’ issues in the Commonwealth. We spoke mostly about healthcare, homelessness, and employment opportunities for veterans, including the proposed $4000 tax cut for business that hire unemployed veterans. The language is included in this year’s budget and will be passed when the rest of the budget is finalized in June. You can find the video on MassLive’sfacebook page if you would like to watch the full interview!
Today is going to be an especially busy day, but nevertheless an exciting one. This morning, the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home is holding their Annual Motorcycle Run to support their residents and raise funds for their programs. Many thanks to the American Legion and Victory 4 Veterans for putting this event on and helping local veterans. From there, I am heading to the Fast Flat Race in town to run with Team Alzheimer’s Awareness. It’s only been a month since I ran two back-to-back marathons and injured my knee, but I’m still planning to finish the 5k in time to head to Westfield State’s Commencement Ceremony later today- wish me luck!
Have a great week, and as always, please do not hesitate to reach out to my office at (413) 572-3920 or [email protected] if you ever need us!
