WESTFIELD – Despite the dreary weather outside Wednesday morning, it was all smiles inside the board room at Westfield Bank‘s Elm Street headquarters, as the bank became the lead donor for furnishing the new Westfield Senior Center.
The bank pledged $100,000 towards the new facility, which is costing the city $7.5 million to construct, through the Friends of the Westfield Senior Center, who have set out to raise a half a million dollars to furnish the building’s interior.
“We are going to be creating an endowment for the Senior Center so that when Tina Gorman (executive director, Westfield Council on Aging) needs more furniture or the maybe the parking lot needs expanding, there are funds available for that,” said Tom Humphrey of the Friends of the Westfield Senior Center. “Our goal is not just short-term and we’re looking forward to this time next year when everyone will be occupying (the center).”
“We’re thrilled to be a part of this fundraising effort,” said James Hagan, president of Westfield Bank. “Tina and her staff do a tremendous job and we’ve always respected what they’ve done in this community. Being a community-oriented bank, we look for projects to get involved in and to give back to the various communities we serve.”
Hagan added that it was an “honor and a privilege” to donate to the Friends of the Westfield Senior Center and said that the group did an outstanding job in their presentation to the bank and the board of directors, convincing them to contribute to the fundraising effort.
“We’re proud to be the lead donor and we’re hopeful that this will be the first of many, many gifts towards the development and construction of this project,” he said. “It will be a great place for seniors to gather, socialize and to take advantage of the various programs Tina and her fine staff run on a daily basis.”
“From my position, our job in the city was to get this project over the finish line,” said Mayor Daniel M. Knapik. “It’d been kicked around for way longer than anybody would have ever thought it could have been or should have been.”
Knapik credited the concept of a “Friends” group, which had proven so helpful and key in the completion of similar projects throughout the region.
“A few years back, the Friends group was organized and they’re able now as a group, they’re in position to go out to our community and ask for the donations to furnish the building,” he said. “But it starts with a few folks coming together with a lot of energy and a lot of ideas.”
“I could not think of a better partner to kick this off in a big way,” Knapik said. “Westfield Bank has a 161-year history and has continuously invested into the city of Westfield and their footprint is everywhere.”
