GREENFIELD — Heading into the 80th anniversary of the United Way of Franklin County, the local nonprofit charity decided to establish a new position on its board: emeritus.
After years of service on the group’s board and community service in the community, Ed Tombs will step away from the United Way at the end of his term.
“I call Ed ‘Mr. Greenfield’ because he just has his hands in everything that makes Greenfield a great place,” Larry Geiser, who sits on the board, said.
Geiser and others at the local organization’s annual meeting Thursday morning recognized Tombs’ assistance to the United Way, and across the town of Greenfield. The gathering was held at Terrazza at the Greenfield Country Club.
President and CEO of Greenfield Savings Bank John Howland thanked Tombs for how he shaped the bank he formerly led.
“He absolutely transformed that organization at that period of time,” Howland said. “I don’t think I’d be standing here now without him.”
During this year’s charity fundraising, Greenfield Savings Bank had the largest percent increase from last year’s campaign out of any local company.
In a year that fundraising dollars were up from the previous year, Executive Director Sandy Sayers reminded the group gathered that the United Way of Franklin County is a community organization.
“We are local, we raise money locally, and it stays there,” Sayers said. “I want to keep emphasizing that this is your local United Way.”
Sayers spoke about the various organizations that the United Way supports: from promoting literacy to supporting new immigrants to helping those in recovery.
“These organizations that we fund address the most pressing needs of our community,” Sayers said, helping to create a “better, more just and healthier Franklin County.”
The Partner Agency of the Year award was given to Center for New Americans, which helps immigrants naturalize and learn English, among many other efforts.
The organization also recognized Kennametal Inc.’s James Whittier as the Outstanding Employee Workplace Campaign Coordinator.
When Whittier came to the front of the group gathered for the annual meeting, he spoke about his nerves. He said when he served in the Army for 15 years, he learned to get over his fear of heights (by having to learn how to jump out of a plane) and his fear of public speaking. Eventually he got comfortable speaking publicly, addressing crowds as large as 8,000 people, yet he still felt nervous Thursday morning at the country club.
“I realized what it was. This is a small room to contain all the heart in the community,” Whittier said.
Four new board members were also acknowledged: Phoebe Walker of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments; Cindy Russo, president of Baystate Franklin Medical Center; Karen Phillips, comptroller of Greenfield Community College; and Patrick Mahoney.
“It feels to me really important work for the community and I’ve spent my whole life working to make Franklin County better and this builds on that,” Walker said after the meeting.
Walker spoke about the value of United Way to her.
“I’m very cognizant of the blessings of my life,” Walker said. “This allows me to use my time to help those people who don’t have those advantages. And that’s an honor. I think for a lot of people it’s hard to know how to help people who don’t have the blessings you have.”
She hopes to help out with the strategic planning process of the organization.
Phillips, who has been with GCC for 27 years working on accounting, is excited to help out too.
“I thought it would be good for me to get involved with a community organization that reaches a lot of those same student populations,” that the GCC foundation reaches, Phillips said after the meeting.
She added, “I’m willing to dig my hands in to do whatever I can to help.”
United Way raises as much as $750,000 each year to support 40 programs of 26 partner agencies in the county.
You can reach Joshua Solomon at:
jsolomon@recorder.com
413-772-0261, ext. 264