GREENFIELD — In Hollywood movies when someone is released from jail, it is usually with just the clothes on their back, with the complex’s gates slamming closed behind them. The Franklin County Transition From Jail to Community Task Force is out to change that cliché for local inmates.
Earlier this week, volunteers and employees of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office gathered at the Green River Swimming and Recreation Area to fill 50 backpacks with basic supplies and words of encouragement that will be given to people being released from the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction.
Originally started by St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ashfield, the “Love in a Backpack” project provides men and women leaving incarceration with basics like toiletries, snacks, journals, hand sanitizer and face masks. The backpacks and their contents were all donated by community members through a supply and fund drive.
‘“Love in a Backpack’ is a wonderful collaboration of people coming together to support women and men in transition from jail to the community,” Franklin County Sheriff Christopher Donelan said in a press release. “This transition can be very difficult, and knowing they have support from the community gives these women and men hope that a new life is possible. These donations are a way citizens can directly impact life-changing work.”
The Franklin County Transition From Jail to Community Task Force is part of the Franklin County Resource Network, a program of Community Action Pioneer Valley. The task force, made up of a range of community members, was developed to help people who are leaving the jail have a successful re-entry into the community. It has been involved with the “Love in a Backpack” project since February 2020.
Mary McClintock, community collaboration coordinator with Community Action Pioneer Valley, was on hand helping at the Green River Swimming and Recreation Area on Tuesday. Organizers picked an outdoor location as a safety precaution amid the COVID-19 pandemic, she explained. The tables under the pavilion provided plenty of space for the volunteers to spread out and assemble the backpacks, picking from piles of supplies.
“Last year we only did 25 backpacks,” McClintock said. “This year, we are providing 50 and adding face masks.”
Ashfield artist Bob Markey was there as a volunteer “just to help,” he said. To Markey, “Love in a Backpack” serves as an extension of the work he does running art classes at the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction, as well as public art projects he has done with people in recovery from substance abuse.
Volunteer Mary Link, also from Ashfield, spoke to her reason for volunteering.
“It is a really scary transition for people leaving jail and figuring out where they will be staying, trying to lead a better life,” she said. “We are trying to help bridge that transition.”
To learn more about the “Love in a Backpack” project, visit bit.ly/32kD7xM.
Reach Paul Franz at 413-772-0261, ext. 266 or pfranz@recorder.com.
