GREENFIELD — The New England Learning Center for Women in Transition’s (NELCWIT’s) annual fundraiser and celebration will be held virtually for the second consecutive year.
“The Power to Persevere,” hosted by retired Judge Bertha Josephson and Carla Oleska, of the Friends of NELCWIT, is slated for 6 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 28. The keynote speakers will be attorney Tahirah Amatul-Wadud and Rachel Rybaczuk, a consultant and educator.
NELCWIT is the sexual and domestic violence crisis center for Franklin County and the North Quabbin. Services are free and do not require health insurance.
“It started out as a breakfast, actually, to honor International Women’s Day and just kind of grew from there,” Mary Kociela, president of the Friends of NELCWIT, said of the annual fundraiser’s origins. “It’s attracted so many community members. It’s been great, and really became established as a fundraiser and annual event after that.”
Kociela said the fundraiser consisted of a dinner at Greenfield Community College for several years, and was skipped altogether in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Visit givebutter.com/ca9C8R to join the event or make a donation toward NELCWIT’s $25,000 goal. Kociela said NELCWIT picked that goal because the nonprofit organization has already nearly reached its previous fundraising goals due to generous underwriters.
Kociela estimated the event typically generates about $18,000. The money raised subsidizes NELCWIT’s services, which include court advocacy, a 24-hour hotline, counseling, drop-in services and crisis intervention. All services are also available in Spanish.
“It really does go directly to families — survivors and their families,” Kociela said.
Amatul-Wadud, a graduate of Elms College in Chicopee and of Western New England University School of Law, has been recognized for her legal work and advocacy. She ran on a progressive platform against U.S. Richard Neal in 2018 and has served as a commissioner on the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, advocating before the state Legislature to enact laws responsive to the needs of women. She is also on the board for the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Massachusetts (CAIR-MA), an advocacy group.
Rybaczuk, a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategist and consultant at Equity Into Action, works across policy, nonprofit, academic and business contexts. As the founder of Equity Into Action, she has provided assessment, strategy, organizational development, trainings and coaching for diverse groups for more than 15 years.
The fundraiser is supported by underwriters Greenfield Savings Bank, Health New England, Heywood Healthcare and Franklin First Federal Credit Union, as well as business sponsors Greenfield Cooperative Bank and Dr. Rebecca Jones.
If your business would like to become an underwriter or sponsor or for more information, contact Carla Oleska at carla@nelcwit.org.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or
413-772-0261, ext. 262.