Agenda
Difference Makers Nominations
Through Dec. 16: Do you know someone who is truly making a difference in the Western Mass. region? BusinessWest invites you to nominate an individual or group for its 17th annual Difference Makers program. Nominations for the class of 2025 must be received by Monday, Dec. 16. Difference Makers was launched in 2009 as a way to recognize the contributions of agencies and individuals who are contributing to quality of life in this region. Past honorees have come from dozens of business and nonprofit sectors, proving there’s no limit to the ways people can impact their communities. So, let us know who you think deserves to be recognized as a Difference Maker in our upcoming class by visiting businesswest.com/difference-makers-nomination-form to complete the nomination form. Honorees will be profiled in the Feb. 17 issue of BusinessWest and celebrated at a gala in the spring.
Food Drive for Margaret’s Pantry
Nov. 11-15: The Wealth Transition Collective, a financial-planning firm out of Holyoke, will host its fourth annual weeklong food drive to benefit Margaret’s Pantry in Holyoke in honor of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Since the start of this event, it has raised more than 4,000 pounds of food and more than $7,500 in monetary donations. Individuals can drop off non-perishable and canned foods during business hours (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) at the Wealth Transition Collective office at 1632 Northampton St., Holyoke. Weather permitting, there will be a drop-off table outside the front door for easy accessibility. Some of the most-needed items at the pantry during this time of year are stuffing mixes; canned goods like gravy, soups, and stews; baking mixes; frosting; syrup; salad dressing; condiments; Jell-O; and kids’ snack items. Margaret’s Pantry, a division of Providence Ministries for the Needy, is a full-service food pantry that has provided food to residents of Greater Holyoke for more than 30 years. Presently, the pantry provides food to more than 180 families each month, and approximately 72,000 meals a year are distributed to the needy in the community.
Women of Impact Gala
Dec. 5: BusinessWest will celebrate its seventh annual Women of Impact cohort at Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel. The 2024 Women of Impact, profiled in the Oct. 28 issue of BusinessWest and at businesswest.com, are: Alison Berman, council director of Girls on the Run Western Massachusetts; Dianne Fuller Doherty, co-founder of the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts and former director of the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center’s Regional Office; JoAnne Finck, president of Friends of Cooley Dickinson; Kimberley Lee, chief of Creative Strategy and Development at MiraVista Behavioral Health Center; Megan McDonough, executive director of Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity; LaTonia Monroe Naylor, chief business educator at Monroe Naylor Consulting, LLC and president and CEO of Parent Villages; Kristi Reale, partner at Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.; and Dr. Shirley Jackson Whitaker, nephrologist, artist, and filmmaker. Tickets cost $95 per person, and tables of 10 are available. To purchase tickets, visit www.businesswest.com/women-of-impact-tickets. The presenting sponsors are Country Bank and TommyCar Auto Group, and Cooley Dickinson Hospital is a partner sponsor.
