Daily News

Chicopee Savings Bank Charitable Foundation Boosts HCC Culinary Arts Program

HOLYOKE — The Chicopee Savings Bank Charitable Foundation donated $50,000 to Holyoke Community College (HCC) for the benefit of students preparing for careers in the culinary-arts and hospitality industry. 

Bill Wagner, president of the foundation, presented a check for that amount to HCC President Christina Royal and officials from the nonprofit HCC Foundation during a brief ceremony on Oct. 2 at the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute. The $50,000 donation will go toward programs, equipment, maintenance, instruction, and student services at the institute, which opened in January at 164 Race St. in downtown Holyoke. 

“The foundation is pleased to lend its support to HCC’s remarkable new Culinary Arts Institute,” said Wagner, an HCC alumnus from the class of 1971. “It’s quite an impressive facility unique in Western Massachusetts that we can be proud of for generations to come. With HCC’s expansion into this state-of-the-art facility, our region’s growing hospitality industry will directly benefit from well-trained chefs and hospitality staff. HCC has a rich history of providing quality education in Western Mass., and we couldn’t be prouder to stand behind them.”

During the ceremony, a plaque recognizing the donation was unveiled outside the institute’s general purpose lab, which is the teaching kitchen used for HCC’s non-credit culinary and workforce-training programs. 

“We are honored to name a space here in recognition of the generosity of the Chicopee Savings Bank Charitable Foundation,” said Amanda Sbriscia, HCC’s vice president of Institutional Advancement. “This investment will allow us to continue to enhance our culinary-arts training and professional development for the benefit of our students and the community. We are incredibly grateful for this leadership support and especially pleased that it gives us a chance to thank Mr. Wagner, an HCC alumnus, for his continued commitment to our mission.”