Page 7 - BusinessWest 2023 Giving Guide

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Giving
Continued from page 30
From left, Monson Savings Bank President and CEO Dan Moriarty, Miracle League of Western Mass. co- founder Ernie Fitzell Jr., and board chair Brian Feeley.
work it does is very important. You can see it on the faces of those who are getting their chance to play ball.”
Cause and Effect
Fitzell said the Miracle League got its start when he was running registration for Holyoke Youth Baseball and found himself unable to find a place for a young boy with special needs due to concerns about his safety on the diamond as he reached a level where participants are older and stronger and the ball comes at players at higher speeds.
“I will not put a child at risk,” he said, adding that the boy’s mother complained, but he held fast.
“She then made a call to the one person in this world who can make my life difficult — my wife,” he went on, adding that Tammy was also the boy’s teacher.
Inspired to find a way to let that boy, and countless others, have a chance to play, the Fitzells worked with others to raise $18,000 and get the Miracle League of Western Mass. off the ground.
Games are played at Springfield College, in the right-field corner of the collegiate baseball field, and, through the support of sponsors and individual donors, dozens of area kids and young adults get a chance to play. Meanwhile, participants take part in other activities, such as a summer picnic and trips to see the Springfield Thunderbirds and the Worcester Red Sox.
And like Cosenzi, he said the overall strategy for giving back is a company-wide endeavor, with feedback also sought from the community.
The bank puts a hard focus on communities
in which it has a presence through branches and other facilities, but there are regionwide initiatives as well, ranging from the American Cancer Society to the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts; from the Miracle League to Link to Libraries, the nonprofit that serves to put books on school and nonprofit library shelves and enhance the language and literacy skills of children of all backgrounds.
In each case, the company is helping to build a stronger community, but also a stronger company culture, he said, by getting employees involved
on many different levels — from wearing jeans
on Friday to supporting various causes or serving on boards, as Moriarty does himself, with Link to Libraries and several other agencies.
Cosenzi agreed. She said much of the company’s giving-back strategy is developed through
feedback from employees about which causes and organizations to support.
Meanwhile, she said she’s found that, in general, employees are putting ever-greater emphasis on working for a company that is socially responsible and engaged in the community and values the many forms that giving back takes, especially those featuring personal involvement and not merely monetary donations.
“From a company perspective, it creates a lot of good will within the organization, but it also helps build a stronger community.”
Moriarty said supporting organizations like the Miracle League not only strengthens the community, it brings employees together behind good causes, building morale in the process.
Giving
Continued on page 66 >>
DECEMBER 11, 2023 33
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