Page 16 - BusinessWest May 12, 2025

Recognizing a Legacy of Giving Back
Link to Libraries Creates Fund to Honor Steve, Sue Kaplan
As she talked about Steve Kaplan and his many contributions to the nonprofit
Link to Libraries, Laurie Flynn, the agency’s executive director, didn’t start
with his service on the board, his lengthy stint as treasurer, or even his role
as quiet, behind-the-scenes co-founder with his wife, Susan Jaye Kaplan.
No, she started by talking about the manner in which Kaplan, who passed
away in January after a lengthy battle with brain cancer, adopted, for lack of a bet-
ter word, the Kensington International School in Springfield — because, in many
ways, that says even more about him.
“He started off as a volunteer reader,” she recalled, noting that the nonprofit
helps place such readers in schools across the region to help encourage young
people to read. “And he turned it into so much more; it became near and dear to
him. He tutored there, he did all kinds of things, and he did it without asking for a
spotlight ... he just quietly gave and gave and gave.
Steve and Sue
Kaplan, left,
with Laurie
Flynn, executive
director of Link
to Libraries, and
John Doleva,
president and
CEO of the
Basketball
Hall of Fame,
a strong
supporter of the
agency.
“When Steve passed in January, I thought it was an important
time to honor his work and Sue’s work, and their work as a
couple in Western Mass.”
“He always joked that he was “Mr. Susan Jaye Kaplan,” Flynn went on. “But he
was a force in his own right; it was just different energy.”
It was that above-and-beyond approach at the Kensington School, and the vary-
ing forms of energy displayed by both Kaplans that helped inspire Flynn to create
a legacy fund in both their names to help continue and even expand LTL’s service
to the young people in the region.
Susan Jaye Kaplan, as most now know, co-founded not only LTL but also the
nonprofit GoFIT. She was honored for her work with BusinessWest’s Difference
Staff Photo
Maker award in 2009.
“When Steve passed in January, I thought it was an important time to honor his
work and Sue’s work, and their work as a couple in Western Mass.,” she told Busi-
nessWest. “They’ve done so much, not just for Link to Libraries, but we’re a huge
piece of their legacy. It seemed to me that ... when you look at the two of them,
and how much they gave, not just through the schools, but through community
partnerships, it seems like a great opportunity, a great way to honor their legacy,
to have something that is permanently part of Link to Libraries, that is dedicated
to doing more than we’re doing now.”
Elaborating, Flynn said the Stephen
Kaplan & Susan Jaye Kaplan Commu-
nity Legacy Fund, which was formally
Link
Continued on page 17 >>
BECOME PART OF
THE CHAMBER
COMMUNITY
Gain exclusive access to premier events, advocacy for a pro-
business environment, and meaningful connections to help solve
challenges. Enhance your brand visibility and grow your business.
JOIN TODAY
Fire
& Ice
May 22nd | 5:00 - 8:00PM
Marriott Springfield Downtown
REGISTER
TODAY
We used Graduate Pest
Solutions for Tick &
Mosquito spraying this past
summer and they did a great
job. Our backyard backs up
to woods that are wet and swampy and normally we couldn’t
be outside without being eaten alive by mosquitos, but this
year we had barely any mosquitos the entire season and were
able to enjoy sitting outside.
- Nicole W.
413-566-8222
GraduatePestSolutions.com
www.springfieldregionalchamber.com
16 << EDUCATION >>
MAY 12, 2025
Business W est