Page 8 - BusinessWest November 10, 2021

need to move quickly to respond “ or two over the course of the year.
Last year, we had to have an open
mindset and be really flexible about what
we could do for the students and also about
what we can learn from all these
”
Scully: “The urgency absolutely was escalated, but so has the dynamic. When I think of the nonprofits I sit on, so many of them rely on not only cor- porate giving, but some type of event
to those needs. We have a pretty structured mechanism for people
who are looking for financial assis- tance. But during the pandemic,
that was accelerated because there
was a high sense of urgency. For example, within a week of the shel- ter-in-placeorderinMarchof2020,
we gave some sizable donations to each of the five food banks in our operating area because businesses were shutting down, and people
were out of work; the social structure to support those people was not in place yet, so food banks were being taxed. We made that gift quickly, and we made a
experiences and take those best practices.
We’ve all been to a million chicken dinners; what I say to my group is that, when the auction is there, bid high and bid often, because that’s what it’s all about. The big piece
that we saw was that people weren’t going to events because they weren’t beingheld.Anditwasacaseof‘out of sight, out of mind,’ unfortunately. The money was needed, the funding was needed, but the money wasn’t coming in, and yet all of those orga-
nizations had a more dire need than
is typical because there were so many people impacted by the pandemic.
We looked at it and said, ‘yeah, we can stay with our traditional model of what we do, but there’s a big need to step in here.’ When we look at corporate stew- ardship and how things have changed over the past 20 months, the need has increased exponentially. So many were hoping that this was the year — we all had our calendars ready for events, and then, they had to switch to vir- tual events, which don’t raise enough money. So the corporate community needs to realize that, even if there isn’t an event, the needs are so great, and they need to get out there and make a difference.”
D’Amour: “From a nonprofit per- spective, we had to figure out how we could support our mission differently. When the pandemic was creeping, we were mandated by our global entity, which holds our licensing agreement, that we could no longer accept new families. And when the last of the fami- lies went home, we actually turned it around to provide support to frontline healthcare workers. We opened the house to workers at Baystate to give them an opportunity — if they needed a place to stay, if they needed to take
a shower or get a cup of coffee. So
our team was committed to support healthcare and support our partner hospitals who are there for us all the time. The tables turned a little bit, but we are able to continue to support our mission in this time of need, and you saw many organizations doing simi- lar things. We pivoted and reinvented ourselves.”
Scribner: “Last year was a real struggle for students; 20% of those stu- dents in the Commonwealth just fell off the radar. So we had to change our mindset and pivot, just to help these students communicate how they were feeling. We would have speakers come in an talk about that — how they’re dealing with it, how their companies and themselves personally are deal- ing with COVID and being on Zoom meetings and not being in school and not being at work. Kids, while resilient, really had a tough time; they missed going to work and interacting with people. It’s those little things that we
Stewardship
Continued on page 10
AMY SCRIBNER
second gift four weeks later when the need was continuing. That’s one of the ways we adjusted — moving more quickly to meet needs.”
THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
The City of Springfield is requesting proposals for the use of American Rescue Plan Act funds in the following categories: Small Businesses, New Businesses, and Nonprofits. The RFPs are available at 70 Tapley Street in Springfield, and through the City’s website: www.springfield-ma.gov/finance/arpa.
Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis, starting November 1, with qualified respondents receiving grants to address negative health and/or economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. Interested parties are strongly encouraged to apply. Please be advised that additional RFPs will be issued in the near future for Households, Seniors, Job Creation/Economic Development, Housing Redevelopment, and Public Space/Capital Improvements.
La Ciudad de Springfield está solicitando propuestas para el uso de los fondos de la Ley del Plan de Rescate Americano en las siguientes categorías: Pequeñas empresas, Nuevos negocios y Organizaciones sin fines de lucro. Las RFP están disponibles en 70 Tapley Street en Springfield, y a través del sitio web de la Ciudad: www.springfield-ma.gov/finance/arpa.
Las propuestas se aceptarán de manera continua, a partir del 1 de noviembre,
y los participantes calificados recibirán becas para abordar los impactos negativos para la salud y/o económicos de la pandemia de COVID-19. Se recomienda encarecidamente a las partes interesadas que presenten su solicitud. Por favor tenga en cuenta que se emitirán RFP adicionales en un futuro cercano para hogares, personas mayores, creación de empleo/ desarrollo económico, reconstrucción de viviendas y mejoras del espacio público/ capital.
8 NOVEMBER 10, 2021
FEATURE
BusinessWest