UNITED WAY HITS FUNDRAISING GOAL,

HONORS VOLUNTEERS

BY JACK FLYNN, THE REPUBLICAN

SPRINGFIELD – Expressing thanks for an outpouring of community support, the United Way of Pioneer Valley announced Wednesday it has reached its $6.2 million fund raising goal for 2011-2012.

The announcement came at its annual awards banquet honoring volunteers and institutions, including Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and his staff for their work on Springfield’s tornado and blizzard recoveries.

Dora D. Robinson, the chapter’s president and chief executive officer, announced the fundraising success to applause from a crowd of more than 500 at the Log Cabin Meeting and Banquet House.

“We’ve had a fair share of challenges over the past year, but we persevered and tackled each challenge as it arose. Today, we are looking ahead with hope and purpose,” she said.

Robinson said the area’s two natural disasters – June 1 tornadoes and the October blizzard – helped galvanize the agency’s fundraising efforts.

As part of its celebration, the 89-year-old agency, which serves Hampden County, South Hadley and Granby, handed out awards for exceptional community involvement in the past year.

Recognized were Paul S. and Dianne F. Doherty of Longmeadow; Holyoke-based PeoplesBank and its assistant vice president, Charlene Smolkowicz; the Youth Empowerment Adolescent Health Network, also know as YEAH!; and Sarno.

Each recipient offered brief remarks, with Dianne Doherty, regional director of the University of Massachusetts’ Small Business Center, saying, “We are so blessed to live in this area. ... We live here, we give here and we all know we get much more than we give.”

Introducing Sarno, United Way vice president Sarah Tanner referred to the hundreds of hours he spent touring tornado-damaged neighborhoods last summer, portable radio in hand. “We really should be giving him a silver walkie talkie,” Tanner said.

The mayor brought a conga line of Springfield officials to the podium with him. Team Springfield, as the mayor called them, included his top aide, Denise R. Jordan, and spokesman Thomas T. Walsh; city solicitor Edward M. Pikula; Fire Chief Joseph A. Conant; and Fire Department spokesman Dennis G. Leger.

The mark of good government, Sarno said, is not just efficiency or financial responsibility. “We have to be compassionate, too – that’s the bottom line,” he said.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT