NORTHAMPTON — From deathbed handholding to late-night check-ins, City Councilor Marianne LaBarge is all about showing up for her constituents.
LaBarge is so consumed with helping city residents that when state Rep. Peter Kocot, D-Northampton, informed her she had a surprise coming in the form of a statewide award acknowledging her accomplishments, she’d hoped it meant a check was coming to address the intersection of Florence and Ryan roads.
“I was shocked,” she said of being recognized among the “Unsung Heroines of Massachusetts,” an annual event organized by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. “I don’t know what I did to deserve this.”
In a letter to the commission, Kocot wrote that her “attention to detail, tenacity and good heart” make LaBarge a good fit for the award. He wrote about how when a storm sent a tree ripping through a resident’s home, LaBarge arranged meals for the family and arranged temporary housing.
“When a road in her ward needs improvements to protect public safety, she is the first person to raise the issue, fight for funding and get the improvements done,” Kocot wrote. “She is relentless in her pursuit of what is best for her constituents.”
LaBarge said she’s always strived to live a life of service.
“My life is helping people, and that’s why I love being a councilor,” LaBarge said. “I just want to make sure people are safe.”
LaBarge is among 114 women statewide to be honored, including others from the area — Renee Moss, of Amherst; Laurie Millman, of Leverett; and Loretta Dansereau, of Belchertown.
“These are outstanding women and people aren’t always aware of them,” said Margot Parrot, who chairs the commission, of the event on June 21 at the Statehouse. “It’s probably our happiest event of the year. It feels so good to be honoring these women.”
All women selected were nominated by their legislators, Parrot said. Like the mission of the commission, the event is a means to provide a platform for the women of Massachusetts.
Parrot was also eager to announce the creation of a regional branch of the state body, the Hampshire-Franklin Commission for the Status of Women. The newly formed body consists of nine women: Francia Wisnewski, chairwoman of the commission; Denise Brown, vice chairwoman of the commission; Bonnie MacCracken, treasurer; Ginetta Candelario; Marcia Plant Jackson; Chelsea Kline; Linda-Jeanne Mack; Keleigh Pereira; and Anais Surkin.
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.