OK, let’s get this out of the way up front — it’s about time 2020 exits stage left.
There is so much not to like about this unpredictable, tragic year. We’ve chronicled many of the struggles in the region, from the veterans at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke who died from COVID-19 and the ensuing investigations into wrongdoing, to the dozens of businesses that simply couldn’t survive, the empty venues that shuttered live entertainment, and the isolation felt by young and old alike after months in lockdown.
2020 was terrible. There, it’s said.
But there’s a silver lining to this year. Good things happened too, even if they’ve been overshadowed by the upheaval of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. People rose to the moment in 2020. In a Christmas address at Midnight Mass at Westminster Cathedral in England, Cardinal Vincent Nichols talked of a “quiet heroism.” The archbishop of Westminster said, “Have we not seen these months of difficulty marked by countless acts of random kindness, quiet heroism, selfless service, remarkable community efforts, all directed towards those most in need?”
Such acts, he said, had “penetrated the darkness.” These acts played out on a large, international and national scale and, perhaps more importantly, at the local level.
Take Lisa Oram, for example. In April, as many were starting the second month of lockdown, the Amherst resident acted on her tendency to nurture during challenging times. She launched “Feed the Frontlines,” a volunteer-sponsored program in which free meals were delivered to about 30 front-line workers at Cooley Dickinson Hospital employees every day. The initiative, now overseen by the Downtown Northampton Association, snowballed and served not only to provide a bit of “delicious kindness” to these workers but to also serve as a financial boost to struggling restaurants who were paid through donations to cook the meals.
“It just touched so many people in such a strong way, and that was really beautiful,” Oram said.
We couldn’t possibly chronicle every act of kindness that came as a response to the pandemic this year, but two touching stories we did write about included Northampton resident and sewer Caitlin Carvalho’s mask-making efforts for local hospitals and essential businesses, and the Western MAsk Project, a project in which a Northampton family launched a nonprofit network that provided hundreds of face masks for all Valley residents.
The family behind the Western MAsk Project — Janna Ugone cuts fabric, her husband, Peter Whalen, does the laundry, and their daughter, Gina, sews — partnered with other community members and also paid out-of-work sewers and seamstresses across the country via individual mask orders for residents and families.
Volunteer sewer Judith Fine of Northampton summed it up best in an April story in the Gazette. “We are such an incredibly giving, caring, thoughtful community,” she said. “Those who can have absolutely reached out to see, ‘What can I do to help?’ I’m just one of many hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are doing what they can do because we are all in this together.”
Food insecurity also earned headlines during the pandemic, and rightfully so, as those struggling for food sought help from their local survival centers — some for the first time. Here’s another area where the kindness of people wins. Countless stories in 2020 detailed how people were donating — food, money, and their time — to keep our neighbors fed.
Monte’s March, for example, raised $614,000 for the food bank this year, shattering the $340,000 raised in 2019. Led by radio personality Monte Belmonte, the 11th annual march from Springfield to Greenfield, is a heartwarming example of people stepping up. Many people, instead of marching this year, took Belmonte’s challenge to participate virtually, raising money and marching in their own communities. Individuals and schools throughout the Pioneer Valley did just that through mini-marches.
Belmonte said that he was overwhelmed by the incredible generosity of our community.
“The total is beyond my wildest expectations for this year’s march,” he told the Gazette. “But I think our neighbors know that this year, in particular, the need is immense. And they have met that need with immense generosity.”
Jillian Morgan, corporate relations officer with the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, where the food ended up, told the Gazette in late November that “It’s great to see the community foster some joy and fun during these challenging times.”
We couldn’t agree more. Let’s hope 2021 continues to bring this goodness out in people.
