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Date: 3/23/2022
BELCHERTOWN– To help raise money for its events, the Belchertown Community Alliance (BCA) kicked off its first-ever Spring Forward Fundraiser on March 13.
BCA Board President and Co-founder April Jasak-Bangs discussed the goals the BCA has for the community after it was founded in 2019.
“Our main mission is to reutilize underutilized properties in Belchertown for artistic and technical pursuits for the community with an emphasis on giving a voice back to those disenfranchised by the former Belchertown State School and really trying to welcome and be inclusive of folks with disabilities in our community,” she said.
Jasak-Bangs said one of the ways the BCA worked on bringing awareness to the people who lived at the State School was through an event called Reflections in August of 2021. It honored the experiences of the former residents through art pieces, including sculptures by Community Options, an original theater piece by the Rainbow Players, former residents creating paintings that were displayed on the property, a historical book walk and a community paint project.
While working on the Reflections project and creating art around the State School, Jasak-Bangs said BCA ran into some negativity.
“There were a lot of negative connotations around the former Belchertown State School for just reasons and what we wanted to do was center those voices that were affected by the school, give them power and space to process what they had been through and help the community and the property heal from its painful past,” she said.
Jasak-Bangs said the BCA is also hoping to work with the Special Education Department in the Belchertown Public Schools district to create a place for those students in town.
“One of our main goals in the future is to create a community hub in town that will also create vocational opportunities for the Transitions students, right now they are all being bused out of town, and we would love to create some of those opportunities for them in Belchertown,” she said.
Jasak-Bangs said one of the BCA’s current projects is its “Quabbin Valley Quest” mobile app in partnership with the towns of Belchertown and Ware.
“It is a map-based app that highlights points of interest, whether they are historic points of interests, recreational opportunities and one of my favorite parts of it is highlighting local artists’ work. The first iteration is going to be focused around the Quabbin Reservoir because Belchertown and Ware both share that amazing resource and there is a lot of history and a lot of art made around that space,” she said.
Through BCA’s work, Jasak-Bangs said she hopes to bring people together.
“The support and dollar amounts put behind us go directly back into the community, we are a non-profit that is run by all volunteers and to be able to have those funds to create this programming, create this space and bring everybody together especially after a really tough two years; we are really just trying to engage the community and give them the space to gather and create together,” she said.
Speaking about the Spring Forward fundraiser, Jasak-Bangs said all the money will go directly into future programming.
Part of the money raised will go into a community mural BCA is working on.
“We are going to be partnering with a professional artist who will work with the community to come up with a concept and design for a mural,” Jasak-Bangs said. “Once the concept is designed and created it will be put on a poly-mural fabric and it is something that will be taken from place to place to invite the community into painting before it is permanently installed.”
Jasak-Bangs said the fundraiser is specifically asking potential donors to donate monthly, rather than a one-time donation.
“That $5 a month will help us throughout the year rather than doing one big donation at the end of the year and helps to position us to be able to apply for more grants that have matching requirements,” she said.
One incentive to hit a high number of new monthly donors comes from a couple of anonymous donors.
“We have two anonymous donors who have agreed to collectively donate about $10,000 to us if we can get 100 monthly donors of any amount,” she said.
Jasak-Bangs said the goal of the fundraiser is to raise $50,000.
On top of donations, the BCA is also looking for people to help.
“We have space, and this programming can’t happen without volunteers, the old saying many hands make light work is especially true, we can get more done with more people,” Jasak-Bangs said.
The fundraiser opened on March 13 and will continue through April 30.
Donations can be made online at btowncommunity.org and anyone interested in matching donations or volunteering can reach out to the BCA via email at hello@btowncommunity.org.