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Date: 12/19/2022
HADLEY/NORTHAMPTON/SPRINGFIELD – The UMassFive College Federal Credit Union is currently conducting its annual Winter Clothing Drive. Donations are being accepted at the UMassFive’s Hadley, Northampton and Springfield branches. Clothing will be collected during the whole month of December, and distributed by early- to mid-January 2023.
UMassFive’s Vice President of Marketing Craig Boivin said that the credit union is collaborating with the Amherst Survival Center (ASC) to acquire and distribute the clothing donations throughout the region.
“We do a lot of work with the Amherst Survival Center who does so much good in our community, and one of the things that’s always in demand this time of year is cold weather clothing…and we’re looking to help out our neighbors in need. So it was borne out of a partnership with the nonprofit, and it’s through that partnership that the donations get distributed. They have a network and can identify our neighbors in need and provide the type of clothing that they request,” Boivin said.
The donation process is easy; donors simply go to one of the three participating branches and drop their items in the collection bins.
“We have bins in all three of those branches. We invite folks to bring in any clean, new, or lightly-used coats, gloves, scarves, hats, sweaters and blankets. Our Hadley and Northampton branches are pretty easy to find…Our Springfield location is inside Mercy Medical Center, the rehabilitation center there,” Boivin said.
The Hadley branch is located at 200 Westgate Center Dr., the Northampton branch is at 225 King St. and Mercy Medical Center, the site of the Springfield branch, is at 233 Carew St, in Room 110.
The only caveat for donations is that they must be placed in a bag before being dropped off.
“If folks want to drop off items we just ask that they place them in a bag. Plastic is probably the easiest but even a tote bag [will work]. It just makes it easier to assemble everything at the end and get it packaged up so it’s read to be sent over,” Boivin said.
Once collected, the clothes are delivered to the ASC, who gets them to those in need via in-center shopping, and network of distributors.
“Amherst Survival Center distributes the clothes in two ways. They have an in-store component where folks who may be in need can stop by and pick up supplies…and then they do have a network that they engage with, so if they need to get the clothes out, they can distribute it that way as well,” Boivin said. “We’ve collected over 100 pounds of clothes in [past years’ drives]…So it’s been successful, and the ASC is so appreciative for it. We get so much support from the community and the folks bringing in clothing,” Boivin said.
The Winter Coat Drive has been a UMassFive staple for years and is one of two clothing drives they host.
“We’ve easily done it over five years at this point. And this is not the only drive we do in conjunction with the ASC, and sometimes some of the other local survival centers and shelters. We’ve done Halloween costume drives as well, I don’t think that’s something people really think about, but costumes are expensive and not everyone can afford them,” Boivin said.
In addition to clothing, UMassFive will also host a drive for personal care items soon.
“We’re also planning a personal care drive, I believe coming up in early 2023, we’re shooting for March right now. That will be for things like soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, things of that nature. We know the cost of those items has really increased over the last year as well, and anything we can do to help the folks in our community, that’s what we’re about here.”
UMassFive has been in the Pioneer Valley for over 55 years, and has emerged as a premiere banking institution in the area.
“We started back in 1967 on the campus of UMass [Amherst] as the financial institution for employees there. Since then, we’ve grown much larger. We have over 40,000 members, a lot of them right here up and down the Interstate-91 corridor,” Boivin said. “We have six branches and a full-service contact center. We’re really here to help anyone with their financial needs. We have checking accounts, all sorts of loans, mortgages, we do financial investment services, insurance…We’re trying to be a one-stop shop for folks and helping people empower themselves and their financial lives.”
Boivin encouraged anyone with spare winter clothing to give back to their community and donate.
“Regardless of whether you have a banking relationship with us or not, go through your closet, take a look, see if you have anything you’d be willing to donate and stop by a branch; again, it could be new or lightly used. We invite our community to help give back to our neighbors in need this holiday season,” Boivin said.