UPCOMING EVENTS:
BelchertownCAN! will again be sending a team to the Jimmy Fund Putt-A-Thon. Please consider joining our team or pledging to help support the Jimmy Fund’s great cause! The event will be held on Friday, May 18th at Evergreene Mini-Golf on Route 9 in Belchertown, and our team will be teeing off at 6:00PM. Each team member is asked to raise at least $100 in pledges and will receive complementary hot dogs and ice cream during the event, as well as a T-shirt to remember the event! If you’d like to join or support our team, please call Gail at 323-4489 or send an email to glgramarossa@charter.net.
PAST EVENTS
4TH ANNUAL COMMUNITY GIVE-IN
BelchertownCAN! held the fourth annual community give-in event at Town Hall on January 21, 2012. Once again, the community rallied together to support the needs of our friends and neighbors in need. Please remember that the need for food, pet food, and personal care items is on-going, and you can donate to our collection bins near the Customer Service counter at Stop n’ Shop anytime.
SECOND ANNUAL SHOWCASE EVENT
BelchertownCAN! sponsored the third annual Showcase Belchertown event this summer on the town common. This year’s event was held in conjunction with the town’s 250th Anniversary Picnic. There were many local businesses and community service organizations in attendance. Visitors to the showcase enjoyed the entertainment, as well as the horse drawn carriage rides provided by Blue Star Equiculture. At this second successful event residents of all ages were able to enjoy the picnic while sampling and learning about the many services available in our own backyard!
THIRD ANNUAL COMMUNITY GIVE-IN
BelchertownCAN! held it’s annual Community Give-In food drive on January 23rd and 29th 2011. This event is the one that started it all and has evolved to be bigger and better each year. Residents and business owners once again came out in full force to support CAN!’s efforts to collect a mountain of food a monetary donations to support the local food pantries. Please see our thanks page for the businesses that have helped with our events. This could not have happened without their efforts, and many hours of hard work from so many volunteers. Again, a special thank you goes out to Stop ‘n Shop, which houses a year round food collection bin to support our ongoing efforts!
JIMMY FUND PUTT-A-THON
On May 15th 2010, seven BelchertownCAN! members participated in the annual putt-a-thon here in town. The team, shown below, raised over $800 for the Jimmy Fund.
EARTH DAY ACTIVITIES!
During the week of Earth Day 2009, BelchertownCAN! members participated in several events around town to clean up Belchertown and keep it beautiful. Many community members worked together to renovate the Austin-Gaughan Memorial Softball Field on George Hannum Street. Later in the week, CAN! members joined the Belchertown Conservation Commission to clean up Piper Farm, a sixty-eight acre parcel of land that extends from Maple St. to Springfield Rd. We hope you can get out to enjoy these and many other recreational areas the town has to offer. CAN! members also helped around their own neighborhoods to pick up roadside litter.
COMMUNITY GIVE-IN!
Our inaugural event took place on January 24th at Lawrence Memorial Hall. Together with residents, public officials, and local businesses, BelchertownCAN! raised over 5000 pounds of non-perishable food donations to fill our local food pantries! Our second Give-In held during January of 2010 was even bigger and better, raising over 8,400 pounds of food and supplies for those in need in our community and surrounding towns.
Our Photo Albums
2010 Events
2009 Events
PAST EVENTS CONTINUED:
POINSETTIA BALL
A great thank you goes out to the Belchertown Chapter of the Granby Regional Horse Council for hosting the first annual Poinsettia Ball. Held on a snowy evening in December, this event was a great way to ring in the holidays and bring members of local communities together for a night of celebration. A generous portion of the proceeds from the event was put towards CAN!’s 2010 food drive, specifically benefiting pets and animals of those in need. We look forward to participating in next year’s event.
BELCHERTOWN WOMEN’S BRUNCH
Many thanks to the participants in a recent women’s networking brunch held at the Grapevine Grill. The event raised money for CAN’s efforts, and we hope to participate in future networking events as well.
BELCHERTOWN CROP WALK
BelchertownCAN! members participated in and donated over $300 to the local CROP Walk efforts on a cold, rainy October day. It was great to see so many people from the community brave the elements to help fight hunger locally and worldwide.
BELCHERTOWN FAIR
BelchertownCAN! members were out at the fair, participating in the parade, promoting the PVTA shuttle, and encouraging people to give us their input via the survey page on this site. We hope you got out to enjoy the fair and “dance with the steers”! If you haven’t yet, please check out the survey page and take a few minutes to give us your input. Photos coming soon!
AMHERST SURVIVAL CENTER FURNITURE DRIVE
On Saturday August 29th 2009, BelchertownCAN! members and friends collected truckloads (and horse trailers and vans) full of furniture donations from residents to donate to the Amherst Survival Center’s annual furniture sale. The money gained from this sale provided for over 10% of the center’s annual budget, which translates into needed food, clothing, and medicine for families in the surrounding area. Thank you to all those who donated to the drive and those who braved the rain to collect and move all of those donations!
SHOWCASE BELCHERTOWN:
The first annual Showcase Belchertown was held on the Town Common on Saturday June 20, 2009. The event was a sampling of all that Belchertown has to offer, including small businesses, social service groups, and green technology. The showcase included vendors, demonstrations, horse-drawn carriage rides, a hybrid car show, food, activities for kids, musicians, performers, and a DJ! We’d like to thank everyone who came out to the common to support our town and its businesses. The showcase was a great success, and we hope you are looking forward to an even bigger and better event next year! Special thanks to all of our participants, listed on the Thanks page.
