Teddy Bear Toss
2025-12-05 17:40 - 18:40 (America/New_York)
Anna Maria College will be hosting a toy drive at their girl’s ice hockey game on December 5th.
All toys donated will be given to Gandara’s ICC program to distribute to families in need.

Carol Rivest Memorial Foundation Fundraiser
2025-12-06 16:00 - 20:00
The Carol Rivest Memorial Foundation is embracing the holiday spirit and supporting survivors with their Holiday Fundraiser. Donations assist area domestic violence agencies, including Alianza.

Hot Chocolate Run
2025-12-07 08:00 - 12:00
Sign up to run, walk, or volunteer on December 7th! Then, share your fundraising page with family and friends to create year-round support for survivors of domestic violence.

Join us for a great time for a great cause!

Woodwind Ensemble
2025-12-07 10:00 - 11:15
December 7th: BHMA Woodwind Ensemble at St. Paul’s Unitarian Universalist Church in Palmer 10:00-11:15am.

Shop Small Give Big
2025-12-08 16:40 - 19:30
Not sure what to gift? Is it difficult to find local products to gift this holiday season?
We’ve got your solution! Download Your FREE holiday gift guide by Feel Good Shop Local and get inspired with all the amazing locally made and curated gift ideas for loved ones, friends, coworkers and more!

Use code EMWA10 at checkout and 10% donation comes to Each Moment We’re Alive

Shop ONLINE or Join IN PERSON
for the Annual Holiday SIP & SHOP
Monday, December 8 4:40 – 7:30 PM
Mercedes-Benz of Springfield

CHD Cancer House of Hope Luminaria
2025-12-08 17:00 - 19:00
This holiday season, we invite you to join us for a special evening of remembrance, celebration, and hope, as we honor loved ones whose lives have been touched by cancer—whether they are being remembered, currently in treatment, or in remission and recovery.
Join us on December 8 as 1,000 luminaries are lit in their honor, creating a beautiful, glowing tribute that reflects the love, strength, and resilience of our community.
Luminaria will be open to the public and on display from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Event parking is available at the Senior Center located at 128 Park Street, West Springfield.
December 8, 2025

5:00 p.m. – Lighting Ceremony
West Springfield Town Common

Be part of this meaningful tradition and help shine a light for those affected by cancer.
*Inclement weather date will be December 9.
Buy Your Luminaries
Luminaries can be purchased with a personalized dedication to your loved one(s) for $10. Click here to purchase luminaries.

The deadline to purchase luminaries online is Thursday, December 4 at midnight.
Click here to download the Luminary Order Form. The deadline for sending us the order form and check is Friday, December 5.
You will be able to purchase luminaries on the day of the event.

By participating on December 8, you are making a significant impact in the lives of people right here in our community receive free cancer support services including counseling, support groups, relaxation, and wellness therapies, including oncology-certified massage, Reiki, yoga, art therapy, a wig boutique, and post-mastectomy bra fittings – all from a place where they are offered friendship, connection, and support, at no cost to them.

Legislators & Cookies
2025-12-09 10:00 - 11:30
It’s the perfect winter bake-ation!

Tuesday, December 9th | 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM IN PERSON: Hadley Public Library
Wrap up 2025 with a sweet and strategic COSA meeting!
Join us in person at the Hadley Public Library for an informative session on nonprofit legislative advocacy. This is your chance to learn the ins and outs of effectively engaging with state and federal legislative offices.

What you’ll gain:

A peek into the general timeline and key actions for the legislative year.

Expert advice on how and when to advocate for essential legislation and budget line items.

A direct Q&A opportunity with legislators and/or their staff.

Time to network and catch up with your nonprofit and social service colleagues from all across the Valley.

Sweeten the Deal: Please bring a batch of your favorite cookies to share! Light refreshments will also be provided.

Confirmed presenters include:

State Senator Jo Comerford – Hampshire, Franklin, Worcester District

State Representative Homar Gómez – 2nd Hampshire District

State Representative Lindsay Sabadosa – 1st Hampshire District

Lily Stowe-Alekman, Staff Director for the Office of State Representative Mindy Domb – 3rd Hampshire District

Mindful Holidays: Navigating the Season
2025-12-09 18:00 - 19:30
Mindful Holidays Navigating the Season: Prioritizing Your Well-Being During the Holidays

Tue, Dec 09
Navigating the Season: Prioritizing Your Well-Being During the Holidays A supportive and insightful event designed to help you embrace the joy of the holidays while protecting your health and peace of mind.

Toy Drive to Benefit SquareOne
2025-12-10 08:00 - 17:00
FITNESS FIRST CALLING ALL TOYS!!!!!!!! There is no better way to work your heart muscle than giving to others! Be sure to donate a toy Now – December 17 by our Christmas Tree (near the front desk). Each year our goal is to donate over 200+ toys to Square One! We have a long way to go, and we need your help! Donate. Donate. Donate. Donate. Every child deserves a special toy during the holiday season!

Winter Session Registration Open
2025-12-10 08:00 - 17:00
Registration for our winter session is officially open! Classes start Jan. 6 and run until Feb. 28. View the full class catalog and register: https://hubs.la/Q03VsSwQ0

These social and recreational classes are open to people of ALL abilities, from age 3 through adulthood, with a focus on making them inclusive and accessible for everyone. Classes include interests like performing arts, gaming, movement, and more. All age ranges are suggestions.

Winter membership also gets you FREE entry to our special event nights. This session we have a Holiday Party, Movie Night, and Pal-entine’s Karaoke Party (all are open to the public/non-members for $10 each).

Pioneer Valley Habitat For Humanity - 2025 Gingerbread Build - build at home!
2025-12-11 10:00 - 16:00 | Online Event, MA, United States
Welcome to the 13th annual Gingerbread Build, a week-long build-at-home event with a public award ceremony! By building small (gingerbread) homes from the comfort of YOUR home, you’re supporting the construction of real homes with low income families in Hampshire & Franklin counties.
There are also two fundraising awards for the team that raises the most money and the team with the greatest number of donors. Generous donors will match all team fundraising dollars 1:1 up to $6,000. Last year, teams and matching dollars totaled over $10,000; you and your team can help grow that number this year!
Other important event details:
– For a donation of $100, register your team by Thursday December 4th.
– Gingerbread kits will be available on distribution day, Saturday December 6th. We will supply the six gingerbread house walls and roof pieces and a bag of frosting mortar, you add any other building materials you wish.
– You must use all six pieces of gingerbread we supply to be entered in the contest. Your team’s collective imagination is the only limit when it comes to decorating your masterpiece.
– Submit 3 photos to gingerbread@pvhabitat.org by midnight Thursday December 11th. Include your team name in the submission photos but no personal information (photos will be posted on Facebook).
– There will be a public zoom award ceremony on Saturday December 13th – RSVP today! Esteemed celebrity judges will host and award prizes in each of the categories listed above

Public Policy Forum - Elizabeth LaMontagne
2025-12-11 14:00 - 15:00
Please join MNN to hear from Elizabeth LaMontagne, Chief Operating Officer of MassHealth within the Executive Office of Health & Human Services, to learn about the new federal work requirements for Medicaid, particularly as they relate to working with nonprofits, as well as other changes to MassHealth resulting from H.R.1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”.

Elizabeth LaMontagne oversees Medicaid eligibility policy and implementation, daily enrollment operations, and the rollout of major system initiatives and policy changes. MassHealth, the state’s combined Medicaid and CHIP program, provides health coverage to approximately two million Massachusetts residents.

Thursday, December 11, 2025

2:00-3:00 PM
Online

Cost: FREE to MNN Members, $20 for Nonmembers (learn more about MNN membership here)

You will receive a link to the Zoom meeting before the event. A recording will be shared after the program.

Catchafire and Resource Sharing
2025-12-16 09:00 - 11:00
We’re thrilled to share that The Beveridge Foundation, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, and the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation are continuing to make Catchafire available to HSF members—at no cost! Together, our members have already unlocked more than $1.59 million worth of support and services—absolutely free.
HSF Executive Director Becca Coolong will show you just how easy it is to tap into this incredible resource. Catchafire isn’t just for senior leaders—it’s designed to empower everyone in our community.
After the Catchafire hour, Becca will highlight some of the most useful resources we’ve discovered, and we invite you to share the tools and supports that have been most valuable to you. Let’s learn from one another and keep building stronger connections!

This is a virtual event
Attend 1 or both sessions
Catchafire hour 9:00am – 10:00am
Resource Sharing Hour 10:00am – 11:00am

HSF Annual Sponsors:

Classical Ensemble
2025-12-18 13:00 - 14:00
December 18th: Classical Ensemble at the Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge MA 1:00pm

Meeting People Where They Are to Prevent Overdose
2025-12-18 14:30 - 15:30
Join us for a lively conversation about The Archway Program or TAP. Funded in September 2025, this one-year effort is designed to prevent fatal overdoses among those who are unhoused through mobile outreach efforts in rural Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region. Moderated by Kristen Cuddy-Pease, Program Associate and TAP Program Manager of the Opioid Task Force, TAP partners such as the Community Health Center of Franklin County, the North Quabbin Community Coalition/North Quabbin Recovery Center, Tapestry, and the Wildflower Alliance, will share information about their activities to serve those living in the rough. This is part of the 2025-2026 CONNECT Education & Training Series. For more information, please contact Nicole St. Hilaire, Outreach Manager for CONNECT, Opioid Task Force at nicole@opioidtaskforce.org.

Winter Solstice Celebration
2025-12-20 18:00 - 21:00

South End Community Center Holiday Programming
2025-12-22 08:00 - 17:00
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Home Dedication
2025-12-22 13:30 - 15:30
HOLYOKE – Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity (GSHFH) will host a dedication celebrating the completion of its newest home and the collaboration that made it all possible.
GSHFH partnered with Holyoke Housing Authority (HHA) and the University of Massachusetts (UMass) DesignBuild program to make one local couple’s dream come true. HHA donated a plot of land on Chestnut Street. Greater Springfield Habitat prepared the site and built the foundation. UMass DesignBuild professors and students designed and constructed the modular home, and oversaw delivery to the Holyoke site. GSHFH will soon sell the new home to Pedro and his wife Damaris, longtime Holyoke residents.
“This is a great collaboration to give the students practical, hands-on experience, and for Habitat to provide a home to a family that might not have qualified for one of our traditionally built homes,” said Aimee Giroux, GSHFH executive director. “Family size is one of many factors taken into consideration when building our homes and partnering with the future buyer. There is a need for affordable housing to benefit a variety of family sizes; not everyone needs three or four bedrooms. This project helps us to be able to make that happen.”
The design of the 575-square-foot modular home emphasizes energy efficiency via highly-insulated and air-sealed exterior assemblies, triple-glazed windows, all-electric appliances/utilities, and low-embodied carbon building materials, such as wood fiber, hemp, and straw, said Ben Leinfelder, construction manager of this year’s DesignBuild project and an alumnus of the program.
The UMass DesignBuild team conceived the home in spring. Construction commenced in the summer and the house was delivered in November.
Pedro, who is retired, attended every info HHA session, and submitted the necessary forms two days after the application cycle opened. He and his wife currently live in a one-bedroom apartment and have complained about their unfriendly neighbors who they say makes their everyday life unenjoyable. Pedro and Damaris don’t have children together, but have a large blended family. Pedro has two daughters from a previous relationship and seven grandchildren. Damaris has three children and five grandchildren.
GSHFH is a housing ministry dedicated to strengthening communities by empowering low-income families to change their lives and the lives of future generations through homeownership and home repair opportunities. This is accomplished by working in partnership with diverse people, from all walks of life, to build and repair simple, decent, affordable housing. Habitat’s mission to provide homeownership opportunities to low-income families is unique as it requires partner families to work alongside the community that is reaching out to help them. GSHFH has helped roughly 100 local families realize their dream of homeownership over the last 38 years.

Following the ceremony will be a tour of the house and a reception. Street parking is available.
For more information, contact Olga Callirgos, Homeowner Programs coordinator, at callirgos@habitatspringfield.org or (413) 739-5503 x1003.

South End Community Center Winter Basketball
2026-01-03 09:00 - 11:30

South End Community Center Discovery Zone
2026-01-05 08:00 - 17:00
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Building Resilience from Within
2026-01-07 11:00 - 11:45 | Online via Zoom
Our popular six-week virtual self-care series for caregivers and anyone experiencing heightened stress in their lives. Learn simple techniques to build core resilience, balance the nervous system and deepen a healthy connection to your body.
The free program takes place on Zoom, is open to all, and no experience is required. To ensure accessibility, all exercises can be done seated or standing and every session is recorded so participants can watch or rewatch at their convenience.
Prior to the first class, a Zoom link will be sent to everyone who registers.

Mind, Body and Spirit Wellness Group
2026-01-07 13:00 - 14:00

Voices, Visions & Unusual Beliefs Intensive Overview
2026-01-08 12:00 - 16:00
Online via Zoom
Thursday January 8th, 2026
12-4pm Eastern Time (11am-3pm Central, 10am-2pm Mountain, 9am-1pm Pacific)

Learn new ways of supporting people through the experience of hearing voices, seeing visions, or unusual beliefs.

One in 10 people will hear voices at some time during their adult lives, yet these experiences are still deeply marginalized in the modern day United States. About 80-90% of experiences are connected to life adversity, trauma and grief. Many experiences are also connected to cultural or spiritual factors.
This overview will provide an introduction to new ways of understanding and working with voices and visions, based on the Hearing Voices approach. Trainers will cover factors that can influence voice-hearing, and explore a range of coping strategies that experiencers use (beyond pharmaceutical interventions).

Peer Grief Support
2026-01-09 10:00 - 11:00
Direct Service Providers (DSPs) working in the overdose crisis experience trauma as well as individual and collective grief due to the loss of clients, coworkers, friends and community. SADOD (Support After Death by Overdose) DSP program was created out of a need to offer grief support to the workforce impacted by substance use loss/suicide. SADOD’s DSP programming serves the community of providers such as recovery coaches, harm reduction staff, nurses, residential, MOUD program staff and more, by way of providing free monthly peer grief support groups and workshops via zoom. SADOD’s DSP workshops are developed and facilitated by DSP peers, covering topics related to grief /loss & resiliency while providing peers an opportunity to discuss these topics in community.

SADOD also provides free peer grief services to the general community offering 1:1 peer grief support as well as specialty virtual and in person peer grief support groups. Learn about all of SADOD’s community peer grief services which may be supportive resources for your loved ones, co-workers/staff and communities you are working with who might be grieving. You will be provided with information on how the DSP program can work with your organization, as well as the referral processes for the 1:1 peer grief services for the general community.

The Odds Are Changing: Online Casino Gambling and the Rising Risk of Harm
2026-01-09 12:00
Online sports betting became legal in Massachusetts in 2023, and now the Legislature is considering a bill (H4431) to legalize internet casino gambling—also known as “iGambling” or “iGaming”. What would more options for 24/7 gambling mean to the public health of our communities? Speakers include Mark Gottlieb of Northeastern Law’s Public Health Advocacy Institute, Samantha Hamilton from PHIWM, Victor Ortiz from the MA Dept. of Public Health Office of Problem Gambling, and State Representative Lindsay Sabadosa. Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions during a live Q&A.

System Navigation Workshop
2026-01-09 15:30 - 17:00

First-time homebuyer workshop
2026-01-10 09:00 - 14:00
January 10 @ 9:00 am – 2:00 pm
$75

Become a certified first-time homebuyer with Way Finders! Learn from local real estate professionals about the homebuying process.
The course covers finding, financing, purchasing, and maintaining a home. Participants receive a certificate of completion that is necessary to access several down payment assistance programs and special mortgage products.
This is a two-part VIRTUAL workshop:
Saturdays, 9am-2pm
January 10 and 17
Cost of the workshop is $75 per household, nonrefundable.

COMMUNITY SYRINGE PICK UP - HOLYOKE
2026-01-10 10:00 - 12:00

Peer Grief Support: COSA
2026-01-13 10:00 - 11:00

Wisdom Circle For All
2026-01-14 10:00 - 12:00 | Zoom
How do you live in your Field of Peace during turbulent times? Wisdom Circle for All
Our training and consultation series prepares individuals, communities, and coalitions that are strengthening their transformative work towards healing and equity-based relationships in divisive times.
Come join our Wisdom Circle to cultivate a stronger sense of peace, possibility, healing and connection. You are invited to share space as we seek to meet one another in a field of peace and honesty.
Registration required.
