Hello Everyone,
We hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing week spent with friends and family!
This week, the Hampden and Hampshire District was full of holiday cheer as several organizations and municipalities received grant funding! This includes grants from MassDOT’s Municipal Pavement Program for the Town of Agawam and the City of Westfield to improve Routes 10, 57, 75, and 202. West Springfield was also awarded $850,000 in funding from the Community Development Block Grant to help with a water main replacement on West School Street and Willard Avenue.
In Holyoke and Chicopee, two organizations were each awarded grant funding from the Inclusive and Accessible Outdoor Recreation Grant program! Western Mass Wheelers will be expanding their program to the Chicopee Memorial State Park to provide local seniors in assisted living and adult day programs the opportunity to safely enjoy the outdoors. This winter and spring, eight special event days will be held for Holyoke residents to explore hiking trails throughout the Pioneer Valley, with costs for transportation and hiking gear covered by this grant!
Team Velis is always happy to provide support to local organizations and municipalities in the grant application process. Please never hesitate to reach out to our office if we can provide assistance to your organization by gathering information about our state’s many different grant opportunities!
Speaking of holiday cheer, this week Team Velis was able to send thoughtful holiday cards made by local youth to Senator Velis. As the Senator and other members of the Massachusetts National Guard spend the holidays away from home due to their deployment these holiday cards absolutely brought them all some joy, reminding them of the unwavering support and gratitude back here at home!
This week Team Velis took some time to celebrate the holidays with our families. Whether you celebrated the final night of Hannukah, Christmas Day, or the beginning of Kwanza this week, we hope you all had a wonderful and joyous holiday!
As a reminder some of our regularly scheduled office hours were moved around this month to accommodate the holidays, as a result there will be no office hours next week. If you are in need of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our office by email, john.velis@masenate.gov, by phone, (413) 572-3920, or you can find us online at senatorjohnvelis.com.
Happy New Year!
Team Velis