Berkshire Bounty Receives Grants from Local Organizations

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. – Berkshire Bounty has announced the receipt of several grants from local organizations, including Fallon Health’s Community Impact Grants program, the Mabel Louise Riley Foundation, Greylock Federal Credit Union, and the Josephine and Louise Crane Family Foundation.

The funding will support Berkshire Bounty’s operations and its Food Purchase Program, aimed at addressing food insecurity in the region. Greylock Federal Credit Union’s Senior Vice President, JamieEllen Moncecchi, expressed pride in supporting the organization, highlighting its efforts to improve food access through partnerships with emergency food sites and the Berkshire Mobile Farmers Market.

Cheryl Schmaltz, Community Engagement Manager at Fallon Health, emphasized the importance of the grant in expanding access to healthy and culturally inclusive food, especially in rural areas like the Berkshires.

Berkshire Bounty co-founders Mark Lefenfeld and Jay Weintraub thanked the supporters for the critical funding, which will aid both daily operations and the Food Purchase Program, enabling the distribution of more food to local emergency food sites.

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King and Confidantes Debate Hope and Change in 'American Five'

By Alan PetrucelliSpecial to iBerkshires
STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — Fiction and fact meld in the regional premiere of "The American Five," now playing at the Larry Vaber Stage of the Unicorn Theatre. 
 
The play takes a fictionalized look at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his four closest confidants in the months leading up to the famed March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. The quintet, through differing opinions, animated arguments, constant threats of violence and a late-night meal featuring challah bread and wine, become a family as they prepare for the history-making march that galvanized the Civil Rights movement.
 
Most of us know the King saga. It's the second act in which playwright Chess Jakobs' genius shines. Prejudice runs rampant here: Is Stanley Levison, a Jewish lawyer from New York who shows up in Montgomery to join the fight for racial equality and "to repair the world," viewed as white? Jewish? Both? And march strategist and organizer Bayard Rustin experiences his own fight for civil rights because of his homosexuality. Here, Jakob explores prejudice on different levels.
 
The cast is top-notch with many emotional highs. As King, Rashun Carter (who would look more like his character if he had a full moustache) and Sydney Elisabeth (as Coretta Scott King) are at their best during a scene that bounces between humor and poignancy. 
 
She questions her husband about his meeting with President John F. Kennedy; he is angry and refuses to discuss it. "There is no 'you' out there, without a 'me,' in here," she says, leading King to agree that because of her self-worth and unwavering devotion to him, she is "Coretta Scott Queen."
 
As Clarence Jones, King's personal counsel, Brett Diggs has assurance and dignity; Harry Smith's portrayal of lawyer Stanley Levison, is nothing short of extraordinary. Destan Owens' performance as gay Bayard Rustin is the play's most outstanding performance as he defends his relations with men: "You don't get to judge me!" he tells King. "I'm just trying to find love."
 
"The American Five" is tightly directed by Gerry McIntyre; the historic period projections and footage/designed by Alex Hill remind people that there are dreams, such as hope and change, that are still being fought.
 
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