Last year I participated in the Food Bank's annual Will Bike 4 Food on Team Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity.  The event raised over $221,000 and I had a fantastic time biking with old friends and new.  Sadly, my fundraising effort was anemic.  This year I want to dedicate myself more seriously to the challenge of fundraising because the funds,... the money,... the dough... is needed more than ever.

One in six households in western Massachusetts depends on SNAP benefits. With the Trump administration taking a hacksaw to SNAP, the Food Bank is under pressure to make up the difference in nutritional support for many households around us. We have to step up the effort to fight hunger by providing the Food Bank with the resources they need to plan for the coming winter months.

And as an architect I have been deeply engaged in affordable housing production for several years now.  Our firm, Jones Whitsett Architects, donates time, labor and services to PVHH not just to seed financially independent first time homeownership, but also to remind ourselves as building professionals that shelter is a human right that need not be complicated.

So here we go!  A single day of biking and five weeks of fundraising. I've set a goal for us (you and me!) of raising $1000. I've lived in the Valley for 25 years. How hard can this be? Surely my friends can help me reach this goal. Think of it as me biking for the both of us! Donate something to make this is more than a symbolic gesture.

Thank you for being part of my Valley.

Dorrie