Letter: Berkshire Community Action Council Rumors Hurt Fundraising Efforts

To the Editor:

Most of you are familiar with BCAC. We are the federally designated anti-poverty agency for Berkshire County, serving nearly 12,000 families each year. We work hard to maintain the trust and respect of the communities we serve.

Overseen by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, we are required to comply each year with a rigorous 78 performance standards which govern all aspects of our organization. Proudly, we can boast that we are consistently 100 percent compliant with these standards which range from our community involvement, our transparency in reporting, our administration of programs, our financial accountability and much more. This positions us as one of the best run agencies in the commonwealth. Furthermore, as part of these standards, we are required to survey the community each year to assess satisfaction with our services.

This year, as in years past, we received an overwhelmingly positive response from our community. We just closed our online survey. With 436 individuals responding, 96.7 percent of those surveyed reported that they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the services they received and for how families were treated. We pride ourselves on our accountability using less than 10 percent of our revenues each year to pay for administration.

Given this, we were shocked to hear that there are members of our community who are spreading untruthful accusations about our programs. We pride ourselves on the collaborative way we work with our partners in the community. We have always recognized that we can accomplish more when we work together. We have shared our resources with the community, not looking for recognition but for the sheer satisfaction of knowing that we are able to help close service gaps and serve more families in need of help. So, these rumors are not only hurtful but very damaging to our programming and reputation.

This year, donors have reported that they have heard these damaging rumors, and it is impacting our ability to raise funds to purchase the coats and boots for our Children's Warm Clothing program. I want to assure you that we administer our programs under the highest standards and always with the utmost respect for our families and their well-being. I am asking if anyone is concerned about rumors you have heard, to please contact me directly so that I can address these issues personally.

I can be reached at dleonczyk@bcacinc.org or call the office at 413-445-4503.

Deborah Leonczyk
Pittsfield, Mass. 

Truck Crashes Into Pittsfield's Samel's Deli

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
10:55AM / Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Elm Street will be partially closed as cleanup continues. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Wednesday morning was busy for Pittsfield first responders, as a pickup truck crashed into Samel's Deli & Catering and a fire broke out on First Street.

Around 9:45 a.m., the police reported that the street in front of Samel's Deli & Catering would be closed or down to one lane as a result of a two-car collision that sent the truck careening into the deli.

The department posted two photos on Facebook, one depicting the silver truck with New York license plates crashed through the glass of the front entrance and another of a white Honda CR-V with significant damage to the front end.

"A vehicle was coming out of one of the alleyways here and struck this truck, which continued into the building," Police Officer Craig Jones explained when iBerkshires arrived on the scene.

Jones reported that there was one injury, but not whether it was someone in the vehicles or in the deli. A crossing signal near Samel's front entrance was also taken out by the truck.

Around this time, crews worked to clear debris in front of the restaurant as the truck was towed away. That section of the road reopened around 11 a.m.

The police, firefighters and an ambulance responded to the accident and police intend to release a statement on the incident.

Around 6:15 a.m., the Fire Department reported that it had responded to a possible structure fire at 233-235 First St. Windows on all three floors of the multi-family building are now broken or boarded up and the cause is under investigation by the Fire Investigation Unit and investigators from the State Fire Marshal's Office.