September 13, 2010

Photo Finish From Sept. 13, 2010 Issue of the WBJ

Southbridge Savings Bank is donating $3,500 over the next three years to Worcester Community Action Council Inc. The money will help fund a program that matches the savings of low-income Worcester area residents to help them buy a home, pay for college or start a business. Pictured, from left to right: Priscilla Holmes, deputy director of WCAC; Brian Chandley, Southbridge Savings vice president and director of commercial lending and services, and Jill Dagilis, executive director of WCAC.

More than 100 volunteers helped out at Seven Hills Charter School in Worcester as part of Fidelity Investments' Transformation Day. The event sent volunteers from Fidelity to 11 middle schools around the country. Pictured, Jack Cerney, 13, and his mother, Fidelity Investments employee Jennifer Cerney, work on a cabinet with the help of a Boston Cares carpenter.

Webster First Federal Credit Union has given $2,000 to Worcester-based nonprofit Y.O.U. Inc. The group provides child welfare and behavioral health services to children and families in Worcester County. Pictured, from left to right: Marilyn Rivera, a staff member with Y.O.U. Inc.; Upward Program participants Tracy Nguyen and Frank Ansah and Maurice Boisvert, president and CEO of Y.O.U. Inc.

Leominster Credit Union recently partnered with Worcester's African Community Education Center to help young people learn about finances. LCU's financial literacy officer, Ingrid Adade, taught a six-week program to middle school students who came to the area from Africa. In many cases, the students had been living in refugee camps. The program offered information about budgeting, saving money and using a checking account, as well as job-search skills like resume writing and interviewing. Pictured: Adade offers a high five to a student.

The Framingham Co-operative Bank Charitable Foundation has donated $10,000 for programs at the Boys & Girls Clubs of MetroWest Pearl Street Clubhouse in Framingham. The clubhouse serves children ages six to 17, with an average of 125 children taking part in club programs each day. Pictured, from left to right, Francis X. Hurley, president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of MetroWest, and Mark R. Haranas, president of Framingham Co-operative Bank, join Pearl Street Clubhouse members at a foosball table.