Friends of the Foundation: Jocelyn Alvord, Shelburne Falls Branch Manager and Officer for Greenfield Savings Bank

Greenfield Savings Bank proudly supports the Mary Lyon Foundation and promotes its vision and mission to advance and invest in the success of local students and prepare them for the wider world. This vital work focuses primarily on the Mohawk Trail Regional School District in Franklin County. In recent years, GSB sponsored the Mary Lyon Foundation’s Community Spelling Bee, which, among other services, helped fund mini-grants that were awarded for inspiring grassroots learning at all age levels.

“Last year, just as the pandemic slowed, the Foundation’s Executive Director, Kristen Tillona-Baker, approached me to see if we would want to be a charter supporter of their new Adopt-A-Family Program,” said Shelburne Falls Branch Manager and Officer Jocelyn Alvord. “This was my first opportunity as Branch Manager to get involved with this great organization.”

Jocelyn continued, “Working at Greenfield Savings Bank, we empower Care, Connection, and Community; our work with the Adopt-A-Family Program is a natural fit for these core values.”

“During the holidays, the Adopt-A-Family Program ensures every child in our community can have a gift under their tree. From early November to mid-December, you’ll find a special Christmas tree in our lobby at our Shelburne Falls Office on Bridge Street. It’s decorated with tags identifying the age and gender of a local child and specifies one gift they need and one gift they want. This is open to the public, so anyone can stop by the Branch and take a tag to “adopt” a local family and help brighten their child’s holiday. This season we delivered 73 gifts to children in our community!”

“I have volunteered for many nonprofits, but the Mary Lyon Foundation is very close to my heart,” said Alvord. “My two sisters and I were raised by a single mother who worked tirelessly to support us. Some years were tougher than others, and it was programs like those at the Mary Lyon Foundation that were able to provide my family with a little extra joy on Christmas morning. Returning the kindness once shown to me as a child inspires me to stay involved with the Foundation.”

Every family that the Mary Lyon Foundation helps is a family that lives right here in our community. Getting involved gives local families a brighter holiday with gifts under the Christmas tree. This generosity translates into giving local children an equal opportunity to succeed. Having benefitted from that same generosity herself, Alvord noted, “Now more than ever, we need to support each other and the community we live in.”