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Open Drop-In

Berkshire Food Project

The Berkshire Food Project (BFP) was started by Williams College students in 1987. They recognized that there had been a shift in the region from a industrial to a service economy, resulting in unemployment and under-employment. Many young people left the North Adams area in search of jobs, leaving older family members in the community who lacked the job skills which emerging technological firms would require.

The Berkshire Food Project seeks to alleviate hunger, food insecurity, and social isolation by serving healthy, no cost meals and connecting people to other resources, all in a dignified and respectful manner. We seek to alleviate need that has grown even in periods of economic expansion nationally. We seek to provide a forum to facilitate unselfconscious interaction among disparate segments of the population. And we seek to provide information helpful to our customers. We invite relevant social service agencies and experts to address lunch gatherings on such varied issues as tenants’ rights, voting registration, programs for the elderly, public assistance, child and health care, Social Security, and nutrition. We also seek to share information about food insecurity with our community to foster a greater understanding of the issues in our community and the barriers that can prevent people from accessing resources.

Volunteers join the staff of the BFP and help prepare, serve and enjoy lunch with members of the community. Help is appreciated between 8:30am-2:00pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. There are also opportunities for groups to volunteer in the evening or on weekends for special projects. Students can either fill out the online application or contact BFP directly.

First Congregational Church
134 Main Street
PO Box 651
North Adams, MA 01247
413-664-7378
berkshirefoodproject.org
[email protected]

Berkshire Translation Project

This group is inactive as of the 2023-24 academic year.

Student Leader: Chen Chen Huang (ch15) & Catherine Chen (cc22)
Faculty/Staff Advisor: Luana Maroja

The Berkshire Translation Project seeks to provide a free translation service of simple documents (mostly of legal nature) for the immigrant community, in order to lower the financial barriers to immigration. However, with translation also comes community, connection, and responsibility. Therefore, the translation project will also provide opportunity for students of various cultural and linguistic backgrounds to use their abilities to help the immigrant community, while practicing and improving their language skills, and learning about the immigration system of the United States.

Black Student Union

Student Leaders: Tyler Smith (tcs3) & Sam Samuels (ss45)
Faculty/Staff Advisor: Bilal Ansari

The BSU is an organization that serves the Black-identifying and allied students at Williams through the consistent hosting of cultural, social, political, academic, and other events throughout the year. The goal of hosting all these events is to create and maintain community, networks of support, pass on our institutional history, and ultimately serve the needs of Black students during their time here.

Disabled Student Union

Student Leaders: Rayne Hovey (jkh3) & Skyla Lumbard (sel7)
Faculty/Staff Advisor: Ash Bell

The purpose of Disabled Student Union is to support disabled people, especially disabled Williams students. It provides a place for the disabled community, accessible outreach, and self-advocacy.

Education Outreach

For 20+ years, Williams has partnered with our local educators to create hands-on programming that serve the needs of the children and their families in a host of Berkshire County schools in the areas of science, writing, mentoring, homework help and more. Currently, more than 350 students participate and serve in K-12 schools in paid and volunteer positions in Williamstown, Lanesborough, North Adams and Pittsfield. We welcome your involvement and ideas, and look forward to hearing from you! Please visit the Education Outreach section of our website for more information.

Eph Buddies

This group is currently inactive.

Student Leaders: Julianna Veira ([email protected]), Helena Barber ([email protected])
Faculty/Staff Adviser: Colin Ovitsky ([email protected])
Meeting Time/Place: Wednesdays

Eph Buddies was created to facilitate friendships between the students at Williams College and members of our community who have mental and physical disabilities. We strive to support these individuals, provide them with additional resources and activities, and create for them a greater sense of social belongingness in our community. Most of our work is with the United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) center and Berkshire Family & Individual Resources (BFAIR).

 

 

Habitat for Humanity

This group is currently inactive.

2013-2014 Group Head: Ivan Badinski, [email protected]

Williams Habitat organizes bi-weekly trips to Habitat for Humanity project sites in the Berkshires. Student volunteers provide help with the construction of low-income housing for residents of the area. Given the general lack of affordable housing in the surrounding region and the severe shortage of volunteer labor for these sites, the help of Williams students is essential in improving the lives of Berkshires residents.  Aside from enriching our community on campus, we volunteer our Saturday mornings from 9am-12pm to help our community neighbors build a home for a deserving person in our community.  Participation is welcome on any Saturday that you are available with or without a weekly commitment.  For more information on our current project and what to wear when volunteering, please visit the Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity Build Update page at www.northberkshirehabitat.org/buildupdates.html.

InterFaith

Student Leaders: Giovanni DiRusso
Faculty/Staff Adviser: Seth Wax
Meeting Time/Place: Once a week 5:30-6:30 PM, Mission Dining Hall

InterFaith serves as a discussion group and mediating body for individuals and groups of various faith backgrounds and life philosophies on campus. We aim to provide a safe and intellectually engaging space for people of different worldviews to come together to discuss themes they may encounter form their different backgrounds. We also offer resources on and access to various forms of faith-based and faith-related community service and activism. Finally, we plan to collaborate with the Chaplain’s Office to facilitate discussion between various other groups of faith on campus.

Lehman Community Engagement

Student Leader: Eli Silverman (efs1)
Faculty/Staff Advisor: Ash Bell (ab35)

Lehman serves to promote, foster, and maintain a spirit of service on campus by organizing and supporting many different community-oriented service projects. Our biggest projects are our Fall and Spring Great Days of Service which engage the wider campus in many projects. We also host other smaller ongoing and pop-up projects including Winter Study Service Week, meal and clothing donations drives, and volunteering at local schools, senior homes, homeless shelters, hospitals, and farms.

Purple Bike Coalition

Student Leader: Hannah Jackson (hhj1)
Faculty/Staff Advisor: Sarah Gardner

We are a free bike repair and rental service serving Williams College students, faculty, and staff. Our goal is to make finding sustainable transportation and experiencing the joys of biking friendly, easy, and accessible.

RASAN (Rape and Sexual Assault Network)

Student Leaders: Kaiz Esmail (kpe2) & Meghan Keenan (mlk3)
Faculty/Staff Advisur: Allison Jasso

Williams College’s Rape and Sexual Assault Network (RASAN) is dedicated to the education of the College community about sexual violence. We advocate for policies that support sexual health and wellness and provide support to survivors of sexual violence. RASAN’s flagship services are our Appointment System and Training Program. RASAN also collaborates with various organizations throughout the year to sponsor events and workshops.

 

Senior Technology Tutoring

Student Leaders: Monika Bhaskar (mab13) & Abigail Vieira (aev3)
Faculty/Staff Advisor: Ash Bell

Senior Technology Tutoring is an intergenerational program that brings seniors and college students together, all the while helping bridge the technology gap that can exist between generations. Each week after classes, a group of students will spend about an hour with seniors. Each student tutor will work one-on-one with a senior. In this hour, students will assist seniors with navigating the various features of their own technology devices such as helping them simply set up their Home Screen or applying for a job at the local grocery store. This program will not only allow seniors to gain confidence with their technology, but also create an intergenerational community between students and seniors.

Williams College Jewish Association

Student Leaders: Molly Fraser (mrf2) & Emily Cohen (emc4)
Faculty/Staff Advisor: Seth Wax

The mission of the Williams College Jewish Association is to provide support for the religious and cultural Jewish community on campus; to provide the resources essential for each Jewish student to practice their religion in the way they desire; to maintain a physical space on campus where Jewish students feel at home; to provide a diverse and vibrant social scene for Jewish students and their friends; to practice Tzedakah, the Jewish obligation to advocate for and support charitable and righteous causes; to provide an opportunity for students of all faith traditions to be a part of Jewish culture on campus; and to be guided by the principles and values of Judaism.

Williams Outing Club

Student Leaders: Isabel Albores (isa2) & Mila Nazarali (msn2)
Faculty/Staff Advisor: Scott Lewis

Williams Outing Club (WOC), through the efforts of its volunteer student leadership and Faculty Director stimulates participation in and appreciation for outdoor activities. In so doing, WOC will further an ideal of college education, develop personal initiative and leadership, promote skills in outdoor recreation, educate itself and the college communities about environmental conservation, seek new opportunities for outreach, and encourage the meeting of people of common interests.

Williams Secular Community

Student Leaders: Coly Elhai ([email protected])
Faculty/Staff Adviser: Colin Adams
Meeting Time/Place: Tuesdays 6 PM, Paresky

The purpose of the group is to build an inclusive community of agnostics, atheists, and all skeptics to socialize and connect in a variety of ways. We also aim to create a safe, non-religious space for anyone to engage in fulfilling discussions of their personal lives, current events, religion, life philosophy, or anything else. We do this through regular dinners and discussions that are open to everyone.

WRAPS

Student Leaders: Bekah Lindsay (ral2) & Charlotte Luke (cel3)
Faculty/Staff Advisor: Colin Ovitsky

WRAPS works at the intersection of food insecurity and food waste, employing a two-part model that connects the Williams College campus with the North Adams community. WRAPS packages excess dining hall food into meals that are then distributed to local organizations in North Adams while working to expand our impact through collaboration with on-campus and community partners.