Nov. '25 News Blog
News briefs from the HCC campus and beyond
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Bank on It
It’s become tradition. On their annual 43-mile trek from Springfield to Greenfield to raise awareness about food insecurity and raise money for the Western Mass Food Bank, radio host Monte Belmonte and his fellow marchers swing by the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute for lunch. This year, on the first day of the 16th Annual March for Food Bank, waiting for them on tables along the sidewalk outside the Race Street facility were 130 white lunch bags filled with food prepared by HCC culinary arts students. On the menu: choice of chicken Caesar wrap or gluten-free veggie wrap, with a side of quinoa salad and gluten free chocolate for dessert. “Thank you for taking care of us,” said Belmonte, co-host of The Fabulous 413 news feature show on New England Public Media. Belmonte was dressed as Bert from Sesame Street, in support of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which had its funding cut earlier this year by the federal government. He grabbed a chicken Caesar wrap. Spotted among the marchers (and pictured above) were former HCC criminal justice professor Nicole Hendricks, now executive director of Western Mass CORE, and Ben Ostiguy, coordinator of the HCC Thrive Center and Food Pantry, which gets a lot of its products from the Western Mass Food Bank. THUMBNAIL: Radio host and march leader Monte Belmonte helps himself to a bagged lunch at the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute.
More to Give
HCC launched its 24th annual Giving Tree campaign on Nov. 6 with a few twists for this holiday season. The big one is that campaign organizers have added Itsy Bitsy Child Watch to the list of nonprofits the campaign has long supported through the years: Homework House, Access Community Partners (formerly WestMass ElderCare), the Massachusetts Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and the Holyoke Veterans Home (formerly the Soldiers’ Home). “Yes, Itsy Bitsy is a new one,” said Giving Tree campaign chair Michelle Vigneault, “and we’re pretty proud of that. All our organizations are located in Holyoke, but this one is ours, so it’s our students who are benefitting – and their children.” The committee also added a fourth Giving Tree this year outside of Office Services on the second floor of the Frost Building. The others are located in the third-floor lobby of the Frost Building, inside the HCC Library, and outside Student Engagement. “We added one outside Office Services because a lot of faculty members stop by there to pick up papers for their classes,” she said. “That one is doing very well this year.” There are still plenty of gift requests left to fulfill from the initial total of 320. The deadline to return the wrapped gifts is Dec. 11. Representatives from all the agencies will be on campus to receive their gifts at a closing celebration on Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 11 a.m. in Frost 309.
PHOTO: Student Senate President Jessica Heredia selects a Giving Tree tag.
Historic Season
They didn’t win the title, but the HCC women’s volleyball team closed a historic season with their first-ever trip to a national championship tournament. The Cougars lost to Finger Lakes Community College in the consolation bracket of the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Volleyball Championship on Nov. 14 after losing their opening game to the Dallas College Eastfield Harvester Bees, who won the tournament for the third consecutive year. “They’re still one of the top 16 teams in the country. That’s pretty good,” said Athletics Director Tom Stewart, who accompanied the team to Cedar Rapid, Iowa, for the three-day tournament. “The trip was a great experience for the team and a great experience for the players. Some of our kids had never been on a plane before. But that’s the epitome of what HCC is all about – giving opportunities to kids who might not get them elsewhere.” The Cougars got to Cedar Rapids after compiling a record of 19 and 6, losing only two games to regional opponents on the way to winning the Division III New England Championship. Four players are expected to be announced as members of the NCJAA All-New England team, and seven athletes can return to play in 2026.
