The Springfield Rotary Club recognizes Bob Bolduc with a Paul Harris Award
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Every year, the Springfield Rotary Club awards a local community member who exemplifies their values focused on education, health, and economic upward mobility.
This year, they chose 81-year-old Bob Bolduc. Bolduc started the Pride chain of gas stations and convenience stores. He was also involved in non-profits like the Springfield Symphony and CHD.After selling Pride in 2021, his family decided to concentrate on the needs in the area.They created the Hope for Youth and Families Foundation to help middle school students with literacy. Bolduc told 22News he hopes this award encourages others to give back.
'They know the satisfaction you get by helping others, and for those who are not involved now. I would encourage them to do so because you get a lot out of it. You help others, and they help you,' said Bob Bolduc, 2025 Paul Harris Awardee.
During the Paul Harris Luncheon, grants were also awarded to 4 organizations for capital improvements. Each organization received $2,000 raised by the Springfield Rotary Club.
The club is hoping to raise more money for the Hope for Youth and Families Foundation. Donations can be made online: https://www.springfieldmarotary.org/
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
How LGBTQ+ job seekers can find more inclusive work cultures
Jobs keep growing as the US added 139,000 non-farm payroll positions in May, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.2% from last month. LinkedIn's latest Belonging Blueprint survey found that just over a third of LGBTQ+ workers feel comfortable being their full selves at their place of employment. LinkedIn Career Expert Andrew McCaskill joins Wealth to share his tips for LGBTQ+ job seekers to navigate the interview process and resources to research company cultures. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Wealth here. I also want to talk about a report that LinkedIn recently released, its belonging report and the belonging blueprint, finding that only 35% of LGBTQ+ professionals feel comfortable being their full selves at work. What were some of the findings here that really stuck out to you? So, a lot of the findings that stuck out were that LGBTQ+ professionals, they have a higher rate of turnover once they get into organizations, largely because the organization was not what they thought it was. So you may see a job description that looks very inclusive, the company looks really inclusive on paper. What we did with this belonging blueprint was saying, it's really important for you to know before you go. So here are the questions that you should ask, here are the culture cues that will help you identify safer spaces. Many people have felt like they've had to code switch, going into a safer space using some of these tools and tactics on the front end, like looking at our using the values-based matching filter on LinkedIn or looking at these company pages to see if they have employee resource groups. Also, phone a friend. Your network will tell you whether or not this is a safer place for someone from your community. Friends won't let their friends go and work at companies that are anti-LGBTQ+. The other piece of it is that the interview process and the offer letter process are also key opportunities for you to jump in and see what that process looks like. That's a great point. Yeah. You have tips, and you were starting to hit on some of these. For every step of the job seeking process, starting with the job search, how can we leverage and the community leverage some of these tools to make sure that they're going into an organization, which was, you were starting to touch on, that actually is supporting not just because it's the du jour. Yeah. Not just as Pride month, right? But because it's more in their long-term just value system that they have. Yeah. On the front end, looking at some of the indexes like the Human Rights Campaign, like trusted sources for members of the LGBTQ+ community to better understand what a company's culture is. The other thing is during the interview process, ask really smart questions. Even if you're not comfortable saying, "What's it like for an LGBTQ+ person here?" Look and see if like are the hiring managers or recruiters using pronouns. Maybe say, "Hey, I saw you have employee resource groups. Talk to me a little bit about what those look like and how you feel about them." Even just their reactions to you asking about that can give you some real clues. The other thing for LGBTQ+ people that I think is really important too is like, you may not always be able to say, "Oh, well, are there other queer people in leadership?" Because you can't look at people and tell. Is take a look at, are there members of other marginalized groups in leadership? A company that has women and people of color, or people who have disabilities in leadership probably also is a company that may have real commitments to inclusion, equitable hiring, and being able to places where people can thrive. The offer letter is a big deal. Yeah. We oftentimes look at the number and we're like, yay, we do the math. It's the off the offer letter benefits that are so important, because if a company on their off the order offer letter benefits, if the company has benefits for things like, um, family planning or family building support, or you may have only one stop on your gender journey, but if the company has gender affirming care, it's a good sign that they have other policies in place that will be highly inclusive. I'll add one more. Take a look at the companies that have had shareholder votes where those shareholders have voted down anti-DEI, which this also includes anti-DEI activist pushes where shareholders have actually pushed back against those to make sure that there are more opportunities to uphold these values as well. Yeah. Andrew, thanks so much for taking the time. Thanks, man. Appreciate it. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
SunRise Sweets in Chicopee holds grand opening
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the grand opening of a new ice cream shop in Chicopee Center. In a news release sent to 22News from the Chicopee Mayor's Office, the owner of SunRise Sweets opened the shop last Thursday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, with Mayor John Vieau and other elected officials in attendance. Here's where you can pick your own strawberries in Massachusetts In a Facebook post, the owner said, 'This little dream has grown from a kitchenette into something real and public. Yesterday, we opened our doors and shared what we've been creating for the last few months with all of you. Every milkshake, every bowl, every sticker, every detail was made with intention, joy, and so, so much love. Thank you to everyone who believed in this. Our childhood favorite (ice cream) has blossomed into so much more.' The shop serves milkshakes, sorbet bowls, and sundaes. According to their website, the most popular items are the acai bowl, mini banana split, strawberry cheesecake shake, and caramel cookie butter shake. SunRise Sweets is located at 28 Center Street in Chicopee and is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 12:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 12:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The owner says that their space is not your typical ice cream shop, and that they thrive on making customers feel joy through handwritten affirmations, and spreading encouragement and hope. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
13 hours ago
- New York Times
This Year's Pride Festivals Are Brought to You by Small Businesses
Last month, Ryan Jones, a small-business owner in San Francisco, found himself making an unexpected plea to fellow merchants. San Francisco Pride was in trouble and needed their help. Mr. Jones's business, a bakery called Hot Cookie, had never given money to the annual festival that celebrates L.G.B.T.Q. life. But when he heard that major companies like Comcast and Anheuser-Busch were not renewing their sponsorships, leaving a funding gap of more than $1 million, he felt compelled to act. 'I asked myself what I can do to support,' Mr. Jones said of the festival, which will be held June 28-29. One answer: He and his business partner pledged to donate 5 percent of sales from the bakery's most popular cookies to this year's event. Another: He would try to get other local businesses to do something similar. Across the country, Pride events are struggling. Big corporations have been withdrawing funding for the festivals, part of a retreat from diversity initiatives that has increased under the second Trump administration. In response, local businesses are helping to make up some of the shortfall. Many see it as a way of standing up not only for L.G.B.T.Q. people, but also for what the annual celebration means for their local economies. In San Francisco, Pride is a multimillion-dollar festival drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors, dozens of musical acts and hundreds of food vendors. The event, in turn, has become a powerful economic engine, bringing in an estimated $350 million in 2015, the last time the city conducted a study of its economic impact. Now, many local businesses, including hotels, restaurants, bars and retailers, are concerned about what it would mean if the festival had to be scaled back. Hot Cookie, whose baked goods include provocatively shaped 'sex positive' cookies, saw its sales increase 30 percent during last year's Pride event, Mr. Jones said. He hopes that the support from local businesses like his, he said, will keep Pride 'viable and healthy and vibrant.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
