by Bea Peterson
“We are brothers on the road…I can help you and you will be there to help me…” Attorney Ed Gorman told the group gathered at the First United Church Presbyterian on Saturday, October 25, for the Annual HACA Awards Brunch. Gorman, who holds several volunteer posts, said he remembers all the volunteer coaches who were there for him when he was a kid and now, he feels, it is his time to give back. “The fabric of our community is made up of many threads, and those threads are the volunteers that do so much to make our community what it is,” he said.
In that vein, HACA Director Dianne Hosterman presented the Partnership Award to the staff at the Hoosick Falls and Hoosick Post Offices for taking part in the nationwide postal carriers food collection drives. No one from the postal department was present on Saturday morning as they were all busy delivering the mail! Eagle Scout candidate Reid Crobok was presented the HACA Youth Award. This year he held a Food Closet Benefit and Concert in Wood Park and he and scouts in his Troop did several projects at the HACA center. The Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Deb Alter for her personal commitment to HACA and the excellent work she did for the Taste of Hoosick event this year.
The welcome was given by Rev. Mike Benoit, the Invocation by Fr. Tom Zelker and the Benediction by Rev. Donna Elia. Dottie Cross led the group in singing hymns. The Master of Ceremonies was Joyce Brewer.
During 2013 the Hoosick Area Church Association provided 45,765 meals to those in need, filled 337 Holiday boxes and completed 295 tax returns. And this year they filled 65 backpacks for youngsters headed to school in September.