A fundraiser to benefit Ukrainian families impacted by the country’s ongoing war, which has recently marked one year since Russian forces invaded the country, is coming to Northampton.

The event will take place on Monday at 6:45 p.m. at the Florence Civic Center, and will feature drinks and refreshments as well as the screening of a documentary by local filmmaker Kate Geis.

Two Ukrainian families who have resettled in the United States following the war, one in Northampton and another in West Springfield, will also be present to share their stories and take questions about the conflict.

Karen Foster, the vice chair of the Northampton City Council, helped organize the event. She said she got to know the Ukrainian family in Northampton, which lives in her ward, after their children became friends at school.

“My boys have the same bus stop as them,” Foster said. “We’ve gotten to know each other quite well, as neighbors often do.”

Donors can either give to support the families directly or to United24, a fund created by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. An additional fundraiser is also planned for March 19 at the Allsport Arena, and will feature a dodgeball tournament.

Smith backs ER expansion

Cooley Dickinson Hospital announced Tuesday that it received a $250,000 gift from Smith College to help fund an ongoing expansion and renovation of the hospital’s emergency department.

“We are honored and extremely thankful to Smith College for their extraordinary gift of support,” Lynnette Watkins, president and COO of Cooley Dickinson, said in a statement. “Their commitment recognizes the importance of providing Smith College students, faculty and their family and friends with access to the region’s top providers and leading health care services.”

In 2019, the hospital’s board of trustees identified the need to overhaul its emergency department. The project calls for adding 7,500 square feet of space, including nine new patient rooms, two behavioral health beds and two “flex” beds to use as patient needs arise, according to the hospital.

The original $15.5 million price tag has since increased to $19.76 million, due to additional costs brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation. According to the hospital, approximately $6.4 million has been raised to date for the project, which is expected to break ground in this spring.

Youth robotics team wins state awards

A local youth robotics team from the Pioneer Valley has snagged two awards at the Massachusetts State Championship for the FIRST Tech Challenge, an international robotics competition open to students in grades 7-12. FIRST stands For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

The team, known as “Overclocked,” consists of seven students from Easthampton, Holyoke and Florence who competed among 36 teams in the state championship, out of more than 100 that had participated in qualifiers earlier in January and February.

“There’s four robots that get together in an arena, and you have to work together to try to accomplish a task,” said Susan O’Brien, who serves as a coach for the team. “It’s more of a cooperative thing, which gets the kids talking to each other to figure out the best strategy, to both beat the people you’re against and help the people you’re against, because you might be their partner next time.”

Overclocked, which was formed last year, placed 16th overall and won the competition’s Rookie All-Star award. They also received the “Think” award for the documentation of their engineering process. Its members are Zachary O’Brien, 15, Lucas Carbin-O’Brien, 13, Mya Churchill, 14, Isiah Day, 14, Max Pearson, 14, Alex Solis, 14, and Jacob Carbin-O’Brien, 15.

O’Brien said she hopes the team’s accomplishments will help other students take an interest in mechanical engineering.

“It’s one of those things that encourages people to learn about robotics and what it is,” she said.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.

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