MSB Blog

Monson Savings Bank recently donated $1,500 to I Found Light Against All Odds, an important organization focused on helping at-risk youth in local communities. Dan Moriarty, Monson Savings Bank President and future CEO along with Michael Rouette, EVP and Chief Operating Officer, presented the donation to Stefan Davis, President and CEO of I Found Light Against All Odds, along with IFALAAO board members Lisa Lombardi, District Behavior Specialist at Springfield Public Schools and Ciara Speller, a well-known reporter of WWLP 22 News.

The $1,500 donation was made after I Found Light Against All Odds placed as a top ten vote recipient in the 2021 Monson Savings Bank Community Giving Initiative, where the public submitted their votes for their favorite community organizations and the top ten received donations from the bank.

“I Found Light Against All Odds is such an inspirational non-profit that supports and guides the at-risk youth of our communities,” said Dan Moriarty, President and future CEO. “Some of these young members experience hardships such as homelessness, abuse, and poverty. Through IFLAAO, they are provided with a positive and relatable role model in Coach Davis and given opportunities to share their story, their struggles, and be heard. I am thankful for this organizations commitment to our young community members and I know this is just the beginning of a beautiful partnership between Monson Savings Bank and I Found Light Against All Odds.”

I Found Light Against All Odds, provides resources and opportunities for at-risk youth of the local communities. One of the organization’s core missions is to help break the cycle of disparity that these youth encounter. The youth that IFALAAO works with have a multitude of obstacles, such as poverty, homelessness, abuse and educational struggles, that they foresee as barriers to become aspiring and productive citizens in their community. The organization has facilitated opportunities for these youth to help them gain valuable skills needed to pursue their hopes of achievement for the future. These experiences range from providing a financial institution to teach them how to open a bank account, invest their money and balance a checkbook. IFALAAO has organized different community business owners, members of law enforcement, and persons who hold political positions to have group sessions with at-risk youth to allow them the opportunity to ask questions and gain a deeper perspective on the road to having a career or profession that they may see as unattainable. IFALAAO has also given young people the ability to have hands-on working experience in their areas of interest such as video and technology operation, the food and service industry, and working in the marketing and brand field for large businesses. IFALAAO helps to advocate for the youth who feel they have no voice and ensure that they feel supported during their time of darkness. Learn more about IFALAAO at ifoundlight.com.

“On behalf of I Found Light Against All Odds, I would like to extend a tremendous thank you to Monson Savings Bank for this generous Community Giving Initiative Award Donation. Our non-profit organization takes great pride in the work that we do with the at-risk population in the area,” said Stefan Davis, President and CEO of I Found Light Against All Odds. “I would also like to thank everyone that voted for our organization, making it possible for I Found Light Against All Odds to finish in the top ten out of two hundred organizations that were nominated for the Monson Savings Bank 2021 Community Giving Initiative.”