Eartern States Exposition has donated $184,067 to a trust that benefits programs in the city benefiting education, youths and the elderly.
G. Wayne McCary, president of the Eastern States Exposition, is seen at the Big E circus last year.WEST SPRINGFIELD – Eastern States Exposition has donated $184,067 to the Big E-West Springfield Trust Fund, the largest gift it has made to the fund since its inception in 1994, according to officials.
That sum represents 1 percent of Eastern States Exposition’s gross revenues for 2010. This year’s gift brings its donations to the fund over the years to $2,497,845, according to the exposition.
Each year, the trustees of the fund appropriate a portion of the donation to agencies in the city benefiting education, youths and the elderly. Last year, they allocated $45,268 for that purpose, and they plan to earmark $61,213 for donations for this year.
“To me it is a great template for a nonprofit for people to put something back into the community,” exposition President G. Wayne McCary said Monday after presenting a check to Mayor Edward J. Gibson and the fund’s other trustees.
“I think it says a lot about the fair itself and its draw throughout New England,” Gibson said.
They have let money accumulate in the fund so as not to deplete the principal, the mayor said. The fund now has $2,162,600 including this year’s donation.
Funds donated to The Big E/West Springfield Trust in 2010 resulted in grants for such projects as Park and Recreation Department fee waivers; Senior Center physical fitness and social programs; the Melissa Harrington Hughes 9/11 monument; Mittineague Congregational Church family training seminars; supplies for West Side Helping Hands; camera equipment for West Springfield High School; Historical Commission transportation-horse and driver expenses; Smart Boards for Mittineague School; and a dog park for the city and the West Springfield Volleyball Booster Club.