The Amherst Survival Center is now collecting furniture for our 2013 Trash To Treasures used furniture sale. During the spring and summer months, the Amherst Survival Center collects gently used furniture for our annual fundraiser, Trash-to-Treasures. Donations may be brought to the ASC by appointment or we can arrange pick up for a small fee. We are especially in need of couches, chairs, kitchen sets, dining sets, bureaus, end and coffee tables, and bookcases.

Email furniture@amherstsurvival.org or call (413)549-3968 x to arrange for pick-up or delivery.

Please note: all items are collected for resale, so we cannot accept damaged or broken items or those with torn, stained, or mildewed upholstery. We cannot accept sleeper sofas or mattresses. All donations are tax deductible.

Drop-off is free, but must be arranged in advance. Pickup fees are $15 for the first item and $5 for each additional item.

Then join us for the Giant Furniture Sale on September 6-7 on the Amherst Town Common

Stay tuned for more details

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

(Published in print: Friday, March 8, 2013)

The multi-talented Cheryl Zoll is closing the latest chapter in her varied career, stepping down as executive director of the Amherst Survival Center.

Zoll, who is 50, has planted trees in rural Senegal as a Peace Corps member, taught linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, wrote a book on African language, ran a literacy program and led the effort to turn the Survival Center into a vibrant hub of community and social services.

Oh, and she oversaw a fundraising effort that netted $2.5 million to construct a stunning new building that opened in December. Pretty impressive.

Whatever her personal or professional reasons for moving on, after six years at the center, one thing is clear: She is a woman who gets things done. Click here to read more…

Amherst Survival Center director set to leave in June

Daily Hampshire Gazette
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
(Published in print: Thursday, December 6, 2012)

With twice the space, an 80-seat dining room and enough room for a free medical clinic, the new Amherst Survival Center is a vast improvement over its former cramped quarters at 1200 North Pleasant St., where it operated for 34 years. The new 6,000-square-foot center at 138 Sunderland Road just north of the center of North Amherst, will provide free lunches, groceries, housewares and medical care to some 4,000 low-income people each year.

On Monday, the first day the nonprofit center opened its doors to the public, Jan Eidelson, president of its board, expressed satisfaction in the completion of three-year project: “We built this building and it’s becoming a home.”

From the start, the center’s construction was a townwide effort. Organizers raised $2.5 million in donations from some 600 people, businesses and foundations, of which $1.5 million will be used to cover building costs. With an initial 2015 finish date, the project came in ahead of schedule, in part, due to the support it garnered from a range of professionals and community members, including local developers, real estate experts and former city planners.

Read the rest of the Gazette editorial here.

By Diane Lederman, The Republican
on December 03, 2012

AMHERST — Nearly 200 people stopped in at the new Amherst Survival Center on Monday, its first day in its new space.

“It was a lot of people, it felt busy but not crowded,” said Tracey A. Levy, program director. “Nobody complained about bumping into each other.”

The new space at 138 Sunderland Road is nearly double of what the center had in the basement of the old North Amherst School, which had averaged 130 to 150 people per day.

Just days before it opened, the center reached its $2.5 million fundraising goal.

Executive Director Cheryl Zoll said the center was $10,000 shy of its goal last week when fund-raisers got on the phone and were able to raise the last bit from people who already contributed.

Read the rest of the Republican article here.

By NICK GRABBE Staff Writer

Two great events are coming up this week that celebrate the arts in Amherst and support the Amherst Survival Center!

The Freedom Trails Gallery at 534 Main Street in Amherst will be exhibiting a Small Works group exhibition to benefit the Amherst Survival Center this holiday season. The show will be on display from December 6th through January 26th with an opening reception on December 6th from 5-8 pm, during the Amherst Arts Walk. 30% of sales benefit the ASC!

Then on Sunday December 9th, the Valley Festival Brass will present a concert of holiday favorites and carol sing-a-long. This event is at the First Congregational Church – 165 Main St. Amherst, MA. Admission is free, but they recommend a donation of $5-10 to support the ASC!

By NICK GRABBE Staff Writer, Daily Hampshire Gazette
Tuesday, November 27, 2012

AMHERST — The Amherst Survival Center has vacated the cramped basement on North Pleasant Street that has been its home for 33 years, and on Monday it will open its new building at 138 Sunderland Road.

While staff members felt eager this week to move to the new building, which was built to suit the center’s needs and has twice the space, they still felt nostalgic about leaving the old space.

“It feels like here is where the heart of it is,” said kitchen coordinator Linda Brooks. “This is where it started. I hope the new building won’t change that feeling. I hope everyone will bring that heart with them.”

The Survival Center provides about 4,000 low-income people a year with free lunches, groceries, housewares, clothes and medical care. The new $2 million building will eliminate most of the old building’s problems, such as inadequate parking, lack of privacy, and not enough space for the 80 people who eat lunch there daily. Read the Gazette article

From The Daily Hampshire Gazette, Friday, November 2, 2012
By NICK GRABBE, Staff Writer

The new Amherst Survival Center on Sunderland Rd. Photo by KEVIN GUTTING for The Daily Hampshire Gazette

AMHERST — On Nov. 27, the Amherst Survival Center will end its distribution of free food and clothes at the cramped basement on North Pleasant Street it has occupied for 33 years.

And on Dec. 3, it will reopen in a new, light-filled building at 138 Sunderland Road that will provide almost twice as much space.

The center has received $1.9 million in donations for construction of the building at the site of the former Rooster’s restaurant, said Jan Eidelson, president of the board of trustees. Though the construction cost $1.55 million, the center’s fundraising goal is $2.5 million, which includes money for furnishings, architects’ fees, campaign expenses and purchase of the land, she said. It has received pledges for just $125,000 short of that goal, she said.

“The community has been incredible,” Eidelson said. “It’s been wonderful to show people the building they’ve donated to so they can help our mission move smoothly.”

The Survival Center provides about 4,000 low-income people a year with free lunches, groceries, housewares, clothes and medical care. There isn’t enough space for the 70 people who eat lunch there, parking is inadequate, there is little privacy, food deliveries have to come through a window and the rooms serve multiple purposes.

The new center will have a dining area of about 1,000 square feet, four times the space that exists in the old building. There will be examination rooms for volunteer doctors Daniel Clapp and Paul Berman and nurse Trish Smallman, who currently use the executive director’s office. In contrast to the current warren of basement rooms, the new center will have an open floor plan and lots of natural light.

It will have 28 parking spaces, a reception area and a workshop that can be used by other groups when the center is not open. It will have an emergency backup system so that its coolers will stay on during a power outage.

A new sidewalk was built on the east side of Sunderland Road last summer to make it easier for pedestrians to reach the center. The new building is a five-minute walk away from the old building, and the board of trustees is working with town and PVTA officials on funding for additional bus runs there, Eidelson said.

The center operates with two full-time and seven part-time staff members and an annual budget that’s about to increase from $378,000 to $400,000 because of the extra space, Eidelson said. There are about 140 volunteers a week, many of whom are guests as well.

The move will take place Nov. 28 to 30, and no extra volunteers are needed, Eidelson said. On those days, free meals will be available at Not Bread Alone, the weekend meal site at First Congregational Church at 165 Main St.

The Survival Center will still hold its annual Thanksgiving dinner Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church at 867 North Pleasant St.

The new building will inevitably change the culture of the Survival Center, said program director Tracey Levy.

“It will be more inviting,” she said. “People will be able to hang around a big community room with skylights and computers and coffee, instead of being tucked away in a basement where people bump into each other.”

Working out of the old building has been a bonding experience, like people going together to a concert in the rain, Levy said. Plans are in the works for a farewell to the basement space at 1200 North Pleasant St., which is owned by the Town of Amherst, she said.

An open house at the new center will be scheduled in January.

In addition to many small donations, the center received $200,000 from one donor and $119,500 from seven banks. Two donors have pledged to match new donations to help the center reach its $2.5 million goal, Eidelson said.

Eidelson, who plans to step down as board president next May, has been key in enabling construction of the new building to be on time and on budget, Levy said.

“Jan has been so hands-on since the building started, running from this space to that, asking what the staff thinks, bringing desserts to the builders, making sure they communicate with the staff and the architects. Every time I see Jan here, I’m amazed she’s still on her feet.”

The Amherst Survival Center welcomes everyone to enjoy our Hot Lunch, Fresh Food Distribution, Free Medical Clinic, Free Store—and our Community Center/Volunteer Program. You will find us open: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 11 am to 3 pm, except Thursdays when we stay open until 7 pm.  Free Hot Lunch is served from noon to 1 pm, prepared by volunteers in our kitchen. We are closed Wednesdays.

Our Fresh Food Distribution–vegetables, fruit and fresh baked goods—is available to everyone from 11 am  to 3 pm on our days open. Our Food Pantry—stocked with canned goods, meats and other perishables—is open to those who come to us from the following list of towns:  Amherst, Belchertown, Deerfield, Granby, Hadley, Leverett, Pelham, Shutesbury, South Deerfield, Sunderland and Whately. Read more about our programs and services