 This program is brought to you by cable franchise V's and generous donations from viewers like you Hello, and welcome to the Amherst weekly report. I'm Claire Healy and this is the news out of Amherst, Massachusetts from this past week The Amherst Survival Center has received a new refrigerated truck to help deliver groceries to more than a thousand people a month The Amherst Survival Center Board of Directors contributed $17,500 which was then matched by community members to raise the $35,000 needed to purchase the truck In April the Survival Center was bringing groceries to around 250 people but the number grew to 850 people or more in August The town of Amherst and the Amherst Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Fund have announced there will be a second round of short-term Emergency rental assistance available for Amherst renters experiencing a loss or reduction of income because of COVID-19 The rental assistance is available for up to three months Households must meet a variety of conditions to be considered eligible and assistance is first come first serve To learn more about eligibility and applying for rental assistance visit the town's website Two Amherst area community members Dorothy Cresswell and Dusty Miller have been holding vigils Tuesdays at 5 p.m.. In downtown Amherst The vigil began as a two-person operation and was originally about the ice detention camps and the treatment of undocumented children After a video of the vigil was posted by a local community member more people began participating Soon after the interfaith opportunities Network in Amherst made a commitment to help keep the vigil going Winter and COVID-19 halted the vigil, but after the interfaith opportunities Network held a large Black Lives Matter protest in Amherst Cresswell and Miller decided to begin the vigil again, but have it centered around racial injustice And the most exciting thing is the reaction from people driving by Huge amount of support from all ages from many people of color So that's been really probably the high point of every week, you know We get to feel like we're all connected those participating in the vigil wear masks and socially distance Cresswell reads the names of Black people and other people of color who have been killed by the police in the past year at the end of every vigil Amherst is not the only town with a vigil for racial justice South Hadley has gotten significant attention for a vigil that is nearing its 26th week this Saturday The vigil was started at the end of March following the police killing of George Floyd It is held by Center Church all Saints Episcopal Church and our savers Lutheran Church Well, it originated with these churches Organizers and participants noted that from early on the vigil began to be attended by a larger demographic from the town And as Reverend Laurie Souter told us came to be a town event instead of a church event it has always been a vigil of peace and respect and love and Art Basically is our church is hosting it now. However, I really call it the town's vigil No one can cling something so big and beautiful We don't ask your faith we ask for respect Your quiet presence and love well The vigil has received a lot of support from community members on Labor Day a pro-trump rally was held and Attendees of the vigil reported receiving hostile comments from the rally attendees in addition to a number of conversations around racial injustice As for the future of this vigil Reverend Souter expressed the intention for it to continue indefinitely We also spoke with Lily Newman Moderator of a parallel space for racial justice the South Hadley coalition for anti-racism and equity Facebook page Who described difficult in different initiatives around the town and their futures what we've kind of tried to use the Facebook page for is Communicating events and opportunities for people to raise their voice and get involved in issues that affect racial justice and also to hold Some accountability like okay, you know the select board made this statement now. What are they doing? Let's take a look like what are we see what's happening on the school committee? So we use it as an information sharing accountability and a place to organize if the vigils really I think show that We're not going to just let you be comfortable here with racism that there is a large membership of the community that is And that is working towards anti-racism and cares deeply about racial justice and it's going to keep showing up for that And we're gonna but I think we all know the vigils are part of it and Solidarity and give us energy in a place to connect But that what we need is actually like looking at our our laws the University of Massachusetts Amherst has announced updates on a schedule for the spring semester According to the announcement the semester will begin on February 1st and won't include the typical spring breaks or holiday break Instead students will get two well-being Wednesdays on February 24th and April 14th where there will be wellness activities for students instead of classes The semester will end on May 4th a week later than normal in a follow-up announcement The chancellor said that a strategy group made up of senior campus administrators and co-chaired by provost John McCarthy and vice chancellor for student affairs in campus life Brandy Hefner Leblanc will be leading the planning process for the spring semester and Finally the University of Massachusetts Amherst football team Intends to continue its season after initially announcing that it would cancel the fall season The University's athletic program announced its cancellation on August 6 citing consultations with university state and public health officials However on Monday September 21st It reversed that decision and said that the team intends to schedule and play a limited number of football games this fall Setting positive outcomes from health and safety precautions as fueling this decision The team reported that over the past 13 weeks more than a thousand eight hundred COVID-19 tests have been administered to members of the football program with only two positive results The competitive start date is scheduled for mid-October and the report noted that Student athletes who choose not to practice or play this fall can opt out of the 2020 season With no impact to their NCAA eligibility roster status or scholarship aid agreement That's all for this week. Thank you for tuning into the Amherst weekly report from Amherst media We'll see you again at the same time next week