SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Eversource ahs made a holiday donation of $5,000 to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Services.

Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno joined Patricia Bernard, VP of Finance and Operations for Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Services for the donation.

“Who do you think could use it in the community? And I thought of Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services. Ronn Johnson… who looks down from Heaven upon us,” said Sarno.

It was just about a year ago when Ronn Johnson, the legendary Executive Director of Springfield’s Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services passed away. His successor has yet to be named. Bernard told 22News, this $5,000 donation for children’s toys comes at a most opportune time.

“We really were under the gun to get the toys. One of our sources did not come through. So this was like in the nick of time,” said Bernard.

With the Mayor’s guidance, Eversource could really feel good about allocating the $5,000 to where its confident the money will do the most good.

“It feels really good. I did not realize what kind of gap we would close to help out the children in Springfield during the holiday season,” said Joe Mitchell, Energy Director of Community Relations at Eversource.

Several days remain to convert the donation in cash to purchase toys for the children assisted by the Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services.

Bernard stated, “Thank you to Eversource for this generous gift to our Community Center, especially during the holiday season. I want to thank Mayor Sarno for always being there and supporting our MLK Family Services Community Center.  With the support from our community, we can continue to give back to our neighborhood and build upon the legacy that was built by Ronn Johnson.”