SPHS CEO McCorkle Named William Pynchon Award Winner

SPRINGFIELD — Vincent McCorkle, president and CEO of the Sisters of Providence Health System in Springfield, is one of four area residents recently named William Pynchon Award winners by the Advertising Club of Western Mass. The club established the award in 1915 to recognize community service and those who provide it.

McCorkle has long been devoted to promoting the well-being of residents in Springfield, acting above and beyond his professional duty. An advocate for families, when he learned that homeless families from Boston were being bused to Springfield to live in inadequate housing, he joined the mayor of Springfield to find a solution to the various problems this caused. McCorkle also brought the Health Care for the Homeless program to Mercy Medical Center to help solve the challenges of the homeless population in Springfield. Today, the program delivers care to those who many people might rather ignore.

In 1994, when the Vietnamese Health Project needed to locate a home base or end its services, McCorkle brought the group to Mercy, where the project continues to operate today, providing case management, transportation, referral, and medical interpretation for Vietnamese immigrants. A veteran volunteer, McCorkle has served as a United Way Campaign chair and has been involved in a number of fundraising events and activities.
Other recipients honored at the Nov. 15 awards banquet were:

• Steven Botkin from Pelham, Mass., a community educator and activist in Western Mass. Founder and executive director of the Men’s Resource Center in Amherst for 20 years, Botkin joined a group of investors and supporters in 2004 to found a new, global nonprofit organization, Men’s Resources International (MRI), to reach a larger, more diverse community.
• Kim Howes, a Florence native, historian, photographic archivist, and retired Monsanto engineer. Howes is a quiet but constant force as community volunteer, advocate, and fundraiser for worthy causes throughout the region. He has helped to raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the community, and has been involved with such groups as United Way, the Red Cross, the YMCA, the Kiwanis Club, Shriners Hospital, National Ski Patrol, Association for Community Living, Lathrop Communities, Edwards Church in Northampton, and many municipal committees.
• Brenda J. Lopez, administrator of Domestic Violence Policy for the City of Springfield and coordinator of domestic violence prevention at the Springfield Police Department. A Springfield resident for more than 52 years, she is a prominent educator, advocate, and activist for social justice and social change, as well as for women, children, and families. Prior to her current appointment, Lopez worked for the Mass. Department of Social Services, to coordinate policy, protocol, and education and supervise domestic violence specialists in three regions of the state. She was a 14-year employee with the YWCA of Western Mass. beginning as a temporary cook in the pre-school program and ending her career there as director of Outreach and Education.