The Community Outreach Group works throughout the academic year by doing meaningful work that supports the communities adjacent to NECC. These are included but not limited food drives, bake sales, recycling days and other selfless good deeds that help others in need.

On Dec. 11, this group put on a Holiday Trivia Night where all the proceeds went to the Fidelity House, an organization that supports families with people who have disabilities in the Merrimack Valley. The event overall was a success, and there were many highlights as well.

The most memorable part of the evening was the commentary of Dermot Luddy, the Master of Ceremonies for the evening.

Luddy provided his quick wit through every step of the way (including when technological difficulties arose because that is a theme of 2020) and used his thick Irish speaking skills to good use and made sure everyone was having a good time.

Luddy had good pace when asking the questions and was totally engaging with the participants as well. If there was one thing that could have been improved upon, I would have liked to see him give less hints, but that was the only flaw there in an otherwise great hosting job from him.

The participants reaction was overall great but could have been better at times. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, however during certain portions of the event there was a lack of energy. This could have been chalked up to being completely Zoomed out (because again 2020), and it got a tad competitive as the evening wore on, but that is to be expected when participating in a trivia contest. Luddy and NECC Professor Meredith Gunning did a great of getting the event back on track, and all was good in the end.

At the end of the trivia portion of the evening, a winner was declared. The lucky winner was Alisa Bucchiere, and she received a Yankee Candle basket worth $250.

Then we proceeded to the ugly sweater portion of the evening. The people who chose to participate in this contest went one by one showing off their ugly sweaters in the hopes of winning a basket. There were a lot of great sweaters out there, and this event was judged by Gage Prezioso, the President of COG.

Bucchiere again was the lucky winner of this event and took that gift basket as well. This event raised $1,149 and was a great way for NECC folks to connect with one another and support a worthy organization as well.

To learn more about the Community Outreach Group, please contact Professor Meredith Gunning at mgunning@necc.mass.edu. To learn more about the Fidelity House please visit their website https://fidelityhhs.org/.