SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — The Adirondack Trust Company Community Fund (ATCCF/Community Fund) announced its independent advisory committee has awarded Lend-A-Hand Grants to 37 local nonprofit organizations.
With COVID-19 precautions in place, a digital awards reception celebrated the grant recipients.
Since 2012, Lend-A-Hand Grants have been awarded annually using community funds from ATCCF’s annual Autumn of Giving Match Campaign. Because of the economic stresses, COVID-19 has placed on businesses and individuals, the Adirondack Trust Company fully funded this year’s grant efforts, donating $77,000 in lieu of the typical Match Campaign.
“In a year full of challenges and difficult decisions, the Community Fund is grateful that Adirondack Trust quickly stepped up to fund the 2020 Lend-A-Hand Grants,” ATCCF Advisory Committee Chair Brian Straughter said.
“We are so grateful for our community partnerships like this one,” Straughter added.
“There was absolutely no question when it came to funding this year’s grants,” Adirondack Trust Company President and CEO Charles V. Wait, Jr. stated.
“Ensuring the Community Fund’s perpetuation and its ability to assist so many incredible nonprofits was a top priority, but the best part is that, even though the community didn’t have to donate this year, so many did,” Wait, Jr. noted.
Lend-A-Hand Grants help local nonprofits throughout Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties obtain critical funding for a diverse spectrum of needs: combatting food insecurity, improving living conditions, providing medical supplies and personal protective equipment, and so much more.
“While 2020 certainly surprised and changed us all,” Straughter remarked.
‘We’ve been thrilled and delighted at the way the community has come together to help their fellow neighbors. It’s a reminder of the beauty that persists in the face of adversity,” Straughter explained.
Grant awards were provided to the following organizations:
• 4-H Youth Development (Cornell Cooperative Extension of Saratoga County). Grant funding will help support programming and education for community families during a remote learning environment.
• After the Fire. Grant funding to provide fire victims with gift cards for supplies they lost due to fire.
• AIM Services, Inc. Funding support will help the purchase of laptops for participants in the Employment Services Program, which provides seamless online skills training and job preparedness for those seeking gainful employment.
• Battenkill Community Services, Inc. This grant will help purchase new computers and printers to meet the needs of remote learning and programming.
• Ben Osborn Memorial Fund, Inc. Funding will help purchase Ben’s Personal Hygiene kits, which will be distributed to teens.
• Caffè Lena. As Caffè Lena seeks to create programming and concerts for an online audience, this grant will support the use of a fully professional streaming platform as the new revenue streams develop.
• Camp Abilities Saratoga, Inc. Grant funding will support the summer camp program that offers blind, visually impaired, and deafblind campers’ athletic activities that help to build confidence.
• Catie Hoch Foundation. Grant funding will support the purchase of gas cards for families of children battling cancer, alleviating a great financial burden.
• Clifton Park Halfmoon Emergency Corps. Funding will be used to conduct Safe Sitter Babysitting Safety Classes for 48 middle school students.
• Coesa. This grant provides professional wellness retreats that offer tools, resources, and information about a variety of mindfulness and well-being methods, which aid companies in supporting their remote workforce.
• Community Hospice (St. Peter’s Health Partners). Grant funding will support pediatric bereavement services, which are fundamental to ensuring the emotional and mental health of children and teens who have experienced a significant loss.
• C.R.E.A.T.E, Community Studios. Grant funding will provide expressive activities to engage youth while offering a safe environment to foster social and individual growth.
• Double H Ranch. Funding will assist with the shift to alternative/virtual programs through the purchase of technical equipment and software, camper supplies, and seasonal staff stipends to host and facilitate our virtual programs and activities.
• First Baptist Church of Ballston Spa. The funding will help families experiencing food insecurity by providing lunches during the summer when free or reduced-price lunches from the school district are not available.
• Flower & Fruit Mission. This funding will assist Saratoga Hospital to host a Lactation Counselor Training Course, increasing the current number of Certified Lactation Counselors and ensure mothers continue to receive high-quality obstetric and neonatal care.
• Franklin Community Center, Inc. Grant funding supports Project Lift, which works to provide at-risk youth with activities to promote positive youth development and to increase social-emotional knowledge and skills in both the enrolled youth and their families.
• Gateway House of Peace. Funding will help Gateway House of Peace sustain their service to the community and fulfill their mission of caring for those dying and supporting their families free of charge.
• Glens Falls Area Youth Center. Grant funding will help bridge the gap between ambition and opportunity to break the generational cycle of poverty and support our children educationally in the aftermath of COVID-19.
• Habitat for Humanity Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties. Funds will be used to cover the cost of materials and labor for the construction of a wheelchair-accessible ramp.
• L.E.A.P (Washington County Economic Opportunity Council). Grant funding supports Head Start, which equips parents with knowledge of budgeting and financial literacy that will likely help them achieve self-sufficiency for themselves and their households, which ensures a greater chance the children will be successful once they enroll in school.
• Mechanicville Area Community Services Center. Grant funding will go toward the development and implementation of Boys on the Move, a groundbreaking program addressing self-esteem, respectful communication, teamwork and culmination of individual physical accomplishment by complete a real life 5K.
• Nipper Knolls Equine Center. Funding will provide food and care to retired and or rescued horses used in the equine assisted activities program.
• Northeast Parent & Child Society (Northern Rivers Family of Services). Funding will allow Northern Rivers to continue to address the rise in food insecurity by creating a fund to purchase nutritional snacks for our youth.
• Open Door Mission. Grant funding will provide food and direct expenses for Open Door Mission’s Hunger Relief program.
• Rebuilding Together Saratoga County. This grant will fund Home Safety kits for 125 homeowners in need. These kits will include hand sanitizer, disinfectant, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and many first-aid and disaster-preparedness essentials.
• Saratoga Bridges. Grant funding will support the Creative Endeavors Art Center programming as well as cover the cost of art supplies.
• Saratoga Center for the Family. Grant funding will support the growing need for financial assistance to current clients who are weathering a health crisis without jobs or health insurance.
• Saratoga County Children’s Committee. This grant is to help support the Empty Stocking Project in 2021, which helps fill the needs and some gifts for children who may not otherwise receive gifts during the holiday season.
• Saratoga Hospital and Saratoga Community Health Center (CHC). This grant will support the purchase of X-ray equipment used to provide preventative care and/or as a diagnostic tool for every patient who receives dental care at Saratoga Community Health Center.
• Saratoga Pride, an affiliate of the Capital District Gay Community. This funding will sustain and expand support for LGBTQ+ community members and allies, and to continue building visibility and connections with area businesses and other organizations.
• Saratoga Senior Center. This funding will support Legacies for Life, an oral history project for seniors in Saratoga County. In partnership with Skidmore College, the project involves chronicling, documenting, and preserving stories of older adults’ lives, which can be passed down for generations.
• Shelters of Saratoga. These funds will help SOS obtain COVID-19 supplies, including PPE, masks, gloves, and cleaning supplies, which are greatly needed to protect Saratoga’s homeless population.
• SNACpack Program Inc. Funding will support the distribution of weekly bags of food to children who live with food insecurity in the Saratoga Springs School District.
• Veterans & Community Housing Coalition. Grant funds will be used to provide food, PPE, and other essentials to homeless veterans and low-income families.
• Wait House (Warren/Washington County Homeless Youth Coalition, Inc.) Funding supports the youth Street Outreach and Safe Harbour Programs, which provide youth with backpacks filled with hygiene supplies, shoes, undergarments, and other items essential to healthy living.
• Wilton Emergency Squad, Inc. Funding for upgraded technology to provide virtual lifesaving education programming and training to our community.
• Wilton Food Pantry. Grant funding supports the Children’s Healthy Choice Breakfast / Lunch Program, which provides healthy food to children when schools are closed for vacation.
