Members of the Women in Business Committee of the Chamber of Southern Saratoga County gathered on Aug. 17 for the ninth year in a row to assemble new backpacks filled with school supplies to benefit chamber member Wellspring, formerly Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Services of Saratoga.
The committee donated over 100 filled backpacks, thanks to donations from members and the community.
Backpacks of Hope is part of the committee’s charitable initiative, which benefits families who seek the assistance and refuge of Wellspring. As financial hardships only add to the burden of a family facing domestic violence issues, providing a child with a brand new backpack filled with school supplies helps ease that burden at the start of the school year, committee officials said.
The Baskets of Hope program has assembled over 4,000 baskets with personal care items and provided 700 filled backpacks to Saratoga County domestic abuse victims since the program began in 2005.
Donations for women’s personal care items are accepted year-round at the Chamber office, 58 Clifton Country Road, Suite 103 Clifton Park. For further information, contact member services manager Liz Roggenbuck at 371-7748.
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Fall class registration at the Academy for Lifelong Learning (A.L.L.) continues through mid-September.
Thirty-seven classes, including several lecture series run through Nov. 10. Fall term class registration and membership application packets can be found in area libraries, the Academy office at 111 West Ave. in Saratoga Springs or on the website at www.esc.edu/all.
Registration forms are being accepted for open classes through the beginning of the term. Two classes have filled: Great Decisions and Legend, Literature and Mythology in Music. Waiting lists have been started. Call the Academy office for current class availability at 587-2100, ext. 2415.
The classes cover a wide range of genre including: history, art, media, health, religion, writing and economics. Volunteer-led classes typically meet for two hours once a week for eight weeks. Most classes are held in SUNY Empire State College classrooms at 111 and 113 West Ave. in Saratoga Springs, and there are several offerings at a variety of local outdoor venues.
New this term: History of Religious Ethics, Genealogy in the 21st Century, the 2016 Election, Transitions in Life Series, Shakespeare’s Unhappy Comedies, Mind the Gap: Selected Studies of Political & Cultural Conflict in America, Medical Ethics & Controversies, Victorian Novels and Religion, History in Our Capital Region Towns Series, Art Talk: The Language of Art, Behind the Scenes On & Off Broadway, and a one-day Creative Writing seminar.
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The Saratoga Women in Business (SWIB) group will hold its next bi-monthly meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 21 from 5-7 p.m. at drb Business Interiors, 153 Regent St., Saratoga Springs.
The SWIB group targets female business leaders in the greater Saratoga Springs area and offers free bi-monthly fellowship opportunities. Wine and light snacks, sponsored by area businesses, are provided and door prizes be awarded. Voluntary cash contributions will be collected at the door in order to help fund future SWIB events.
SWIB meetings include a five-minute presentation by a local woman-led nonprofit organization. The September nonprofit spotlight will be on To Love A Child, which provides humanitarian assistance to impoverished children and their families.
To learn more about the Saratoga Women in Business group or to register for the free Sept. 21 networking event, visit www.saratogawomeninbusiness.com. The registration deadline is Friday, Sept. 16.
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The Saratoga Foundation for Innovative Learning (SFIL) will host “Celebrate. Innovate. Educate,” a dinner reception and fundraising event on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at Prime at Saratoga National.
The reception will be held from 6-9 p.m. and is open to the public.
The reception will include dinner, a showcase of innovative grants that have been awarded during the past year, and will also feature a steel drums performance by local music students. The steel drums were funded by an SFIL grant to the Maple Avenue Middle School, so that exploration of these instruments could be possible.
Tickets are $100 each and may be purchased online until Oct. 19 at squareup.com/store/SFIL/item/celebrate-innovate-educate. All money raised will support innovative programming in the Saratoga Springs City School District.
To learn more about the event, visit saratogalearning.org/support/cie/ or email info@saratogalearning.org.
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Thirty-six charities will receive donations from the profits of the 2016 Saratoga Springs Horse Show, said Tom Fueston, president of the Capital Fund of Saratoga County Inc. (CFSC).
The charities will receive donations ranging from $500 up to $4,700 for a total support of $61,521. The amount a group receives is based on the voting of the volunteers that come to support the horse show each year.
Since its beginning in 1961, the Lion’s Club, then the St. Clement’s Saratoga Horse Show, and now the Saratoga Springs Horse Show has been a mostly volunteer-run event. Professional horse show management and support crews are used to run the actual competition. But the overall show operation is provided by a group of volunteers. Volunteers–there were 147 this year–nominate and then select the charities that receive support from the show each year.
After nominating the charities, volunteers then vote on the charities (up to five) they want to support. Their votes are then multiplied by the number of hours a volunteer donates in support of the horse show thus making the volunteer that puts in more time have a larger influence on the outcome of the voting process.
With this year’s donations included, the total amount donated over the past five years exceeds $250,000, distributed to over 60 different charities operating within Saratoga County.
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The Adirondack Trust Co. Community Fund is accepting grant applications from eligible nonprofit charities through Sept. 30.
Grant information and application forms may be obtained from the fund website at ATCCF.org/Nonprofits.
The fund was established in 2009 to build an endowment that acts as a perpetual source of funding for the broad array of nonprofit organizations in the community, which improve the quality of life and address issues of common concern to the area. It also seeks to foster a community spirit of giving by providing donors with unique and flexible ways to manage charitable donations.
In 2015, the fund allocated $44,600 into 23 lend-a-hand grants averaging just under $2,000 each. The grants were awarded to local, nonprofit organizations, supporting programs in such diverse areas as veteran’s outreach, mental health services, wildlife education, homelessness prevention, youth services, and the arts.
Grant recipients will be announced by the fund’s independent advisory committee in November.
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Soroptimist International of Saratoga County is seeking applicants for the Soroptimist Live Your Dreams award, a grant that provides women who serve as the primary wage earners for their families with the financial resources to offset costs associated with their efforts to attain higher education or additional skills and training.
The $5,000 award can go to undergraduate studies or vocational school. It can be used for tuition, books, childcare, carfare or any other education-related expense. The award recipient also eligible for additional awards at the regional and international Soroptimist levels.
In addition to being the primary wage earner, the applicant is required to: Provide proof of financial need; be accepted or enrolled in an undergraduate or vocational straining program; be a resident of any of the locations where there is a Soroptimist chapter; not have previously received the award.
Soroptimist members are ineligible.
To request an application, contact Rebecca Broadaway at SoroptimistWOA@gmail.com. They can be emailed or mailed to PO Box 2651, Malta NY 12020. Applications must be returned by Nov. 15.
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Stored Technology Solutions (StoredTech) has earned the position of 1,113 on the 2016 Inc. 5000
Inc. magazine, founded in 1979 and based in New York City, is an American monthly publication focused on growing companies. The Ink 5000 list ranks the country’s top 5,000 fastest-growing private companies.
According to Eric Schurenberg, Inc. Media editor-in-chief, the companies on the list have grown almost five-fold over the last three years.
StoredTech provides a comprehensive portfolio of voice, data, and video services and equipment. It’s headquarters is in Queensbury and it has branch offices in Saratoga Springs, Plattsburgh and South Plainfield, N.J.
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Autonomy Distributors/In Focus Brands in Saratoga Springs has been nominated Deal of the Year for the 2016 Upstate Venture Ecosystem Awards.
The organizers of the awards, Upstate Venture Connect (UVC), received over 100 submissions celebrating entrepreneurial leaders throughout Upstate New York who are transforming the region’s economy.
Winners will be announced at a special luncheon event held at the Turning Stone Resort on Sept. 16. An independent panel of judges will review the nominations and determine the winners.