Remember Sullivan Charities

Between now and Dec. 31st, many of us who are able will be making our end-of-year donations to various charities. For those of you who are part-time residents of Sullivan County, please consider including Sullivan charities in your giving plans this year. There are dozens of very worthy charitable organizations here in Sullivan County, providing social services, programs for youth, support for the arts and local public radio.

Some charitable organizations, particularly arts-related — like the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, the Delaware Valley Opera, WJFF Community Radio and the Catskill Arts Society  — may have more 'share of mind' among second homers because of their public presence and events. All are worthy of your support.

For those of you who donate to environmental and land preservation causes, please consider some local groups this year like the Delaware Highlands Conservancy and Catskill Mountainkeeper.

I'd also like to draw your attention to 3 charities that don't have as high a profile and you may not think about — but can definitely use your support.

Safe Passage provides shelter, a hotline, legal, advocacy and other services to victims of domestic violence in Sullivan County. Safe Passage is part of CACHE, the Community Action Commission to Help the Economy, based in Liberty. They don't have a fancy website or slick fundraising effort. There isn't even a way to give them a donation online. But they can use your help. Make your check out to Safe Passage/CACHE (the 'CACHE' has to be on it, so the bank can deposit it) and mail to Safe Passage, c/o CACHE, PO Box 783, Liberty, NY 12754.

Sullivan County SPCA does amazing work with very limited resources to assist lost, abandoned and homeless animals throughout the county. Homeless and abandoned pets are a growing problem with the downturn in the economy, and more people unable to continue caring for their pets. You can make a donation online at the Sullivan County SPCA website. They also welcome donation of goods (find the list of items they need here) and, of course, if you're thinking about a pet, consider adopting one from the SPCA.

Regional Food Bank of Northeastern NY is not technically a Sullivan County charity, but a food bank 'umbrella' that provides food to local food pantries and hunger relief organizations in over 20 upstate counties, including Sullivan. Sullivan itself doesn't have a full-time food bank, but a network of food pantries, often run by local churches. One of the best ways to help out these local food pantries — that truly do God's work — is to donate to the Regional Food Bank of NE New York. The Food Bank is really efficient at collecting donated or 'surplus' food and distributing it out to those who need it. $1 donated to the Food Bank results in $12 of food in the hands of those in need.

These are some charities that I know and support, but is by no means an exhaustive list of worthy groups in Sullivan County. Please use the "Comments" below to provide information on other local charities that people may want to consider in their year end giving.

In the spirit of the holidays, please don't use the "Comments" to debate the merits of a specific charitable organization or to slam an organization.

Comments

[M Van Houten]

A wonderful idea. A good use of Blogspace. Well done. Happy Holidays.

[J Grimes]

Good for you for listing these worthy organizations, David. I just searched high and low for details of local food banks with no luck (the 3 links on the Sullivan Co. government website did not work). Thanks for being a source of so much great info.