Category — Volunteering & Charitable Donations

I just love it when the land of social media is bursting with joyful karma, like when I wrote about The Bloggess and her Red Dress Project, and in the last week or so there have been a couple of delightful feel-good social media items, so I thought that I’d share them.

I don’t know if any of you follow Glennon from Momastery, but she is this woman who looks gorgeous and super-together who started writing almost by accident with radical honesty about how not-together she was due to bulimia and alcoholism and what-not, and now she’s evolved into this lovely Force of Nature for Good in the Universe. Most recently, she held a Love Flash Mob in which she introduced her followers (called Monkees) to a woman who works at a shelter for homeless teen moms and asked folks to donate up to a maximum of $25, and they raised $85,000 in five and a half hours. I mean, that’s pretty incredible, right? Don’t you just feel all warm and fuzzy now?

Meanwhile, did you hear about this local happy karma social media story? The Times Union reported about a Facebook page called Shaker Compliments, a Facebook page that’s hugely popular and has spurred similar pages for other schools. The TU explains, “an anonymous student serves as a clearinghouse for kind words. Students send their praise to the site’s creator, who screens it and posts it with a link to the mentioned student’s Facebook page. The person sending the compliment is not identified.” After a brief explanation, they quote several students gushing about how good it feels to get a random, anonymous compliment. All of which offers hope that perhaps adolescence in the age of social media isn’t entirely the complete shark tank that I’ve been fearing it could be. Plus, it’s just a wonderful idea, and so simple.

Actually, as I was writing about this, it reminded me of a post I’d written about how sometimes I wish that I could pass out Maternal Merit Badges to spread encouragement to other mothers, because so often we feel judged or we read these ridiculous articles pitting mothers against each other. So, if you feel like sending an anonymous compliment to a mama who’s on Facebook, you can message me via my Capital District Fun Facebook page or send an email to capitaldistrictfun [at] yahoo [dot] com, and I’ll put it on the Facebook page. Is that just way too high school? I don’t think it’s ever a bad idea to buck someone up, but we’ll see if anyone is inspired.

And for what it’s worth, let me just say: I think you all rock.

I mentioned way back in August that the Schenectady Museum is now called miSci, which stands for the Museum of Science and Innovation. I finally got a chance to check out the new-and-improved science museum last week, so I thought that I’d give you a report.

If you haven’t already heard, they’ve got a Butterflies exhibition that will continue through April 7th. They plopped a butterfly habitat right there in the museum, just as you’re walking into the main exhibition space.

The butterflies are an appealing entree into the world of science. A friend went with her bug-phobic child and they appreciated that they could look through the glass and enjoy the butterflies even though they weren’t prepared to enter the habitat for a “butterfly safari” experience. If it’s busy, there can be a bit of waiting, but helpers are there to entertain with butterfly trivia and activities. The current plan is that the butterflies will be at the museum every year, which is a lovely little antidote to winter.

Most people who know about the museum are familiar with the trains during the holidays and Suits-Bueche Planetarium. The rest of the permanent exhibition as well as their collections includes plenty of historic GE stuff. Now, with a new name and a new director, there’s a much greater emphasis on the hands-on science stuff that kids love. An example is the current exhibition, Seeing, which focus (get it? focuses?) on optical illusions and perception. One activity that’s a hit with the kids is trying to make a basket with a pair of goggles that skews your perspective. The illusions are fun and interactive, although I am tragically so sensitive that I got a little queasy after tricking my eyeballs so much! The Seeing exhibition continues through June 2nd, and then later in the summer they’ll be bringing in another hands-on exhibition.

Along with all this interactive stuff, there are still historic appliances (like the tv that’s a hulking cabinet with a screen smaller than an iPad) as well as  the wooden kitchen set that is apparently too dear in the hearts of long-time members and current toddler visitors to be moved away.

There’s a bunch of new programming as well, including a new Spark! class for preschoolers that will teach the scientific method in an appealing and developmentally appropriate way–March will be about weather–

–and programs for April break:

Here is where I feel compelled to say again that membership is an awesome plan. Okay, bear with me for a minute here. If you purchase a family membership at miSci, it costs $80.  When you’re members, you get free admission to the museum exhibitions as many times as you want for a full year and 4 free passes into the planetarium. For my family (2 adults, an 8-year-old, and a 10-year-old), a single visit to the museum with the planetarium show would cost $52 and a second visit without the show would cost $32, for a total of $84. So if we visit twice, the membership is a good idea, but then members get other discounts (like $20 off that Spark! series & a 10% discount off birthday parties and at the museum shop).

But it rocks even more than that because of the ASTC Passport Program. Many museums and science centers are members of the Association of Science and Technology Centers, which offers a reciprocal program that allows you to get into a bunch of other museums for free. Now, the one teensy bit of bad news is that the other places you visit have to be at least 90 miles away. CMOST ($80 for a basic membership) is also an ASTC member (so is the NY State Museum, but they’re reworking their membership program right now), membership at either miSci or CMOST will get you these fabulous reciprocal benefits when you travel out of town. So, for example, I could pay $80 for a membership at miSci and then travel to Boston and get out of paying admission for the family to the Boston Museum of Science ($82 for our family) and the Boston Children’s Museum ($56 for our family) or  check out Liberty Science Center ($58.50 for our family). If I made those visits, plus those couple of visits to miSci, I would save $200 in museum admissions!!

And now are you ready for your head to explode? Because miSci and a bunch of other New York museums (including the Albany Institute of History & Art, The Hyde Collection, and The National Museum of Dance) are part of another reciprocal program called the Empire State Reciprocal Membership Program. Free admission for everyone! I feel like Oprah giving out cars!

Do you know the best part? While you are completely saving money all over the place, the museum that you’ve joined is all grateful to you and treats you like you are doing them a favor! So you get to save money and feel fabulous about yourself at the same time!

Okay, I got off track a little. And I know that long-time readers have heard me chatting up memberships before, but I think it bears repeating.  So, just to review:

1. miSci is way more fun than the Schenectady Museum was, and

2. You should become a member (come to think of it, I think I’ve let my membership lapse, so I need to get on that).

I was looking for information about local collection sites for hurricane relief, and beyond Mamatoga who has a big list of donation  drop-off locations listed for the Saratoga area, I didn’t find too much. But here’s what I did find.

• There’s a drop-off site in Guilderland with details on the TU’s Guilderland blog.
• The First Reformed Church of Schenectady is collecting new socks, new underwear and towels for residents of Staten Island on Sundays from 9-12 or weekdays 9-3, or by arrangement if you call Rev. Stacey Midge at 518-533-8000.
• YNN’s blog also has a list of drop-off centers as well.
• WNYC has a great list of volunteer opportunities and resources for people located in or near  NYC and New Jersey. I know we’re not there, but since communication is so spotty for some folks, I thought it might be information worth passing along.
• Here’s a link to Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund if you want to donate money.

Please feel free to leave comments with links to other drop-off sites. Comments on FB OR on the blog help, but if you really want to spread the word, both works even better.

Hello! Remember I was talking recently about Taylor Mali coming soon?

Well, as luck would have it, I have a four extra tickets. Don’t ask: it’s a long story. But hooray for you! Because now maybe you can go! For free!

So, if you’d like to win free tickets to see this awesome slam poet, please comment on this post before Sunday at 11:59 pm. Please tell me:

• your favorite poet, poem, or literary line and
• if you’d like 2 tickets only, 4 tickets only, or if you’d like 4 tickets but you’d settle for 2 tickets.

On Monday I’ll use random.org to choose a winner and they’ll get 4 or 2 tickets, as they choose, and if they’d prefer a pair of tickets, I’ll “random” again until I settle on someone else who’d like 2 tickets.Then I’ll email to confirm that I can get in touch with you, so make sure your information is correct, please!

I’ll announce the winner or winners on Monday night.

The details are below, because I’m just too lazy to try to think of a new and creative way to say them, and I fear some of you would be too lazy to click the link back. Am I just setting the bar way too low for all of us? Maybe. . . .

Good luck!

I’m super-excited because once again Taylor Mali will be appearing at our church, the First Unitarian Society of Schenectady, on Thursday, November 8th at 8 pm. I’ll be reminding you about this later with the listings, but I wanted to give him an early plug, because I went when he performed here last year, and it was amazing.  Tickets are $20/adult and $15/student, and Mali does this as a benefit for our youth group’s trip to volunteer for Safe Passage in Guatemala. Safe Passage offers education, support, and resources to the kids who live in the Guatemala City garbage dump.

Last year, Cute W and I went because we wanted to be supportive of our friend who organized it and the youth who were going, but we were really blown away by how great it was. We laughed (howled), we cried. To get a sense of what his performance is like, here’s a video of probably his most well-known-and-loved poem “What Teachers Make.” You should totally just click and watch it. Really. Come on, you’re not being productive, anyway. This is a few minutes, and it’s cult-cha!

The intended audience is really more teenager-to-adult. F-bombs may be dropped, grown-up topics are discussed. Last year Cute W and I went without the girls, and we thought that it was so terrific that we planned to bring the girls this year, anyway. We figured that they’ve heard swear words already, and his messages are worth it. Completely worth it. But then I had them watch one or two of his poems online, and they just were not into it yet. So, later. In any case, if you are trying to decide exactly whom you should take, keep in mind that it’s PG-13, and you can always sample a couple online before you make a decision. But you should go. You can make it a girls’ night out and follow it up with drinks. And then invite me along.

To purchase tickets, you can email Mindy at Mindy at alwiki@nycap.rr.com or leave me a comment and I’ll hook you up.

I’m super-excited because once again Taylor Mali will be appearing at our church, the First Unitarian Society of Schenectady, on Thursday, November 8th at 8 pm. I’ll be reminding you about this later with the listings, but I wanted to give him an early plug, because I went when he performed here last year, and it was amazing.  Tickets are $20/adult and $15/student, and Mali does this as a benefit for our youth group’s trip to volunteer for Safe Passage in Guatemala. Safe Passage offers education, support, and resources to the kids who live in the Guatemala City garbage dump.

Last year, Cute W and I went last year because we wanted to be supportive of our friend who organized it and the youth who were going, but we were really blown away by how great it was. We laughed (howled), we cried. To get a sense of what his performance is like, here’s a video of probably his most well-known-and-loved poem “What Teachers Make.” You should totally just click and watch it. Really. Come on, you’re not being productive, anyway. This is a few minutes, and it’s cult-cha!

The intended audience is really more teenager-to-adult. F-bombs may be dropped, grown-up topics are discussed. Last year Cute W and I went without the girls, and we thought that it was so terrific that we planned to bring the girls this year, anyway. We figured that they’ve heard swear words already, and his messages are worth it. Completely worth it. But then I had them watch one or two of his poems online, and they just were not into it yet. So, later. In any case, if you are trying to decide exactly whom you should take, keep in mind that it’s PG-13, and you can always sample a couple online before you make a decision. But you should go. You can make it a girls’ night out and follow it up with drinks. And then invite me along.

To purchase tickets, you can email Mindy at Mindy at alwiki@nycap.rr.com or leave me a comment and I’ll hook you up.

Look! Here’s our sweet neighbor Kira:

Kira with hair

Kira and the rest of her family are some of our favorite neighbors. And let me tell you: in this delightful neighborhood, the competition is fierce. Our cat Isis came to us through Kira’s family, their family hosts the annual Christmas caroling party, and Kira and her older brother and sister are always extraordinarily loving, kind, and patient with my girls and any other little kids they happen to meet.

And I’m telling you about her because on Saturday, March 24th at 1 pm, Kira will be shaving her head as part of the St. Baldrick’s Shaving Event at Proctors.

St. Baldrick’s is a volunteer-driven fundraising organization in which volunteers raise money for children’s cancer research by shaving their heads in a show of solidarity with kids in treatment for cancer. You can read more about it here. Sometimes “shavees” are raising money in honor of someone, and Kira’s shaving as part of “Team Audrey.” Audrey is another neighbor and student at our local middle school who completed treatment in April 2011 for Acute lymphocytic leukemia and is now cancer-free!

Anyway, when I first found out that Kira was shaving her head (on Facebook, of course), I yelled it over to Cute W and he said, “Wow, that’s ballsy!” First, YES. But second, we need a gender-neutral version of ballsy. Gutsy is close but not quite strong enough. Ponder that, please, and let me know what you come up with.

I thought she deserved a little promotion, so you can make a donation here.

Madeline Musto died last night. I didn’t hear that before I wrote and published this post. Oh, no. That poor family. They’re in our thoughts and prayers.

Madeline Musto, an adorable 5-year-old girl from Schenectady, was recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. I’ve been hearing about her via email lists, and the TU Parent to Parent blog, and the TU Schenectady blog, among others. The family is asking for prayers for her, and if you don’t pray, you can always send some healing thoughts. They are also accepting donations as they research possible treatment options. The family’s web page for updated information is here.

I was going to add this note to last night’s post, and I couldn’t do it. It just deserved its own post, and I don’t even know them, so really, your time would be better spent checking out the words and pictures from the family photo shoot than anything that I could say.

Then I remembered that I don’t think that I ever shared the following essay, which I’d put on another blog in May 2010. And it seemed related, so here it is edited a bit.

It Happens

Years ago I ran into a moms’ group friend who was carrying her toddler because his entire leg was encased in a cast. “What happened?!?”  I gasped.  She shrugged. “He was just running in the back yard.”

I think that it was possibly one of the most frightening statements I’d ever heard. Because, of course, my daughter ran in the yard all the time.  I had been under the impression that children running in the back yard was a good thing.  Fresh air!  Exercise!  Joyful playing!  Now it was just another moment of daily life fraught with peril.

It’s not that I was unaware of danger.  As soon as M was born we understood her fragility–she was rushed into the NICU for meconium aspiration.  It was only a couple of weeks later that my husband and I were home with her, getting sucked into a short-lived tv reality drama based in a children’s hospital.  We’d sit on the sofa, tears streaming down our cheeks, and cling to our own fully-recovered baby girl.  Still, as day passes into night again and again, and you repeatedly wake up to your own lovely child, safe and sound, it begins to seem quite possible that you’ll all live happily ever after.  Until you run into someone whose kid got hurt pretty badly doing something completely normal.

Because, you see, I would have felt enormously better if this toddler had been up on the top of a very large climbing structure, or if he’d managed to escape the house and gotten onto the street, or if he’d been–I don’t know—riding on a mechanical bull.  Because my little toddler girl would not be allowed to do that.  It is so much less frightening to find fault with the parents, because then, you can imagine that your own children are safe. I think it’s what makes today’s parents so careful.  Because the only thing worse than having something terrible happen to your own kids is having something terrible happen to your kids and being the person who’s blamed for it.  And then having the blame go viral.

So we see something awful and frightening and we lash out at the parents for letting it happen.  This is on my mind because of the recent Single Ladies brouhaha (if you need background, you can see the TU Parent to Parent blog here and at the moment you can still see the video itself  here).  But so much of the anger is really rooted in fear, fear about what can happen to our own children if we’re not constantly vigilant.  I always tell my girls that parents act angriest when they’re afraid.  I never shriek at them.  Unless I think they’re about to be hit by a car.

That’s all part of the reason why the moms in my neighborhood have been so uneasy lately. Because sometimes it’s nothing that the parents did or didn’t do, it’s nothing you could ever anticipate.  A beautiful 13-year-old girl died suddenly of a brain aneurysm just over a week ago.  “She’d felt a little bit light-headed, but that was it.  They’d gone to the doctor just in case,”  one mom murmured to me.  Meanwhile our local strep epidemic seems downright sinister since reading the recent TU article about strep entering a child’s bloodstream and leaving him with amputated limbs and a fight for his life.  I’m not the only mom who’s been starting each morning with detailed questions about how everyone is feeling.   We were talking about this, in hushed tones, at nursery school pick-up when another mom corrected me, “No, sometimes there aren’t even symptoms.  I know a little girl who had no sore throat, no headache, nothing at all.”  And we all stood there in a circle, stunned.  How are we supposed to process this, how can we live so unbearably close to tragedy every day and function as mothers without choking on our own hearts?

When a neighborhood girl was diagnosed with cancer, families stumbled over each other to make them meals.  We all wanted to help, of course.  But was I the only one who selfishly felt that helping  another family might provide me with some sort of karmic inoculation against having the same thing happen to my own kids?  With all the recent news, the same irrational reasoning prompted me to finally get  myself on the National Blood Marrow Registry (you could do it now, too:  if you’re intimidated by vague talk of payment, I’ll end the suspense and tell you that it’s a suggested donation.)  And of course it doesn’t help.  Or, really, it could help someone, but any number of virtuous acts can’t buy your family a free pass to health and happiness. Who hasn’t heard about a life tragically cut short in the middle of good deeds, kindnesses, attempts to make the world a better place?

I listen to stories of survivors who say that they are grateful for what medical tragedies and family losses have taught them, and for how their lives have changed.  They find greater value in the everyday pleasures of a blue sky or fireflies.  Food tastes better, they are more patient and kind, they hold their children close and breathe in their scent and fix each moment as a memory, just in case.  And so I try my best to do these things myself, now, in desperate hope that the gods or God or Fate will take note and withhold all such lessons from me and my family.

Hooray for Bekki, who won the Snip-its Giveaway!

If you’re sad that you weren’t a winner this time, you might want to “like” the Snip-its Facebook page so that you can hear about other discounts or special offers. Or, if you read this week’s KidsOutAndAbout.com e-newsletter, you’d know that there’s another giveaway over there! Speaking of which, if you haven’t gotten around to it yet, go ahead and sign up to receive the weekly e-newsletter.

Meanwhile, if you weren’t distracted with that other story about women’s health that was all over the news today, you might have heard that Friday, February 3rd is Go Red for Women Day to raise awareness about women and heart disease. I just happened to wear red today, but I have two fun links that are heart-related, so I thought that I’d take the opportunity to share.

First, here’s an amusing little official Go Red Video by Elizabeth Banks from Parenthood. I first saw it on Ask Moxie, who is smart enough to answer all sorts of difficult and sensitive topics for mothers and actually embed videos into her blog post, which I remain too technically inept to do myself. Yes, tech friends, this is a cry for help.

Second, do you know that Kina Grannis song Message From Your Heart? I’ve been on a bit of a Kina Grannis kick lately, but even if I weren’t, the song is really quite apt for occasion. But wait, when I went to look for that link, I realized that this video won her a big  Doritos contest for Super Bowl XLII (aka 2008). Okay, I missed that part completely. Where was I? Probably chasing children or hovering in the kitchen because another hot dip had just come out of the oven. So it’s a doubly timely link, for heart health and Super Bowl hype (did you need a recipe?). Gosh, I guess Doritos has been doing these contests for years. Huh. I only notice Doritos these days when I’m rolling my eyes at their obnoxious and sexist ads. If you, like me, are on approximately a 4-year delay when it comes to pop culture, maybe it’s new to you. Kina Grannis has a more recent super-fun jellybean In Your Arms video.

J loves the Message From Your Heart song, but she insists that the “Taking blood and making art” line is really “Taking love and making art.” It sort of fits, I’ll admit, but it’s wrong. This drives me a little nutty. Actually, J gets this from her father. Cute W frequently gets lyrics wrong, and he’s often emotionally attached to the incorrect lyrics. It’s become a bit of a running joke in our family. Right now, the girls love to sing, “I got the moves, Mick Jagger” instead of “I got the moves like Jagger” just because they know it makes me squirm. Hey you guys! That one’s from 2011, isn’t it? Thank goodness for Zumba! I get cardio (heart healthy!) while learning about pop culture. Woo, hoo.

Here’s a guest post from Fazana. For more on Jazzy Sun Birthdays, check out the Facebook page. Thanks, Fazana!

Hello, Capital District families!  My name is Fazana and I am a stay-at-home mom to a creative and sensitive seven-year-old daughter and a spirited and active two-year-old son.  I’m thrilled that Katie has given me the opportunity to let you all know about Jazzy Sun Birthdays, a project that I started six months ago and in which I believe many of you might be interested.  What is it I do?  I host personalized birthday parties for homeless children.

I believe that allowing children (particularly those who have been exposed to much more hardship than most of us can begin to imagine) to experience some of the simple joys of childhood is important.  Giving a child a birthday party may not be poverty-fighting, but it is smile-producing!  Most of the children in our lives are fortunate enough to be shielded from the harsh realities of the world.  Even if they are exposed to them, it is likely to be in a second-hand fashion.  The children I reach are those who know first-hand what it is like not to have a roof over their heads and possibly had their parents struggle to figure out the source of their next meals.  Celebrating their birthdays with cake, decorations, games, presents and goody bags will help them feel less like “homeless kids” and more like “regular kids”, if only for a few hours.

I have always loved throwing parties for family and friends–from surprise birthday parties to bachelorette parties to baby showers.  After I gave birth to my first child, I added children’s birthday parties to my repertoire.  I have derived great pleasure in putting together theme parties (often on a shoestring budget) for my children.  The joy in their eyes evident during each party is something I wanted to replicate in the eyes of children whose lives are in a state of flux.  There is a lot of focus on homeless children during the holidays in December but a birthday is a very special day for any child (and most adults!) because it is his/her day to shine.  Hence, the birth of Jazzy Sun Birthdays!

I am currently volunteering my time with St. Catherine’s Center for Children and hosting parties at their transitional shelter for homeless families in Albany County.  I hope to work with additional organizations (such as Joseph’s House in Troy and St. Paul’s Center in Rensselaer) in the near future.  At present, I do the following at the family shelter run by St. Catherine’s:

1)      Host age-appropriate theme-parties on the third Saturday of each month for all children whose birthdays are in that particular month.  (Past themes include Dora the Explorer, Disney Princesses, Justin Bieber, Mickey Mouse, Transformers and Spiderman.)

2)      Provide birthday children with 3 to 4 gifts, one of which is a book.

3)      Provide pizza and cake along with party games and arts and crafts activities.

4)      Distribute goody bags to party attendees (i.e., other homeless children living in the shelter who are not celebrating their birthday).

5)      Provide a photo book to each birthday child containing pictures taken during his/her party so they will have lasting memories of the event.

As most of you know, throwing a child’s birthday party generally takes a lot of time and resources.  I pound the pavements (usually with my toddler in tow) and send countless emails to try to get as many items as possible donated or sold at reduced prices since my funds are extremely limited.  For each of the past six months, different pizzerias have donated pizzas for the parties.  I am grateful that most of the cakes to date have been donated by individuals who simply heard about the mission of Jazzy Sun Birthdays and wanted to help out.  Many different people have donated gifts, party supplies, and goody bag items thus far.  When I do have to purchase items out-of-pocket, my go-to places are Dollar Tree, Yankee Dollar, Walmart, the clearance rack of Party City, Marshalls and Craig’s List.

To ensure that Jazzy Sun Birthdays continues to thrive and grow, I am constantly on the lookout for more wonderful individuals and groups who are willing to lend a hand and/or donate items.  I take advantage of all opportunities to get the word out about the project; hence, my excitement about providing a guest post here!  So…how can you, your friends, your family, and/or your colleagues help?  The beauty of this project is that anyone can be a part of it, no matter how busy your schedule or how tight your finances.

The following is partial list of ways to help:

1)      Volunteering at a party by helping with arts and crafts, serving pizza and cake, overseeing games, etc.

2)      Putting special skills to use by face painting, making balloon animals, taking photos, etc. during parties.

3)      Making up goody bags for 25 to 30 children.

4)      Helping with the purchase of gifts/party supplies.

5)      Baking a half-sheet cake.

6)      Thinking of craft projects to go with the theme of the party.

7)      Donating leftover party supplies/decorations and/or unopened gifts to the project.

8)      Spreading the word to people you know about Jazzy Sun Birthdays so that I can acquire more volunteers and/or donors of funds/gifts/supplies.

9)      Connecting me with business owners who might donate items such as cakes, pizza, paper products, gifts, books, etc.

I would love to expand to more shelters and make more homeless children feel like kings and queens for a day.  If you would like to help me do so, please contact me at jazzysunbirthdays [at] yahoo [dot] com.  Also, please “like” the Jazzy Sun Birthdays page on Facebook so that you can view photos of past parties, get information about upcoming ones and provide advice on gifts or craft projects, among other things.  If you’d like more background about the project, check out the article about Jazzy Sun Birthdays in the September print edition of Capital District Parent Pages. Thanks for reading this guest post!  I hope to hear from many of you soon!

I linked to a couple of places for hurricane relief, and here are a few more.

A reader wrote me with this:

I am a teacher in the Schalmont School District and many of our families in the Rotterdam Junction area lost everything in the flooding after Irene.  The district has set up a donation center at Jefferson Elementary School (100 Princetown Road, Schenectady, NY 12306).  For more information you can follow this link to the district homepage.

Many of these families have small children and lost everything so we are really hoping the community support will turn this tragedy into something positive.

Here’s a Facebook page for helping Schoharie County with hurricane relief.

Here are a bunch of links that the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp. sent out via email:

• The Chamber of Schenectady County will be accepting donations of non-perishable food items, canned goods, diapers and more. Call 518-372-5656 for information.
• The Galesi Group is offering short term warehouse provisions to local businesses for temporary real estate and warehousing needs. Call 518-356-4445.
• 1st National Bank of Scotia is offering special loans for those in our area affected by Tropical Storm Irene. Call 518-370-7200. More…