|
ithaca
| 7/28/2010 11:29:00 AM Email this article • Print this article | |
Foodnet conducting fundraiser with Ithaca SufferJets
Joseph Murtagh
Reporter
Foodnet will bring a new meaning to the phrase "meals on wheels" this weekend.
Foodnet Meals on Wheels, which delivers meals to seniors and the disabled throughout Tompkins County, is teaming up with the Ithaca SufferJets for a fundraiser on Saturday, July 31, featuring barbecue, music and, of course, roller-skating.
The fundraiser on July 31st will consist of three segments, said Steve Griffin, Foodnet executive director.
It will kick off with a skate with the SufferJets at the Cayuga Waterfront Trail at 5 p.m., with participants meeting at the trailhead in front of Cass Park Rink. The skate will conclude back at the front of the rink for a tailgate party and a barbecue chicken dinner, with music by Johnny Russo, at 5:30 p.m. (the suggested donation for the dinner is $10). Finally, as dinner winds down, the doors will open at the rink for a roller derby bout at 7 p.m.
The proceeds from the 2010 "Wheel-a-Thon" and Tailgate Party will help Foodnet Meals on Wheels continue its mission of delivering hot meals to elderly and disabled citizens who have trouble preparing meals on their own. The event has several local sponsors, including Tompkins County Trust Company, Geneva on the Lake, and the First Presbyterian Church.
Griffin said the money he hopes to pull in from the fund raiser this year is especially important given the tough financial constraints facing the organization. Foodnet, which is funded through the Tompkins County Office of the Aging, is expecting more than $16,000 this year in budget cuts. While Griffin said that sum makes up a small piece of the organization's overall $1 million budget, it's nevertheless a significant amount of money, since it could supply meals to eight or nine people for an entire year. The fund raisers are important, said Griffin, not only as a means for getting the word out about Foodnet's services, but to raise money so that the organization can be responsive to the community's needs.
"We get two-thirds of our budget in grants," said Griffin, "but it's up to us to make up the rest.
"By doing these fundraising events, we can help more people when they need us," he added. "We don't have a waiting list, so the money raised in the fundraiser allows us to help people who are coming out of a rehabilitation or an injury, people who need our help right away."
Foodnet Meals on Wheels, which is headquartered on Triphammer Road, serves one to two meals per day to 500 people in Tompkins County. Of these, around 400 are home delivery, while the rest are distributed via locations like Titus Towers, Groton Center Village, and the First Baptist Church in Trumansburg.
"We deliver mostly to seniors," said Griffin, "although about 10 percent of our services are to non-elders who are disabled."
To find out more about more about Foodnet, or about its fundraiser, you can visit www.foodnet.org or www.ithacarollerderby.com.
|  |
Article Comment Submission Form
|
|
Purgatory Hill, the Wisconsin-based duo that made its Ithaca debut this past March, is coming back to the area for a pair of shows this week: Thursday, Sept. 2 at the Rongovian Embassy in Trumansburg, and Friday, Sept. 3 at the Haunt in Ithaca. The Kitchen Theatre Company, Ithaca's year-round, downtown professional theater company, is beginning its 20th Anniversary Season on September 1 in a brand new space. As long as I can remember, The Ithaca Times has held an annual contest asking readers to vote for the best local businesses in various categories.  |
