CHARITIES

 Our Charity this year is through  Ulster County Community Action called  " Operation Back Pack". This is a county- wide federally funded not for profit agency offering education,nutrition,mreferral and advocacy to anyone in need. A new program with this agency is the  Operation BackPack Program.

In conjunction with area schools, Community Action  is preparing backpacks filled with nutritious food that students can take home with them on Friday so that over the weekend or a long Holiday, the children will still have food to eat. These children have been identified by the home/school teaching staff as having little or no food to eat from the time they leave school on Friday till the time they return back to school on Monday morning. The BackPack program is part of national efforts to get food into homes of children in need. Community Action was lucky enough to obtain a grant from the  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ( ARRA) that provided food filled backpacks for kids, however the grant has ended but the need has not. Our Festival this October is donating a portion of our profits to Operation BackPack so that our children ion need, can be fed when school sessions arent in as well as when they are in school. For more information please contact: Suzy Hinchey, Outreach Director at (845)338-8750 ext. 105