Our Council Happenings Blog is a way to stay updated on all things happening at the Broome County Council of Churches. Keep up-to-date on any news articles, current fundraisers and even hear from our staff on occasion!
December 9, 2013
CHOW, the Community Hunger Outreach Program of the Broome County Council of Churches, is in desperate need of food donations this holiday season.
According to a news release:
The public is encouraged to bring non-perishable food items or a cash donation for CHOW to Matthews Subaru at 3013 Old Vestal Road in Vestal (Behind Lowe’s) through January 2nd.
As part of Subaru’s national “Share the Love” initiative, Subaru will donate $250 from the sale of any new Subaru vehicle to CHOW or the buyer’s choice of 5 other national charities through January 2nd.
To enhance the food drive, Matthews will be hosting “Kid and Pet Photos with Santa” on Thursday December 12th from 6pm to 8pm with free human and dog cookies, candy, balloons and beverages. Parents are encouraged to bring their cameras and nonperishable food items for CHOW.
“This is an especially demanding time for meeting the needs of hungry people in Broome County and this event is a wonderful opportunity for people to share their resources to make things a little easier for folks facing food insecurity,” noted Rev. Dr. Joseph Sellepack, executive director of the Council.
When somebody like Ray Hull leaves the earth, holes suddenly appear.
“Ray was a very important person around here,” said the Rev. Dr. Joseph Sellepack, executive director of the Broome County Council of Churches. “He served on the budget and finance committee until he died.”
Ray had also served as treasurer of the board for years and, using his engineering background, as liaison between the building crew and the board of directors for the new Council building on the South Side of Binghamton.
“Whenever I had a building question, I called Ray,” Sellepack said.
Sellepack hadn’t been aware Ray had died on Oct. 15 at age 74 until he got what sounded like a routine phone call.
“We got a call from a lawyer who said we were named in the estate,” Sellepack said. “I asked if Ray was updating his will or something, and the lawyer said, ‘No, he died.’”
Those three words flabbergasted Sellepack, who’d often pick up the phone to find Ray on the other end, just calling to see how life was going.
Friends and family flocked to Ray’s memorial service on Nov. 30.
Man with the answers
Ray was the go-to guy at Longford Lake, too, while it was planning for its new sewer system, said Bob Alspaugh, who lived near Ray’s cottage there, in Brackney, Pa..
“If Ray wasn’t around for some reason, everybody got all excited because nobody else knew anything,” he said. At one early meeting, Ray hauled in three boxes of documents, containing blueprints for the lake’s dam, a map of the lake, and other papers that predated Ray’s time owning property there. “He became the informal historian.”
Hudda Aswad, of Binghamton, knew that Ray and his late and much-beloved wife Sharon, who died in 2009, had been particularly close.
They never had children but devoted time to various community causes, such as the Phelps Mansion Museum.
They enjoyed their home in Vestal and their place at the lake — and they loved cats.
“After Sharon died, the last cat died, and he never got another one,” Aswad said.
Ray was a sensitive man shaken to his roots when Sharon died unexpectedly during surgery, leaving him painfully alone. His three siblings live in Maryland, California and Tennessee.
Mr. Perfection
Indeed, Ray was no ordinary guy, said longtime friend Lou Perman, of Binghamton.
“He was a very intense person,” Perman said. “He would have everything all thought out before he started anything — a typical engineer. There’s always a better way of doing things. And I never knew him with his hair messed up, never saw him needing a haircut.”
Ray had retired after a long career with NYSEG.
Perman worked side-by-side with Ray at Tuesday night work meetings at Tabernacle United Methodist Church, where administrative assistant Mal Cohen remembers him and his wife singing in the choir, then under the direction of locally renowned music man Alan Crabb.
He sang baritone to Sharon’s alto, and they reveled in the fellowship.
“He’d have choir parties in his house,” Cohen said.
Ray wasn’t only in the choir, but generally assisted with the hiring of the organist and choir director whenever an opening arose, explained longtime friend and fellow Tabernacle member David Gouldin.
“Ray was very bright, well-organized and a very solid financial thinker,” said attorney Gouldin, a partner with Levene Gouldin and Thompson LLP in Vestal. “He did a great deal to carry our church on his shoulders during his years of leadership here.”
The addition of contemporary songs at Tabernacle did not meet with Ray’s approval, and the Hulls began singing in the choir at United Presbyterian Church in Binghamton.
Music is the context in which Barbara Hickling, of Endwell, will best remember him.
“If there was a music event going on in this valley, he would be likely to turn up to sing,” she said.
When he made his annual pilgrimage to the Bach Festival in Bethlehem, Pa., he made his reservation for the next year.
That festival will now be missing one of its most enthusiastic supporters.
The 10th Annual Choruses for CHOW Benefit Concert will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Sarah Jane Johnson Memorial United Methodist Church, 380 Main St., Johnson City.
The concert, which raises money for the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW) of the Broome County Council of Churches, will feature the Binghamton Downtown Singers, the Montrose Christmas Chorale, the Bronzissimo! Bell Choir, the Carousel Harmony Chorus, the Endwell Community Chorus and the Southerntiersmen Barbershop Chorus.
The individual groups will perform a range of musical styles and combine for a grand finale.
The timing of the event is especially important, as the need for food spikes at this time of year, because Broome County students who participate in food nutrition programs in their schools will be on extended breaks during December.
Tickets in advance are $8 and can be purchased by calling the Broome County Council of Churches at 724-9130.
Vestal, NY (WBNG Binghamton) It was the battle of the cans between Vestal and Binghamton High Schools.
Each school had two weeks to collect as many canned foods as possible. All of those items are now headed to the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW).
"It really couldn't come at a better time," said Mike Leahey, director of CHOW. "We're coming up on the holidays and a very long school break where a lot of students who stuffer with food insecurity -- they'll be at home without the breakfast and lunch the schools provides so this is going to directly affect them."
Vestal won the competition by collecting more than 1,900 cans with around 3,500 food items collected between both schools.
"For me personally, what makes it all worth while is that it's staying in the community," said Nathan Grossman, a senior at Vestal High School. "I think it's great that we can know it in our hearts that it can stay in the area and it's going to improve the lives of the people in Binghamton."
All of the food was loaded up on a truck on Tuesday and delivered to CHOW.
It will then be distributed to the 60 CHOW programs in Broome County.
Town of Chenango, NY (WBNG Binghamton) The 13th Annual Food-A-Bago kicked off Monday as a campaign to spread generosity and help to your neighbors.
Local radio stations are asking you to put a few extra items in your cart on your next trip to the grocery store. The non-perishables will be collected with the goal of filling an RV, which will then be picked up by the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW), and then distributed to families in need.
99.1 The Whale, Wild 104, 98.1 The Hawk, and WNBF will be broadcasting live from the RV and encouraging the community to stop by and make donations.
"We've had years where we've collected ten tons of food. Whatever we can get to, even a little helps," said Don Morgan, brand manager for 99.1 The Whale and Wild 104.
Morgan said there is a greater need this year, as the economy teeters and children go on Christmas break.
"Kids are out for about two weeks, which means they don't get the lunch at school two times a day," Morgan added.
Food-A-Bago will continue through Monday, November 11. Non-perishable items can be dropped off from 6 AM to 6 PM on weekdays, and 8 AM to 8 PM this weekend.
Bins are located at MainSource in the Town of Chenango, and Warner's Gas Service in Conklin.
Restaurant Week co-founder Piero Lisio of Little Venice Restaurant, right, presents an $8,534 check to Mike Leahey, director of the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse. Restaurant Week organizers held a news conference Friday touting the event's success in boosting local business and helping a local charity. / ANTHONY BORRELLI / Staff Photo
BINGHAMTON — The city feasted well.
Restaurant Week — a 10-day event to promote Binghamton’s dining diversity — wrapped up Sept. 26 with a record-breaking 21,822 meals served and $8,534 worth of proceeds donated to the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW), organizers announced Friday at a news conference in Remlik’s Grille & Oyster Bar.
Restaurant Week has two editions each year. Chefs at 24 participating restaurants develop their own three-course menus for the event, each tailored for new and returning diners as a guide for what the restaurant has to offer.
The first Restaurant Week four years ago featured seven restaurants that served 6,800 meals during the event.
“When it started, it was an idea we thought would spur people to eat downtown,” said Piero Lisio, a partner at Little Venice Restaurant and the event’s co-founder. “We thought it would not only boost business, but also help a local charity and it’s since expanded.”
Mike Leahey, director of CHOW, said the funds will be a critical help for those in the community who depend on food donations, especially as the holiday season approaches.
CHOW provided more than 700,000 free meals to the needy in 2012. An estimated 40 percent of those served were children, Leahey said.
“We’re very thankful we live in a community where people support our local businesses and our businesses support a charity,” he said.
The previous Restaurant Week in March raised $7,259 for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Binghamton.
In addition to its charitable element, Restaurant Week serves as sales boost for local eateries.
Joshua B. Ludzki, a Restaurant Week co-organizer, said the dedication of servers, dishwashers and other restaurant staff play as key a role in the success as the teamwork of restaurant owners who employ them.
“It would be really easy for these restaurants to be competitors,” Ludzki said. “Instead, what we have in Binghamton is this incredible cooperation.”
Restaurant owners said the event plays a key role in encouraging customers to explore new places and fill up tables during weekdays that might otherwise be slow.
“It’s great to see all the new faces; this has been our busiest Restaurant Week ever,” said Ed Wesoloski, a partner at Remlik’s.
Coupled with the recent influx of students and young professionals, events like Restaurant Week have helped create “a vibrancy that hasn’t been downtown for many years,” said Binghamton Mayor Matthew T. Ryan.
Another factor in helping the event prosper has been its ability to draw more customers from local communities outside Binghamton, Lisio said.
“Our hope is that people keep coming here even when it’s not Restaurant Week,” Lisio said. “It’s impossible to eat at all the restaurants in 10 days, so support them year-round — that’s the big message.”
Vestal, NY (WBNG Binghamton) The 31st annual CHOW Hunger Walk drew hundreds to Binghamton University Sunday.
With every step, the people of Broome County were one step closer to ending hunger in their community.
"People don't realize that some people don't have any food," said Gavi Hecht, a Binghamton University sophomore.
The money raised will benefit the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse, also known as CHOW.
CHOW gave out more than 700,000 free meals last year.
For every dollar donated, they are able to provide four more meals to those in need.
The director of CHOW, Mike Leahey, said the organization gives out more than 100,000 free meals each month to Broome County's homeless and hungry.
"Our goal is to provide 200,000 additional meals to the community," he said. "Over forty percent of the meals we provide every month go to our children in this community, so that's just heartbreaking."
Leahey said he expected up to 1,000 people to come out for the cause.
The crowd included numerous Binghamton University students, some working the event as volunteers.
"It's a good way to benefit the less fortunate," said Johnathan Mendez, a member of Sigma Beta Rho fraternity. "I'm just volunteering myself, a helping hand with all of my friends, so show everyone a good time while you're walking for a good cause."
Putting their feet to the pavement meant an opportunity to learn.
According to CHOW, more than 33,000 people in Broome County are living in poverty.
"If you think about the percentages of people that are starving, I mean just look at ten people I don't know, but maybe three or two of them are starving," Gavi Hecht said,"I think it's important that everybody not only comes out here to support, but finds out what else they can do to help."
CHOW has 30 food pantries and 30 soup kitchens across Broome County.
Binghamton University students and Broome County residents gathered at the East Gym on Sunday to satisfy their hunger for fundraising. Volunteers from the student body and local community participate in the 31st annual Hunger Walk Sunday afternoon. Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW) held the walk, which circled campus around the Brain.Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW) held its 31st annual Hunger Walk, with an estimated 700 to 1000 volunteers attending to help the cause, according to CHOW director Michael Leahey.
Since 1976, CHOW, along with the University’s Center for Civil Engagement (CCE), has been providing free food to those in need in Broome County.
“It’s our best opportunity to be able to highlight the issue of hunger in the community and to be able to educate people about the issue of hunger,” Leahey said. “For every dollar we raise it ends up providing four meals in the community.”
Since 1982, CHOW, which is managed by the Broome County Council of Churches, invited Broome County residents and BU students to walk to raise awareness and funds for the less fortunate. CHOW donated over 700,000 free meals last year.
“We moved to campus a few years ago, and we have a lot of students’ support,” Leahey said. “With that move, Sodexo, they donated food. Everyone has really donated a lot of time, a lot of volunteers. We’re very lucky.”
Collaboration between CCE, community members and the University seems to be helping CHOW’s turnout. CHOW has 30 pantries and two farms. Broome Bounty, a division of CHOW, is the sole food recovery program in the county, collecting food from local suppliers.
Other fundraisers such as the Jim “Mudcat” Grant All-Star Golf Tournament and the Great New York State Chili Championship also aim to raise funds and awareness about hunger in the community. In 2012, CHOW reportedly served about two million pounds of food to those in need in Broome County through its soup kitchens and community meal programs.
“We do little things, we do big things. It involves a huge community, and I think every year we have more people that have never walked before,” said Carol Herz, a local resident of Binghamton and a CHOW volunteer for the past three years.
Broome County Council of Churches will host its 31st annual CHOW Hunger Walk.
The 31st Annual CHOW Hunger Walk will be held Sunday, October 20 on the campus at Binghamton University.
Walkers may obtain registration envelopes prior to the walk at the Broome County Council of Churches office at 3 Otseningo St., Binghamton or call 724-9130 for more information.
You may also register beginning at 1 p.m. the day of the walk, which begins at 2 p.m.
Each individual raising $50 or more will receive a free walk t-shirt. All participants receive buttons.
The walk will be on the campus of Binghamton University and the walk and activities will begin at the East Gym.
Immediately after the walk, there will be free food, live music by the Beatles Band, appearances by the B-Mets and Senators Mascots, the ZooMobile, the Magic Paintbrush Project, bagpipers and games for children.
The goal for the walk is raising funds to provide 250,000 meals for hungry people in Broome County. Individuals, families and groups are invited to participate.
The holiday season means a lot of things to different people, but to those in poverty-especially children- it can mean struggling for food.
The Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse will have its 31st Annual CHOW Hunger Walk October 20th at the East Gym at Binghamton University.
This year their will be live music, the Broome County Zoomobile, and activities from the Magic Paintbrush Project.
Through CHOW's program, every one dollar raised is leveraged into seven dollars in food, which provides four meals.
"The cold weather is settling in and the holidays are coming, and that always provides a spike for us with a need for emergency food assistance. I'd like to remind the community that we have approximately a two week school break this year and we have thousands of young people who live in poverty who won't have access to those meals," said Mike Leahey the Director of CHOW.
CHOW has provided more than 700,000 free meals in 2012 40% of the recipients were children according to the Broome County Council of Churches.
Students looking to volunteer and community organizations gathered in the Mandela Room at BU Thursday in hopes of helping each other. Students are given the chance to possibly earn credit for internships, form long lasting partnerships or just help out where ever they're needed.
"This is a great opportunity. We've had hundreds of students come by already, we're very excited about talking to them about how they could be of help to us and how we might be able to help them," said Larry Denniston of the Broome County Council of Churches.
Larry Denniston from the Broome County Council of Churches has been working very closely with one student run volunteer group to prepare for a hunger walk.
"We help out the community by just putting on events for people. If an organization comes to us and they say they need this amount of volunteers to run a 5K we will provide those volunteers for them and help them out in any way we can," said Erin Small of the Student Volunteer Center.
And helping the community may help keep these students in the community after graduation.
"And often this turns into something more than just volunteering sometimes they'll do an internship for credit. Sometimes they graduate and they're even hired locally which is something we're always striving for," said Allison Alden the Director of the Center of Civic Engagement at BU.
"Going on out of college I know a lot of different people from the community that I never would have met if I had just sat in my dorm so it was really rewarding that way," said Erin Small.
This year, student athletes on the Vestal High School soccer varsity and junior varsity teams are teaming up with the Broome County Council of Churches to help “kick out” hunger in our area.
September is National Hunger Awareness Month, and our players have been collecting nonperishable food items this month and continuing throughout the soccer season. We’re asking for your help. On September 25, the players will wear “Got CHOW?” T-shirts to school as part of a push to collect more food donations at both home games against Maine-Endwell that evening.
Community members can drop off cans or boxes of non-perishable food items at any of the boys and girls junior varsity or varsity home soccer games at Dick Hoover Stadium. CHOW barrels will be set up next to the concession stand through the end of October.
Currently, the Golden Bears soccer teams’ home games schedule is:
September 25, 4:30 p.m. JV Boys & 7 p.m. Varsity Boys
A Fall Festival and 5K Run/Walk will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at Arnold Park in Vestal to support the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse of the Broome County Council of Churches.
The event will include a 5K run/walk through the park and woods, a volleyball tournament, live music, chicken barbecue, games and activities for kids, raffle baskets, Irish dancers, magicians, and face painting.
The event is organized and managed by the high school Association of Students from the Vestal area. Their mission is to help the community through charitable works and services
.
CHOW program director, Michael Leahey, said: “It is amazing to see what these studentsare doing in support of their community through this initiative to help feed people dealing with food insecurity. We are very grateful for their work on behalf of CHOW and impressed by their creativity and dedication in caring for people in need.”
Registrations for the 5K run/walk can be emailed to FallFestival5k@gmail.com or you may register the morning of the race from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the park.
Pre-registration qualifies participants for a free T-shirt. Pre-registration is required to participate in the volleyball tournament by emailing FallFestivalTournament@gmail.com and providing the entrant’s first and last name.
Admission is a donation of canned goods for the CHOW collection barrels.
Broome County Council of Churches has announced several new and exciting features for the 31st CHOW Hunger Walk, which will be held Sunday, October 20.
Live music by The Beatles Band, the Broome County ZooMobile, activities from The Magic Paintbrush Project, and visits by the team mascots from both the BMets and Senators are some of the newest attractions of the event. As always, free food and beverages will be provided all participants.
The CHOW Walk is an essential part of the support system for the Council’s emergency food program. Hundreds of walkers, including individuals and families, as well as teams from dozens of churches, youth groups and community organizations contribute to the success of this annual 2.5 mile event, which will be held on the Binghamton University campus starting at 2:00 p.m. Registration begins at 1:00 p.m. in the East Gym parking lot.
CHOW program director, Michael Leahey, notes that CHOW is seeking both veteran and new walkers to help raise the money needed to assist Broome County residents struggling against hunger. “People are urged to find a sponsor, form a group, or walk individually. In addition to enjoying the entertainment and food, each walker raising at least $50 will receive a free event tee shirt. The Walk this year has a new and family-friendly focus. We invite everyone to enjoy the expanded live entertainment and take advantage of the opportunity to participate in fun activities,” Leahey stated.
CHOW, the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse, provided over 700,000 meals, free of charge, to people requesting assistance in 2012. Over 40% of those served were children. CHOW also operates the Broome Bounty food recovery program, which rescued and redeployed over one million pounds of food locally last year alone. The demand for its services has been growing constantly as local individuals and families try to deal with the difficult economic environment. Through CHOW’s program, every $1 raised is leveraged into $7 in food, which provides 4 meals.
Volunteers can call the Council of Churches at (607) 724-9130 for more information and can pick up pledge packets at the office at 3 Otseningo St., Binghamton, on the city’s south side. Walkers can bring their pledge envelopes and money they collected to the walk.
BINGHAMTON — Twenty-four restaurants will participate in the fall edition of Binghamton Restaurant Week, which runs from Sept. 17 to 26.
Proceeds will benefit the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse.
The ten-day event is intended to lure diners to local eateries and bolster the city’s economy while raising money for a local charity.
Restaurants have special lunch and/or dinner deals during the course of the event. A three-course lunch costs $10 and a three-course dinner $25 or less.
Participating restaurants include Binghamton Hots, Burger Monday, Cafe West 46, Cortese Restaurant, Crepe Heaven, Cyber Cafe West, Czech Pleeze, Galaxy Brewing Company, Gallagher’s Irish Pub,House of Reardon, Little Venice Restaurant, Loft @ 99, Lost Dog Cafe, Number 5 Restaurant, Remlik’s Grille & Oyster Bar, River Bistro, Sake-Tumi, South Side Yanni’s, Taste of Europe, Thai Time, Tranquil Bar & Bistro, Water Street Brewing Company, Whole In The Wall Restaurant, and Zona & Co. Grille
