“It Takes a Village” fundraiser will support Family in tough times

Family of New Paltz always needs a little additional help during the holiday season. As a result, they’re kicking off their second annual “It Takes a Village” fundraising campaign.

Last year’s event brought in an unexpected boost at a time when Family needed it the most.

“We were surprised. A lot of checks came flying in with ‘It Takes a Village’ written in the memo box,” said Dave Sterman, with Family. “It was such a success.”

One of the key aspects of the fundraiser that made people give last year was that it had a financial match. For every $2 people donated, there was a $1 matched.

It ended up bringing in $7,500 during the holidays last year — a time when food pantries and charitable organizations, like Family, see an upswing of users.

“This year is not looking any better economically. And Family is not getting any more support from Kingston, Albany or Washington,” Sterman explained. “So the situation is, again, unfortunately pretty dire. This part of the year we start to face a lot of financial pressures.”

Use of support services at Family grew and grew during the Great Recession. Even after its technical end in June 2009, the economy has remained soft and people kept coming. Family is expecting another record-breaking year of use as 2013 winds into 2014.

Sterman said they wanted to make the deal sweeter for donors. This year’s anonymous donor has pledged to match $1 for every $2 donated up to $6,000. That would bring in $9,000 total for Family of New Paltz’s parent organization Family of Woodstock.

That money will go to support everything that Family does in Ulster County — the clothes and food for the needy, the emergency shelter for those needing to get out of the cold and the substance abuse counseling.

“It’s especially helpful in the holidays, because during the holidays Family has a real need because of the emergency stuff — emergency housing, emergency shelter,” he said. “So the campaign is aimed for a time when families financial needs are the greatest.”

Donations can be made in person, online, by phone or by mail. Check out www.familyofwoodstockinc.org for more details. You can also learn more about Family of New Paltz by searching for them on Facebook.