{"id":75572,"date":"2016-11-29T05:04:03","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T10:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=75572"},"modified":"2016-11-28T18:58:29","modified_gmt":"2016-11-28T23:58:29","slug":"on-giving-tuesday-community-members-tell-us-what-matters-in-cny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=75572","title":{"rendered":"On Giving Tuesday, community members tell us what matters in CNY"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cnyCommunityFoundation\"<\/a>Five Online Contest Winners Announced; All Entries Displayed Online<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In 2011, Rita Kimak was a member of St. Joseph\u2019s Church in Camillus when the\u00a0congregation was shaken with the news that their beloved pastor, Fr. Gregg LeStrange, had terminal\u00a0cancer. It was a shock; he was only 55 years old and had always been so full of life and energy.<\/p>\n

When he wasn\u2019t leading the congregation\u2019s church services, Fr. Gregg was known to spend a good deal\u00a0of his time serving meals at the Samaritan Center in downtown Syracuse. As a truly compassionate man,\u00a0he was known for genuinely listening to the concerns and experiences of each person he served.<\/p>\n

After he passed away, Kimak joined her fellow parishioners to volunteer at the Samaritan Center in\u00a0honor of Fr. Gregg. She knew it would be hard work but was surprised by how rewarding and moving it\u00a0was to serve a hot meal to crowds of hungry people from the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw in person what Fr. Gregg had seen \u2013 the importance of sharing a meal and of spreading hope,\u201d said Kimak.<\/p>\n

Kimak\u2019s story is one of five named as winners of the What Matters to You? Contest hosted by the\u00a0Central New York Community Foundation. The winning entries scored highest among the nearly 40\u00a0received from community members vying for the opportunity to direct a $500 grant to the nonprofit of\u00a0their choice.<\/p>\n

Today the Central New York Community Foundation released the names of the winners and displayed all\u00a0entries it received on its website. The contest was conducted in celebration of Giving Tuesday, a global\u00a0day of giving designed to celebrate and provide incentives to give.<\/p>\n

Entrants to the contest were encouraged to take a photo, write a story or produce a video that explains\u00a0why their chosen cause in Central New York matters to them. A panel of independent judges scored the\u00a0entries based on the contest criteria: use of creativity, storytelling effectiveness and likeliness to inspire others.<\/p>\n

The five winners are:<\/p>\n

Carrie Large<\/strong>.\u00a0Designated Charity: ACR Health.\u00a0“There are\u00a0 true heroes living amongst us who continue to\u00a0 save lives and create opportunity for those suffering from addiction.”<\/p>\n

Ellen Spencer<\/strong>.\u00a0Designated Charity: Samaritan Center. “The Samaritan Center fed my soul and has influenced where I am today. They spread light in a\u00a0sometimes dark world.”<\/p>\n

Kirsta Malone<\/strong>.\u00a0Designated Charity: Healing H’Arts. “I have so many hopes and dreams for this nonprofit but my mission will remain the same. The world\u00a0needs a little more love and Healing H\u2019Arts Equestrians are up for the challenge.”<\/p>\n

Jim Emmons<\/strong>.\u00a0Designated Charity: CNY Arts. “For a small, economically suffering city, Syracuse offers a wealth of cultural opportunities, and I feel\u00a0strongly about speaking up for their value.”<\/p>\n

Rita Kimak<\/strong>.\u00a0Designated Charity: Samaritan Center. “I would like to carry on the legacy of Fr. Gregg by contributing to a charity so close to his heart.\u00a0For if I\u00a0may once again coin his phrase: ‘It is all good.'”<\/p>\n

All 39 of the contest entries can be viewed on the Community Foundation\u2019s website at cnycf.org\/whatmatters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moving stories that were shared by our community confirm that our nonprofit community helps\u00a0those who give just as much as those who receive,\u201d said Jennifer Owens, Community Foundation vice\u00a0president for development and marketing. \u201cEncouraging conversation and raising awareness about what\u00a0matters will help our community to organize resources around the protection of those good things. Thinking long-term about how to save what is precious to us is important if our community is going to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Community Foundation conducted the What Matters to You? Contest to encourage community members to consider how the region would benefit if we could ensure that key resources like local nonprofit organizations will continue to thrive and support future generations. It was designed as an extension of the Community Foundation’s 5forCNY public awareness campaign. Stemming from a transfer of wealth study, the organization is asking community members to consider ensuring the causes that matter to them are secured for generations by including support for local charity in their estate\u00a0plans. More information can be found at http:\/\/www.5forCNY.org.<\/p>\n

The contest\u2019s panel of judges included Sean Kirst, writer &amp; author; Ashley Kang, editor, The Southside\u00a0Stand; Kathe Harrington, founder, Humans of Syracuse; Julie Dudrick, Project Director, Upstate Institute,\u00a0Colgate University; and George Kilpatrick, President & CEO, Kilpatrick Media.<\/p>\n

Established in 1927, the Central New York Community Foundation encourages local philanthropy by supporting the growth of permanent charitable endowments for the betterment of the region. The\u00a0Community Foundation is the largest charitable foundation in the region with assets of nearly $193\u00a0million. It awarded $11 million in grants last year to nonprofit organizations. Since its inception, it has\u00a0invested nearly $150 million in the community. The Community Foundation serves as the steward of\u00a0charitable legacies for individuals, families and businesses through the administration of more than 700\u00a0funds. The organization also serves as a civic leader, convener and sponsor of special initiatives designed\u00a0to strengthen local nonprofits and address the region\u2019s most pressing challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five Online Contest Winners Announced; All Entries Displayed Online In 2011, Rita Kimak was a member of St. Joseph\u2019s Church in Camillus when the\u00a0congregation was shaken with the news that their beloved pastor, Fr. Gregg LeStrange, had terminal\u00a0cancer. It was a shock; he was only 55 years old and had always been so full of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}