Thank You From The Hastings Youth Council

Dear Hastings Community,

Your support of the Hastings Youth Council has been transformative and we want to share the impact your generosity had on our 2023 year. Thanks to your contributions of time, money, and goods, we’ve been able to provide citizens of Hastings with a safety net by closing the gaps in resources and opportunities for children and families alike.

Here are some of the achievements your support made possible:

1. We addressed critical infrastructure weaknesses to ensure that we can continue to meet needs in our community.

- Through the generous support of architects and designers Kenji Greene, Zoe Mallaillos, and Molly Roberts and California Closets, we improved our physical infrastructure so that the lower level meeting room can efficiently store groceries for the Food Pantry, while allowing the meeting room to be used for its original purpose.

- We increased our refrigeration capacity, allowing us to store perishables for the Food Pantry through generous equipment donations by DiRiso and Bloomy Cheese and Provisions.

- Through the generous support of Friends of the Youth Council, we replaced our aging and frequently broken Safe Rides vehicle with a state of the art plug-in hybrid minivan so that we can continue to provide the teens of Hastings with safe rides home on weekend nights.

- We joined Feeding Westchester to keep our shelves stocked with healthy staples, while keeping our costs down.

2. We deepened our community relationships.

- The Hastings Farmers Market has been a consistent and compassionate supporter of the Food Pantry through their financial support and fresh food donations. To support the over 100 families who use the Food Pantry’s services, the Market increased its regular donations of apples and eggs. It also restarted community donations through a monthly “gleaning basket” and purchases of meat and produce.

- Family-to-Family is a generous supporter of the Food Pantry and helped us establish a partnership with Foodtown. Grace Church hosts monthly food drives to stock our shelves. The Hastings CSA, through Stoneledge Farm, donates weekly vegetables throughout their CSA season.

- Downtown businesses, such as Pediatrics on Hudson, Maud’s Tavern, Uncle Lefty’s, Dentistry for Children, Sakura Garden, Little House, Chelsea’s Closet, Grateful Pilates, and Marek Fuchs Tutoring have supported Safe Rides through valuable contributions – look for the signs in their windows that indicate their financial support. The Good Witch hosted the first Rivertown Thrift and Amanda Kupillas Dance supported Kids Night Out and provided scholarships for her dance classes.

- To support the Food Pantry, The Hastings Yellow Jackets Booster Club, Hastings Student-Athletes, and the Theater Department collect food and clothing during their events.

- We’ve developed a team of community volunteers who manage logistics, unpack flats of groceries, donate gift cards, and raise money to support the Food Pantry and Help-a-Child.

3. We’ve maintained and developed community programs.

- Kids Involved Doing Service (KIDS) has expanded to over 25 high school students on the executive board. These student board members initiate and manage projects that serve our community through fundraising and direct service.

- Help-a-Child connects families with anonymous donors who provide financial help throughout the year.

- Our emergency fund helps families face financial emergencies with less stress and fear.

- The Bill Finkeldey Scholarship is awarded to deserving high school seniors.

We rely on the fundraising of the Friends of the Hastings Youth Council (https://www.friendsohyc.com) to financially support our programming. We appreciate all of you who routinely donate money to its annual drive and who support the organization’s innovative fundraising, such as Kids Night Out and Rivertown Thrift. Your help and generous contributions help to level the playing field and we thank all of you mentioned here and all of you who contribute in other ways. Your support is a testament to the community-minded spirit of Hastings-on-Hudson.

There are many ways to get involved with the Hastings Youth Council. If you’re interested in volunteering or have an idea about how we can collaborate with an organization you work with,
email hohyouthcouncil@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lori Walsh, Chair
Ma]hew Wilson, Treasurer
Laura Heisler Mi]on, Secretary
Sarah Epps, Food Pantry Coordinator
Lauren Aaronson
Mary Esther Malloy
Marie-Louise Miller

CLICK HERE TO "TELL IT TO VILLAGE HALL"

Village of Hastings-on-Hudson

7 Maple Ave, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706

web: http://Hastingsgov.org

email: Hastings@Hastingsgov.org

VILLAGE CALENDAR PUBLIC WORKS CALENDAR UPCOMING EVENTS

WHoH-TV Channel 75 TV Schedule CHANNEL 43 VERIZON FIOS

School District TV Channel 77 Schedule CHANNEL 27 VERIZON FIOS

STAY CONNECTED! DOWNLOAD ALL OF OUR SMARTPHONE APPS HERE