Photo by Anne Marie CummingsGeorge Ferrari, executive director of the Community Foundation, holds the 2009 Community Foundation Report celebrating their 10-year anniversary.

The 10th anniversary of the Community Foundation (CF) of Tompkins County, centrally located in downtown Ithaca, was recently celebrated at Cinemapolis with a panel discussion moderated by Joanne Florino, executive director of the Triad Foundation, and five incorporating directors of the CF: Jeff Furman, Howard Hartnett, William Myers, John Semmler, and Diane Shafer.

An engaging discussion about the reflections and predictions of philanthropy in Tompkins County took place in a room full of supporters, and those who have benefited from the generous acts of charity by so many individuals in the community.

Community foundations are about 85 years old and have experienced tremendous growth as individuals and institutions have recognized that community foundations provide a permanent pool of charitable funds for local needs. They work to improve the quality of life in a community by collecting, managing and distributing charitable resources. Identifying and finding ways to meet the social needs in this community is something the CF in Ithaca prides itself on.

George Ferrari Jr., executive director of the foundation for the past five years, noted that during its 10 years of operation, CF has received over $8.7 million in gifts, and has facilitated over 900 grants of more than $2.7 million in the arts, human services, sustainability, education and community building.

“This hasn’t been an easy decade, yet still the people of Tompkins County have come forward. We couldn’t be more appreciative,” he said, explaining that even during the economic downturn, when the CF was down over $1 million dollars by the end of 2008, they managed to recover over $800,000 by the end of 2009.

Charitable gifts for the CF’s endowed funds are invested in stocks and bonds, and are overseen by 16 board members, nine individuals on the financial administration committee, and Alesco Advisors, investment advisers from the Rochester area. “Every five years we hold a review of our investment advisor,” Ferrari said. “Even if we decide to remain with the same investment advisor, we still put out offers for people to bid with our business.”

Ferrari said that 2007 was competitive; the CF sent out 12 applications and received eight back. In December 2001, the CF’s first grants were: $1,000 to the Beverly J. Martin School for a book giveaway, $3,500 to the Community Arts Partnership for a community cultural assessment, and $5,000 to Better Housing for Tompkins County for home repair projects.

Today they’ve come a very long way. Some of their featured grants include $15,000 to Cinemapolis, $11,000 to the Finger Lakes Land Trust, $5,750 to the Ithaca City School District, and $3,485 to the History Center. Their larger grants include $50,000 to the Family Reading Partnership for read-along songs, $20,000 to the Village at Ithaca for staffing, $20,000 to the Women’s Opportunity Center to maintain program eligibility for families broadly defined, and $15,000 to the Drop-In Children’s Center for kitchen renovation.

Several months ago, the CF received its single largest gift to date: $2 million from Dr. Bernard Rosen, a member of the CF’s Legacy Society, who made a bequest in his will to give the bulk of his estate to the CF. His gift will enable the CF to make annual grants to 33 libraries, covering five counties (Seneca, Cayuga, Cortland, Tompkins, and Tioga) of the Finger Lakes Library System.

The CF has not only met some of the immediate needs in the community, but the organization has also addressed the changing needs of the community. This is why they embarked on a Listening and Learning Tour in 2009. The tour created an ongoing dialogue with various nonprofit organizations in the arts, environment, education, human services and community building sectors. “In the past few years we were concerned about how needs were being met in the community, so we reached out to hear about how some organizations were struggling and being challenged,” said Ferrari. “The results from our conversations informed our grant making.”

Common themes for nonprofit organizations that participated in the Listening and Learning Tour were that a demand for services had increased while donations remained the same or decreased, the maintenance of current and successful programs was in jeopardy, many organizations considered mergers or strategic alliances, everyone seemed to be working harder, faster and smarter to get resources to people and service providers that needed them and regardless of the economy, basic costs continued to rise.

Shafer, an incorporating director who currently sits on the board of the CF and United Way, has been living in Ithaca for 13 years. Before moving here she was the president of a community foundation in Connecticut. “This community will always have the resources to deal with whatever challenges are out there,” she said with confidence. “For many organizations, the process of applying for grants can be overwhelming, but we try to make it as simple as possible with simple applications.”

Currently, the CF is soliciting grant applications from nonprofit organizations that provide services to crime victims and sexual assault survivors in Tompkins County. Interested applicants must provide an electronic Letter of Inquiry (LOI) of no more than three pages outlining need, goals, services, organizational capacity, expected outcomes and evaluation strategy no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 24.

Shafer believes that when people feel passionate about what they’re working on they want the CF to feel passionate, too. “This is why they’re not embarrassed to ask for money. When the passion overtakes you, you’ll find a way.” But for those individuals and organizations that feel a barrier when seeking funds, Shafer suggests that people just pick up the phone and call the foundation.

“We are a local public group, we are your neighbors who will help you and hear what you have to say. I wish people would realize that it is as simple as knowing that there are people in this community who care and want to make a difference,” she says.

TAGGED WITH: community, philanthropy, Tompkins County

Photo by Ann KrajewskiEmma Cleveland, Claire Brown, Penelope Hobbs and Leah Saari with the dress forms that support the dresses they're creating, the basis of SewGreen's “Make Your Own Prom Dress” program. Hobbs and and fellow Cornell freshman Carly Neumann started the classes after discovering not only their mutual interest, but several others' as well.

An unusual “town-gown” partnership has resulted in three Ithaca teenagers making original prom dresses from (almost) all reused materials.

Cornell freshmen Penelope Hobbs and Carly Neumann have volunteered at SewGreen, a sustainable sewing program in downtown Ithaca, for a series of Friday night classes in which they showed the teens how to create their own dresses from scratch.

When asked what inspired her to offer the class, Hobbs, 18, says, “My own personal experience motivated me. I made my own prom dress when I was in high school and I remember hearing over and over from my fellow students how they would have loved to make their own outfit but had no clue as to how to even begin such a project. I decided that I wanted to make that wish happen.”

Neumann, 19, agrees. “Penelope and I were on a bus earlier this year and we reminisced about what it was like in high school,” she says. “I had been a volunteer at SewGreen and after coming up with a plan, Penelope and I, with our combined experience in sewing for much of our lives and even making gowns for our friends, approached Wendy (Skinner, SewGreen’s coordinator), who has been incredibly supportive and helped us to get the program off the ground.”

After volunteering to help with some children’s classes at SewGreen, they offered to teach “Make Your Own Prom Gown.” They agreed to follow SewGreen’s philosophy of reuse and selfreliance.

And almost two months of diligent work later, the creations of 15- year-old Emma Cleveland, 17-yearold Claire Brown and 14-year-old Leah Saari were nearly complete last week, fueling the girls’ ambitions and echoing the enthusiasm of all the participants.

“I’ve been participating in SewGreen since I was nine,” Cleveland says. “My friend Julia John and I competed in the Eco- Fashion Contest together and later on we plan to collaborate on designing a show together.”

Taking their inspiration from SewGreen’s stash of donated materials, the teens drew pictures and then designed the dresses. They created their own patterns, worked to get a perfect fit by first sewing pieces from cotton muslin, and are now in the process of completing the construction of the gowns.

Hobbs, Neumann and Skinner agree that their greatest satisfaction has been watching the girls get so excited by the prospect of creating a unique item that they can proudly wear.

Nearly nothing has been purchased new to make the dresses, which have been sewn with refurbished vintage sewing machines in the SewGreen classroom, located in downtown Ithaca.

“These older restored machines are wonderful,” says Hobbs. “Because they have all metal parts, they are very strong and the needles can sink into a lot of thick fabrics that many newer machines can’t. This has been a real plus for us because we’re working with a whole variety of fabrics including cotton, brocades and satins.”

The intersection of glamour and sustainability has been very successful, Skinner says. “Much is owed to the creative skills of Carly and Penelope, who invented the class and have led it on their own. The teens arrived with beginning level skills. Now they are sewing at an advanced level beyond that of many experienced sewing enthusiasts,” she adds.

“No one else will have a dress that looks like these,” says Skinner. “They are in every way designer originals.”

A showing of the finished dresses will be scheduled later this spring.

Hobbs also points out that after summer vacation, she and Neumann will conduct a corset class with SewGreen. “We’re still in the planning stage, but we look forward to it and of course we would like to continue with helping students create their own prom dresses as long as there are interested participants,” she says. SewGreen operates a not-for-profit sewing school and a reuse store. The classroom is in the Women's Community Building and the store is across the street in the DeWitt Mall at the corner of North Cayuga and West Seneca streets.

For more information visit www.sewgreen.org or call 227-7611.

TAGGED WITH: DIY, dresses, reused materials, SewGreen, sustainability, youth

Horizontal drilling in Marcellus shale has yet to begin in New York, but some communities face questions about how to handle drilling waste. The Chemung County landfill is already accepting drill cuttings from Marcellus wells in Pennsylvania, but there are few places to send drilling wastewater.

In the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS), the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) states that Marcellus permits would require drilling companies to provide a disposal plan for fluid wastes.

Currently drillers may truck brine and flowback to a treatment plant in Pennsylvania or other neighboring state, send it to a suitable sewage treatment plant in New York state, or inject it into an underground disposal well.

Pennsylvania may stop allowing treatment plants to accept drilling waste; there have already been several incidents in which excessively high levels of total dissolved solids have polluted rivers. The dissolved solids came from sewage plants accepting brine.

New York doesn’t have the capacity for treating huge quantities of drilling wastewater. The municipal wastewater treatment plant in Watertown is the only one accepting brines, and they are limiting the amount they accept.

That leaves underground injection wells, an option EPA touts as “the safest” method for disposal of drilling wastewater. Currently there are six active injection wells in New York and eight in Pennsylvania. Ohio, with 159 active state-regulated injection wells, is concerned about the amount of wastewater expected from increased Marcellus drilling; the state is considering a 20-cents/barrel tax on out-of-state brine.

The good news, according to attorney Rachel Treichler, is that local governments can regulate disposal wells. If municipalities do not already have such laws in place, they should develop local legislation as soon as possible. “It can be done through a local permitting process,” Treichler explains.

Treichler was one of three panelists who spoke at an educational forum in Ithaca on May 3. Cornell engineering professor Tony Ingraffea and USGS scientist William Kappel also spoke, addressing the geology and engineering aspects of underground injection wells.

Injection wells are regulated by EPA under the Safe Drinking Water Act. In addition, the DEC has its own list of criteria. “Waste fluids have to be injected below the drinking water aquifers,” Kappel says. The injection pressure is critical; it must remain below 80 percent of the fracking pressure.

Companies looking for disposal options may drill a disposal well or convert an existing deep well into an underground injection well for wastewater, Kappel says. The geologic formations most likely to accept injected waste are the Oriskany and Medina sandstones and the Potsdam layer. Old Trenton-Black River wells may be converted to disposal wells, too, as they have larger spaces for liquids to fill.

What hydro-geologists must determine is how porous the formation is, how permeable the layer is and the thickness of the layer. They also need to know the locations of abandoned gas or oil (or even drinking water) wells in the area before injecting waste, because any unplugged wells could provide a conduit for waste fluid to contaminate groundwater.

“It is important that they do an injection test prior to any sustained liquid injection and observe the limits of injection capacity,” Kappel notes. In one case a company tried to inject too much fluid into their wells. As the wells filled, they increased the pressure, and eventually the injections set off seismic activity, he added.

For the municipal officials attending the forum, the most encouraging news is that they have the power to regulate disposal wells. “If they have the laws in place,” Treichler emphasizes.

Before a company may drill a disposal well, or convert an abandoned deep well to that use, it must apply for several permits. These include an EPA permit for a Class IID injection well; a DEC State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permit for brine disposal; a SPDES permit for stormwater runoff; a DEC MRB well permit to drill a brine well or convert a well to that purpose; a Municipal Special Use permit if required by local law; a State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) for a brine disposal facility and permission of the landowner.

“Municipalities may issue permits if their local laws require it or if zoning requires it,” Treichler says.

TAGGED WITH: DEC, dSGEIS, gas drilling, geology, Marcellus Shale, water

Photo By Patricia BrhelProgram coordinator Bailey Phipps at work at the eCenter.

There’s a new store in town. An outgrowth of Finger Lakes Reuse, the eCenter not only keeps material out of the landfill, it’s selling technology that anyone can afford.

On April 15, at the grand opening, the store was crowded with people: the curious, volunteers and those interested in finding used, but tested and renovated equipment for their homes and offices. The eCenter has a lot to offer, including desktop and laptop computers, scanners, printers, computer cases, speakers, cords and just about anything else in the computer world that you can imagine. There is lots of storage shelving, a neat work area, test benches and an area set aside for education, with classes expected in the future.

Carol Cohen, mother of eCenter executive director Diane Cohen, traveled from Albany for the grand opening. “I’m proud of my daughter,” she says with a smile. “Diane has taken our lessons in recycling and used them in two businesses. This is the second grand opening I’ve have the privilege to attend.”

Diane concurs, saying, “My parents always talked about recycling, both to save money and to save the planet. We probably threw out less trash than anyone else in the neighborhood, but mom always made it seem like fun.”

The eCenter grew out of Cohen’s original operation, which is a nonprofit operation dedicated to recycling building materials, appliances, furniture and household supplies. It soon became clear that there were a lot of computers and office equipment coming in that needed a home of their own and people who knew how to evaluate, renovate and get these items back into the community, she says. “We thought that once we announced that we’d take computers that there would be great interest, and today’s opening is the proof,” she adds.

Bailey Phipps, program coordinator for eCenter, was hired just a few weeks ago. On opening day he was busy checking in the computers and equipment being donated and taking money for the items sold. “I’ve had a few different jobs, including as a preschool teacher, but making computers accessible for those who can’t just run out and buy new is a great idea and I’m happy to help,” he says. “I’m hoping that we’ll be able to change the lives of at-risk kids, including teaching them video and audio editing, programming and other skills. We’ve been working with the Computer All Stars and their director at the Ithaca Youth Bureau and hope to expand on that program.”

Volunteer Forest Kennedy has been putting in about 16 hours a week, doing everything from painting the store to assembling computers. A student at the Leman Alternative School, he became interested in computers when he joined the Computer All Stars.

Seated at a machine that he’s programming to communicate with other machines, he’s busily clicking and scrolling, multitasking while we talk. “I think that open source, or what’s known as alternative software is important. I’d rather the developers make their money through advertising, to keep the programs available to those who need them, Kennedy says. “We had two computers at home when I was growing up,” he relates. “Here I get to learn about all kinds of machines and equipment. I like the idea of making computers available for everyone and enjoy showing kids how to use them.”

Another volunteer, Frank James, was recently laid off from radio station WVBR. He’s using this time between jobs productively, keeping his computer skills sharp while making sure that machines are available and affordable for those who can’t just plunk down hundreds of dollars for a new one.

The eCenter’s mission is to enhance community, the economy and environment through the reuse of computer technology and all computers and equipment sold goes to support this. The center offers financial assistance to customers who participate in a federal or state aid program such as food stamps, Medicaid, WIC, HEAP, the reduced school lunch program or have similar financial challenges.

All eCenter equipment sold comes with a 30-day warranty, minus the usual exemptions for physical damage and tampering. They accept computers, monitors, printers, scanners, speakers and other related equipment as well as DVD players, CD players, game consoles, PDAs, electronic games, office electronics, medical electronics, bank and much scientific equipment.

They don’t take lab glass, cracked or broken monitors or TVs, or TVs over 27 inches (unless they are LCD/DED).

Staff members removed the data from all donated computers using a secure three-pass rewrite, so people can donate without worrying about their privacy. If you have special security issues they can, for an additional charge, wipe the data to Department of Defense standards or even destroy the hard drive. Most computers donated will not need this extra security, but it is available.

For more information or to volunteer, visit the eCenter in the Triphammer Mall, 2255 N. Triphammer Road, call 257-9699, email ecenter@fingerlakesreuse.org or visit www.fingerlakesreuse.org.

TAGGED WITH: computers, recycling, reuse, technology