In Niskayuna, generous donors have helped raise more than $18,000 through Sunday afternoon for the retired couple whose home was heavily damaged by an electrical fire Tuesday night. A friend and former neighbor, Barb Abigail Fiedler, set up a GoFundMe page to help the family pay for items lost in the fire that they need replaced immediately such as clothing and shoes. The goal was $10,000, but the fund-raiser far surpassed that quickly. The owners of the home that was damaged, Steve Maloney and Beth Ognibene, have been active in the community for years.
In Schenectady, more than 400 Union College students fanned out throughout the community on a recent Saturday as part of the college’s 23rd annual John Calvin Toll Day. The students, many of whom are from out of the area, nonetheless pitched in to clean up local parks and historic sites, as well as serve at other functions going on in the region that day. Among the organizations and places benefiting from the students’ generosity and hard work were the Autism Society Duck Derby, Bethesda House, the COCOA House after-school tutoring program, Habitat for Humanity, the Parsons Child & Family Center, the Steinmetz Homes & McGathan Homes, Vale Cemetery and the Woodlawn Preserve. The community service day is named after 1799 Union graduate John Calvin Toll and funded in part through a fund set up by Toll’s great-great-grandson, the late Al Hill, and his wife, Perrie Hill.
In Halfmoon, volunteers from the community came together in the rain to help support the Special Olympics Regional Softball Tournament at McBride Fields. The annual event featured 16 teams from seven regions of the state participating in a day-long softball tournament. Among those volunteering at the snack bar, with the grounds and performing other tasks in addition to family members were college students from SUNY Albany and the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity at RPI, workers from AYCO and members of the All Saints on the Hudson Youth Council and National Honor Society.
In Albany, more than 200 golfers helped raise more than $139,000 for the Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital as part of the 26th annual Golf Tournament at Schuyler Meadows Club in Loudonville. The event, whose main sponsors were BBL Construction Services and Columbia Development Group, provides support for the hospital, located at Albany Medical Center. The 125-bed facility provides comprehensive care for children in northeastern New York and New England. Click here for information.
High Notes is a feature of The Gazette Opinion section that appears every Monday to spotlight the good being done in our communities by individuals, organizations and businesses. Reader submissions to High Notes are welcome. Send suggestions to Editorial Page Editor Mark Mahoney at [email protected].
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