LaBella in the Community (LINC) – Summer 2024 Roundup
Starlight Pediatrics Backpack Drive
Organization: Starlight Pediatrics
Event Date: Collection boxes ran from May 20, 2024–June 7, 2024
Event Location: Rochester, NY
Event Description: Starlight Pediatrics delivers high-quality, trauma-informed healthcare and medical services in a safe, nurturing environment to the children in Monroe County’s foster care system. The organization prioritizes collaboration with parents and caregivers to promote children’s health, resilience, and overall well-being.
LaBellans in our Rochester office participated in a donation drive benefiting Starlight Pediatrics. We collected and purchased new essential items to fill backpacks for foster children, from infants to teenagers, in the local community. These items included clothing, undergarments, toiletries, and a few comforting and entertaining items, such as toys and books. In total, we were able to fill 21 backpacks and 3 bankers boxes.
Crandall Park Invasive Species Removal
Organization: Crandall Park Beautification Committee and Warren County Soil & Water Conservation District
Event Date: June 6, 2024
Event Location: Glens Falls, NY
Event Description: Crandall Park in Glen Falls, NY, is facing a serious threat from invasive species such as bittersweet, burning bush, garlic mustard, and honeysuckle, which are disrupting the park’s natural ecology. Burning bush, which lacks natural predators, blocks sunlight from reaching native saplings, while bittersweet climbs established, mature trees, cutting off their nutrient supply and making them more susceptible to wind damage. If left unchecked, these invasive plants could dominate the park in the future, leaving only a few mature trees.
To address this, the Crandall Park Beautification Committee and the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District (WCSWC) organized a weeklong community event during New York Invasive Species Awareness Week, June 3rd to June 9th. Volunteers, including a group from LaBella (Norabelle Greenberger, Chris Round, Angelique Smith, Devin Bulger, Mirren Galway, Vinkel Rasmussen, and Brooke Macica), worked to remove invasive species under the guidance of a WCSWC representative. Despite challenging conditions, the team successfully cleared areas of burning bush, bittersweet, and honeysuckle, helping to restore the park’s natural ecosystem. While there is still work to be done, these efforts mark a significant step toward preserving Crandall Park’s ecological health and beauty for future generations.
11th Annual 4 Miles 4 Water
Organization: Drink Local Drink Tap
Event Date: June 8, 2024
Event Location: Cleveland, OH
Event Description: Established in 2010, Drink Local Drink Tap is a nonprofit organization focused on improving global water equity through education, advocacy, and community-centered water, sanitation, and hygiene projects. The organization strives to engage and inspire youth, communities, and people of all socio-economic backgrounds to care for our shared water resources and help people who suffer from a lack of access to safe water.
On June 8th, Deana Sritalapat, Benjamin Barry, and Vinkel Rasmussen participated in Drink Local Drink Tap’s 11th Annual 4 Miles 4 Water event to advocate for clean water. The event took place in Cleveland’s Flats East Bank entertainment district, located off the shore of Lake Erie on the bank of the Cuyahoga River.
Teams and individuals taking part in the 4 Miles 4 Water event ran 4 miles (or walked 1 mile) in support of the organization’s goal of bringing clean, safe drinking water to those who need it most. Why 4 miles? Because that is the average distance approximately 2.1 billion people worldwide walk daily to collect (oftentimes unsafe) drinking water.
GLOW OUT! Pride Parade and Festival
Organization: GLOW OUT!
Event Date: June 8, 2024
Event Location: Batavia, NY
Event Description: GLOW OUT! is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2019 to promote education, awareness, and support for the LGBTQ+ community in the GLOW region of New York (Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, and Wyoming Counties). Initially formed to organize the region’s first Pride Festival, the overwhelming community support for the event inspired GLOW OUT! to continue its mission of creating a safe, inclusive, and equitable environment for LGBTQ+ individuals. Through ongoing education and advocacy efforts, the organization uplifts and celebrates the lives of LGBTQ+ residents in the area.
On Saturday, June 8th, Batavia’s annual Pride Parade celebrated LGBTQ+ identity and acceptance with a parade starting from the Batavia First Presbyterian Church and winding through Downtown Batavia. The event was part of a larger Pride Month celebration organized by GLOW OUT!, featuring a festival in Jackson Square and on Center Street. Highlights included food trucks, a vendor fair showcasing eclectic artisans and LGBTQ+ affirming non-profit organizations, performances, and a Drag Queen Story Hour. The event was attended by Laura Corbett.
Buffalo Bowl
Organization: Special Olympics of New York
Event Date: June 8, 2024
Event Location: Buffalo, NY
Event Description: The Buffalo Bowl is a 6-on-6 flag football tournament held annually in Highmark Stadium to benefit Special Olympics New York, an organization that provides inclusive opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities to discover and unleash the champion within.
This year, 62 teams competed in six divisions, and LaBella proudly sponsored two teams. The team led by Gabe Antenucci achieved an impressive 1st place finish for the second year in a row! As a whole, the event raised $250,761.17, which will support 501 athletes for an entire year.
Team 1: Tony Sanganetti, Brian Ringenwald, Michael Pietrantoni, Tybarius Harter, Deshawn Henry, Ryan Yuhas, Josh Lawrence, Mackenzie Keehfus, James Butkevitch, Ron Sanganetti, Brandon Voss, Matt Chung, and Emily Brushafer (Special Olympic Athlete)
Team 2: Gabe Antenucci, Kevin Rademacher, Enzo Amati, Nathan Antenucci, Bobby Cameron, Armando Costabile, Wil Pieters, Andrew Quinn, and Spencer Read
United Way Day of Action
Organizations: United Way of Dutchess-Orange Region and Poughkeepsie Farm Project
Event Date: June 20, 2024
Event Location: Poughkeepsie, NY
Event Description: The United Way’s Day of Action, a global volunteering event held annually around June 21, offers individuals an opportunity to come together and make a positive impact in their communities through volunteerism.
To mark this year’s United Way Day of Action, several LaBellans (Alyssa Burnell, Caren LoBrutto, Chanelle Carver, and Joe Rodriguez) volunteered their time to assist with weeding and land preparation for planting season at the Poughkeepsie Farm Project. Under sunny skies with temperatures nearing 90 degrees, our team cleared 5.5 sections of fence in just a few hours. Their efforts provided crucial support to the organization’s small staff, helping maintain the land and the crops that feed the local community.
The Poughkeepsie Farm Project, founded in 1999 as a small community farm focused on education and food justice, has grown from 3 acres and 15 CSA shareholders to 12 acres and more than 500 participating households. The farm harvests over 180,000 pounds of produce annually, donating more than 30,000 pounds to those in need. In addition to cultivating food, the farm provides year-round training and education on sustainable agriculture and healthy eating practices.
11 Day Power Play Community Shift
Organization: The 11 Day Power Play
Event Date: June 21, 2024
Event Location: Buffalo, NY
Event Description: On June 21st, some of LaBella’s skilled hockey players from the Buffalo and Rochester offices hit the ice to play three hours of hockey at the HarborCenter in Buffalo, NY, as part of The 11 Day Power Play. This 11-day event brings teams from all over Western NY together to play hockey for 24 hours a day and raise money to fight cancer.
Our team raised approximately $10,000, and overall, the event raised $1.6 million this year. Proceeds from the event will support cutting-edge cancer research and wellness programs at Roswell Park, Make-A-Wish WNY, Camp Good Days, and Oishei Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Program.
United Way Day of Action
Organizations: United Way of Dutchess-Orange Region and Dutchess Outreach
Event Date: June 25, 2024
Event Location: Poughkeepsie, NY
Event Description: The United Way’s Day of Action, a global volunteering event held annually around June 21, offers individuals an opportunity to come together and make a positive impact in their communities through volunteerism.
This year, LaBella volunteers (Kyra True and Susan Dobler) participated at The Lunch Box in Poughkeepsie, NY, a community meal program run by Dutchess Outreach, a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring everyone has access to nutritious food while advocating for food security and social equity across the community. The Lunch Box provides chef-prepared hot lunches and dinners to anyone in need within Dutchess County, sourcing many ingredients from local Hudson Valley farms.
During the event, volunteers assisted with kitchen prep and served over 300 meals to community members. The experience was both fulfilling and rewarding, with many recipients expressing gratitude for the meals—which, for some, may have been their only one that day.
Edgewater Beach Cleanup
Organization: Drink Local Drink Tap
Event Date: August 13, 2024
Event Location: Cleveland, OH
Event Description: Drink Local Drink Tap is an international non-profit organization that promotes clean water for everyone. Their mission is to solve global water equity through education, advocacy, and community-centered water, sanitation, and hygiene projects.
This is LaBella’s 7th annual beach cleanup with Drink Local Drink Tap. During this cleanup at Edgewater Beach, the LaBella group, which included Ron Garsteck, Ed Odziemski, Ben Barry, Pauline Drake, Matt Metyk, Tareq Masri, and Deana Sritalapat, was able to collect and remove 26 pounds of trash from the beach in just under two hours!
Flower City Pickers
Organization: Flower City Pickers
Event Date: August 17, 2024
Event Location: Rochester, NY
Event Description: Flower City Pickers is dedicated to supporting the local community by recovering and redistributing safe food that would otherwise end up in landfills. Their mission promotes waste prevention and civic engagement through partnerships with hunger relief agencies and local farms. Since their inception, they have recovered and redistributed one million pounds of food.
Recently, LaBella volunteers helped collect surplus produce from vendors at the City of Rochester Public Market that would have otherwise been discarded. On this occasion, 1,023 pounds of food were saved from the landfill, including 573 pounds of edible food redistributed to local food shelves, soup kitchens, and other organizations supporting local communities in need. The remaining 450 pounds, deemed unsuitable for consumption, were composted.
Doggy Day Out
Organization: Lollypop Farm Humane Society of Greater Rochester
Event Date: August 15, 22, 29 and September 5, 2024
Event Location: Fairport, NY
Event Description: Lollypop Farm is dedicated to creating a kinder, more compassionate world for both people and pets by engaging with the community. Volunteers play a crucial role in the organization, helping to enrich the lives of animals at the shelter. Understanding that shelter environments can be stressful for animals, Lollypop Farm offers programs like Doggy Day Out, which allows dogs to spend time outside the shelter, reducing their stress levels and improving their social skills.
This year, a group of volunteers from LaBella (Brian Sullivan, Kelly Sweet, Andrea Kelly, Barbara Burke, and Catherine Thompson) participated in a Doggy Day Out, spending quality time with dogs in need. The volunteers engaged in socializing, walking, and simply hanging out with the dogs, providing them much-needed care and companionship while helping to promote their adoption.