Author: Laura Whitford

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SBU Warming House receives $4,104 grant from Renodin Foundation

Published in the Olean Times Herald on Friday, November 3, 2017

ST. BONAVENTURE — The Warming House, St.
Bonaventure University’s
student-run soup kitchen
in Olean, has received
a $4,104 grant from
the Dr. Lyle F. Renodin
Foundation.

The money will be used to purchase healthy and nutritious food, cleaning and food service supplies and to fund an appreciation dinner, said Jeffrey Sved, director of SBU’s Franciscan Center for Social Concern. The Warming House is under the FCSC umbrella.

“The Warming House is a special place that will continue to thrive with this
grant,” said graduate student D.J. Mitchell, program manager for the Warming
House. “There is a community in that building that comes for more than just the nourishment. The Franciscan values that St. Bonaventure holds proud
are on display Sunday through Friday in Olean and we are thrilled to sustain
it for years to come.”

The grant application specified $3,000 for healthy food, $1,000 for supplies —
“since a clean facility is a welcoming one,” Sved said — and $104 for a year-end dinner to recognize the student meal coordinators.

Why $104?

“The number is meant to remind of us of St. Francis, whose feast is celebrated
on that day (10/4) and in whose footsteps we live and serve,” Sved said.

The Warming House is hosting the Food Bank of WNY’s “Just Say Yes” workshops this semester to promote healthier eating, and SBU senior Alexa
Zak’s honors project is aimed at teaching the Warming House community
the importance of nutrition by demonstrating simple yet effective ways to
live healthier.

“My hope for the project is to raise nutrition awareness and provide a foundation for the Warming House community to continue to make healthy lifestyle changes,” Zak said.

The Renodin Foundation provides grants for programs and projects whose
public charitable purposes are carried out in a manner consistent with the tradition of the Franciscan Sisters. Grant awards show a connection to the mission of the Foundation and assist the needy, underprivileged, elderly, developmentally disabled, handicapped, or economically disadvantaged.

The foundation is attentive to the religious tradition and pastoral mission
of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany and committed to the Gospel stance of social justice, which is lived out in a spirit of love, healing and compassion.

The foundation focuses its energy and resources primarily in the Twin Tiers
and strives to improve the quality of life of the region’s poor and marginalized
neighbors.

Pictured: Warming House volunteers Hayley Laraway, Tyler Eisenhauer and D.J. Mitchell (back right), SBU student manager of the Olean soup kitchen, are
joined by Laura Whitford, president of the Renodin Foundation, and Sr. Marigene Kennedy of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany.

Warming House volunteers Hayley Laraway, Tyler Eisenhauer and D.J. Mitchell (back right), SBU student manager of the Olean soup kitchen, are joined by Laura Whitford, president of the Renodin Foundation, and Sr. Marigene Kennedy of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany.
Warming House supply shelves
Warming House Food Storage shelves
SBU Warming House Rules
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Canticle Farm announces $3,500 grant for Sponsored Share program

Published in the Olean Times Herald on Sunday, May 28, 2017

ALLEGANY — Officials with Canticle Farm announced this month they received a $3,500 grant from the Dr. Lyle Renodin Foundation.

The grant will assist the Canticle Farm Sponsored Share program in funding fresh, locally and naturally grown vegetables to families and individuals in need. The Renodin Foundation, affiliated with the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, directs its energy and resources toward improving the quality of life of low-income citizens in the local region.

Funding from private donations and grants from organizations such as the Renodin Foundation enables Canticle Farm to continue to contribute at least 20 percent of its shareholder memberships to programs in Allegany, Cuba, Olean, Portville and Salamanca, as well as Bradford, Pa.

Pictured: Canticle Farm Communications Manager, Kelly Hendrix,  helps a young boy purchase locally grown, organic vegetables at the farm store in Allegany, NY. 

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Olean Thrift Shop Grant

Published in the Olean Times Herald on Sunday, May 14, 2017 

Laura Whitford, president of the Renodin Foundation, and Charles McCole, president of the board of the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift store, stand amongst the wares at 441 N. Union St. in Olean. The board recently received a $2,000 grant from the Dr. Lyle F. Renodin Foundation to aid the thrift store.

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Camp New Horizons to return to ASP

Published in the Olean Times Herald on Friday, May 5, 2017
By KATE DAY SAGER, Olean Times Herald

For the past five summers, children with mental health disorders in Cattaraugus County attended Camp New Horizons’ daytime program, as there wasn’t enough funding to sponsor overnight camping.

That will change this summer when the 41-year-old nonprofit camp returns to Allegany State Park to give children a weeklong, residential experience in an outdoor setting. The program serves children, ages 8 to 16, who have a mental health diagnosis and are struggling at home, in school or in the community.

Camp director Derric McElheney said the program will be held at Camp Allegany in the park during three, five-day sessions for three different age groups involving 90 children. Session one will be held July 17 to 21 for 8-to-10-year-olds; session two will be held July 24 to 28 for 11-to-13-year-olds; and session three will be held July 31 to Aug. 4 for 14-to-16-year-olds.

McElheney said the overnight camp was started in the early 1970s to give childrewith mental illness a real camping experience.McElheney himself was one of the thousands of children who attended the program over the years and benefitted. He credits the camp with changing his life around.

“Personally, camp helped me through many times of depression and suicidal thoughts,” McElheney recalled.

As camp helped him grow into a healthy teen, McElheney served in a variety of staffing positions at the facility before he became its director.

The overnight program was transitioned into a day program in 2012 when its sponsoring agency, the now-defunct Mental Health Association in Cattaraugus County, experienced financial difficulties.

With McElheney at its helm, the day camp program operated at Bethany Lutheran Church in Olean for three summers. For the past two summers, the organization has been housed at Creekside Chapel in Allegany.

McElheney said overnight camp was again considered by the organization when officials realized the cost of transporting children to the day program began outweighing the cost of an overnight program. He said Camp Allegany became feasible this year thanks to a deal worked out between the organization and park officials.

While collaboration with the park — as well as several community grants and donations — have helped the overnight program, McElheney said more is needed if overnight camping is to continue in the future.

AS A RESULT, the organization implemented a fundraising initiative called “Change Forward,” which asks individuals, churches, businesses, groups and agencies to sponsor a child at camp for $200.

McElheney said a sponsorship means the person, group or agency would receive a photo of the child, a letter and a craft item the child made at camp. Sponsorships could continue with the same child over a number of years, if desired.

“If the program takes off like we believe it will, we will be allowing kids to stay for more than five days next year,” McElheney said. “I think the coolest part about this program will be the connections that this program will create” with the community.

In listing other needs of the camp, McElheney said the organization is hopeful of borrowing or renting a large bus for transporting the youngsters to camp on Mondays and back to drop-off locations on Fridays. In addition, the camp hopes to find two minivans from July 10 through Aug. 5 for traveling around the park. McElheney said camp counselors, medical staff and kitchen staff, all of whom will be paid, are also needed.

McElheney said he is grateful for the help provided by the United Way of Cattaraugus County, the Renodin Foundation, Olean Wholesale Grocery Co-Op and, in particular, Creekside Chapel, which houses the camp offices.

The Rev. Dodi McIntyre, assistant pastor of Creekside, said the church “believes wholeheartedly in the mission” of Camp New Horizons.

“We are a very outreach-oriented church and we believe strongly in supporting the needs of our community,” McIntyre said. “When (Camp New Horizons) had a need for a home, this is where they came.”

For more information on the camp, send emails to campnewhorizons@gmail.com or call 904-2593.

(Contact reporter Kate Day Sager at kates_th@yahoo.com. Follow her on Twitter, @OTH Kate)

Photo: Kymrie & Derrick McElheney, Camp New Horizon Director

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Olean Housing Authority receives grant from Renodin Foundation

Published in the Olean Times Herald on Saturday, April 8, 2017

OLEAN — The City of Olean Housing Authority has been awarded a $2,500 grant from the Dr. Lyle F. Renodin Foundation for the continuation and expansion of the Veggie Mobile, organizers announced.

“Our residents so appreciate the Veggie Mobile and its volunteers, not only for the healthy vegetables, but also for the nutritional and cooking tips, recipes and activities with the children,” said Anne Kivari, executive director of the housing authority.

The Veggie Mobile seeks to counteract obesity and related health issues in Cattaraugus County by providing fresh vegetables to low-income individuals and families with access barriers.

Canticle Farm and the Cattaraugus County Health Department collaborate with Olean Housing Authority in sending out the Veggie Mobile weekly during the summer to residents at Alder and Martha courts, Seneca Street and Olean House.

The Renodin Foundation, affiliated with the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, directs its energy and resources on improving the quality of life of marginalized members of the community.

Photo: “Carrot Lady” Bev Bennett shows kids how to make a healthy salad through the Veggie Mobile program.

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Child care at the Olean Family YMCA gets a helping hand with $3.5K grant

Published by the Olean Times Herald on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016
By KATE DAY SAGER, Olean Times Herald

OLEAN — Finding good, affordable child care can sometimes determine if a parent is able to hold down a job or not.

Because there has been a greater need for child care in the community, officials with the Dr. Lyle F. Renodin Foundation have provided a $3,500 grant to the Olean Family YMCA to provide child care scholarships for a number of young families.

YMCA officials said the grant will directly support individuals in the community who are unable to participate in the licensed child care and early learning center programs at the YMCA without financial
assistance.

“The Renodin Foundation helps the YMCA meet its mission of promoting Christian principles that develop healthy spirit, mind and body for all,” said Jeff Alevy, CEO of the YMCA of the Twin Tiers. “Nobody is turned away from participating at the YMCA without
an opportunity to receive financial assistance.”

In addition, he said the YMCA does not withhold services due to the inability to pay.

Alevy said last year the YMCA provided more than $380,000 in scholarship assistance to over 1,000 individuals locally. Included in those helped were 300 families who needed child care in Olean.

“In a community where seven out of 10 children at the Y’s early learning center can only attend as a result of financial subsidy, the Y focuses on developing youth capacities to learn and socialize,” Alevy said. “The Renodin Foundation is a blessing to our community and to the families the YMCA serves.”

Laura Whitford, president of the Renodin Foundation, said the organization has helped the YMCA in the past through grants that provided scholarships for memberships. This is the first time, however, the YMCA has been helped by the Renodin Foundation with a child care grant.

The Renodin Foundation, affiliated with the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, bestows grants to nonprofit organizations that provide aid to those who need assistance. Grant applications are accepted Feb. 1 and Aug. 1 from organizations in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties in New York, and McKean County in Pennsylvania.

“The YMCA has been a longstanding grant recipient of the Renodin Foundation and this year they indicated a particular need for their child care services,” Whitford explained. She said the Franciscan Sisters are very concerned with unemployment and underemployment. As a result, the grant is expected to help families go to work and have peace of mind while their children are cared for at a licensed day care facility.

“This is a very critical need in our community that children are safe and cared for while their parents are at work,” Whitford added.

A YMCA staff member shared her personal testimony of the YMCA’s financial assistance program.

“Without the program, I would not have been able to find high-quality child care for my infant,” the woman said. “While enrolling my child in the child care center, I discovered they were hiring. After completing the interview process, I was hired, and I started a new journey with my child and my new employer.”

The woman said the availability of financial assistance at the YMCA not only changed her life, but her daughter’s as well.

For information on the Olean Family YMCA’s child care financial assistance program, contact Mary Miller, executive director of child
care, at 701-1381 or visit www.yourymca.org.

Financial assistance for YMCA membership also is available to those who qualify. Contact Lisa Szucs, membership director, at 373-2400. Donations to the Renodin Foundation, which provides 100 percent of its donations to nonprofit organizations and agencies, may be sent to 115 E. Main St., Allegany, NY 14706.

Photo: Renodin Foundation President Laura Whitford (from left), met with Mary Miller,YMCA executive director of Child Care, Sr. Marigene Kennedy, Renodin board member, and Jeff Alevy, CEO of the YMCA of the Twin Tiers, during the presentation of a $3,500 Renodin grant to aid the YMCA’s licensed child care program.

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YWCA Bradford presents gift baskets to women leaving shelter

Published in the Bradford Era on Friday, Oct. 21, 2016
By AMBER TURBA, Era Reporter

For several years, the YWCA Bradford Housing and Employment Services program has offered safe and secure emergency housing to women and women with children who have nowhere else to stay. The shelter is designed to be a temporary sanctuary.

Now, the YWCA is offering gift baskets to assist women once they leave that sanctuary.

“The program we’re starting involves what we call ‘transition packs’,” said Housing and Employment Services Shelter Manager Amber Frontino on Thursday afternoon. “Each pack will be designated to women and women with children once they leave the shelter, as a means of assisting in the transition process of getting back up on their feet and living on their own.”

The packs include a variety of basic-needs items such as garbage bags, dishes, pot holders, oven mitts, dish cloths, tissues, paper towels, toilet paper, shower curtains, shower curtain rings, disinfectants and cleaners, bleach, soap, sponges, mops, buckets and
brooms.

“It’s a lot of basic items that homeowners often take for granted,” said YWCA Executive Director Vanessa Castano. “When starting out, primary concerns for these women include paying rent and utilities and purchasing food for their families, and a lot of times there just isn’t enough money left over for basic need items — especially when the woman is living paycheck to paycheck.”

“The goal is to alleviate some of that stress,” Frontino added.

The transition packs were made possible through a grant program from the Dr. Lyle F. Renodin Foundation. The YWCA met the Foundation’s grant requirements of being a non-profit organization that possess a 501(c)(3) classification and being located in one of the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus and McKean.

On Thursday afternoon, the YWCA, located on West Corydon Street, welcomed Renodin Foundation President Laura Whitford to see the results of the program supported by the grant.

“The focus of the Renodin Foundation is toward using its energy and resources to improve the quality of life of our poor and marginalized neighborhoods,” Whitford told The Era. “We provide grants for programs and projects whose public charitable purposes are carried out in a manner consistent with that focus — and these transition packs here at the YWCA are a perfect example.”

Through the grant, Frontino was able to see her idea for basic-needs baskets realized, with the resources available to create up to 35 potential transition packs.

“We requested the resources necessary to create 25 of the basic-needs baskets at $100 per basket,” Frontino explained. “However, I was able to find cost-effective items for $75, and the other $25 will go toward additional custom purchases for the packs that are specifically suited to meet the recipient’s needs. So we were ultimately able to provide even more packs than was originally expected — which is awesome.”

The transition packs themselves, Frontino added, are also put together based on specific needs.

“Some women have dishes and need more towels, or have excess amount of toilet paper and no paper towels, so we try to tailor the transition pack based on the recipient’s specific needs in order to best serve them once they leave the shelter,” she said. “We’re going to use the funds from the grant to purchase all of the items and then divide them up as they are needed. The additional custom purchases are an extra way to really make sure these women and their children
have what they’re going to need to begin starting over or, for some, starting off.”

A one-year program, the grant should be able to cover the basic-needs items to create transition packs for every woman in the shelter, according to Frontino.

“I think the women who are going to receive these gifts are really going to be so appreciative, because the need is definitely there,”
she said. “I hear their worries, their concerns, and I know that it’s going to make all of the difference when they can walk out of here with something to help keep them going.”

Castano, as well as Whitford, shared the sentiment.

“Often we have people leaving here with only the clothes on their backs,” Castano said. “So to be able to provide some of the necessary
items toward having a home and maintaining a life is what’s really important about this program that Amber (Frontino) came up with and, essentially, made happen. And we’re also very thankful to Laura
(Whitford) and the Renodin Foundation for supporting us and, ultimately, the people we aim to protect in our community.”

“We’re all in this together,” Whitford said. “And while the Foundation was more than happy to approve the funds for the Bradford YWCA’s program, having the opportunity to provide the resources for a person’s self-sufficiency is priceless, and that’s what these transition
packs are going to do. So ‘kudos’ to Amber and the Bradford YWCA
staff for all that they do, and have done, to make this happen.”

Photo above: A trio of ladies works to put together some gift baskets at the YWCA Bradford on West Corydon Street on Thursday afternoon. From left is Laura Whitford, the Renodin Foundation president, Amber Frontino, Housing and Employment Services shelter manager, and Vanessa Castano, executive director of the YWCA. For several years, the YWCA’s Housing and Employment Services program has offered safe and secure emergency housing to women and women with children who have nowhere else to stay. The shelter is designed to be a temporary sanctuary. Now, the YWCA is offering gift baskets to assist women once they leave that sanctuary.

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Renodin Foundation grant  awarded to Ischua Union Church

Published in the Olean Times Herald on Friday, Oct. 14, 2016
By DEB WUETHRICH, Special to the Olean Times Herald

ISCHUA — Ischua Union Church’s Fund for the Needy got a big boost this year with a $2,000 award from the Dr. Lyle F. Renodin Foundation.

Linda Pepperdine, a trustee on the foundation board, was on hand during services last Sunday to award the check to the Rev. Richard “Buck” Young.

The church established its Fund for the Needy in 1995 and since then has offered more than $20,000 in assistance toward immediate needs for families in the community. Families and individuals have received help in such areas as bringing a fuel bill current so a new delivery could be made to an empty tank, gas cards for medical appointments, winter coats for children and other needs.

“This is the second year we have received funds from the Renodin Foundation,” said John Ames, a church member who wrote the grants.

Last year’s award was $1,500. He added that a committee that includes church members Sue Wilbur and Melody Zampogna makes recipient decisions. Ames said Wilbur was instrumental in making the initial connection with the Renodin Foundation. Pepperdine confirmed that she and Wilbur work together at The ReHabilitation Center.

“One day Sue was talking about the things this little church has done,” Pepperdine said. “Because I’m on this board, I thought, ‘Maybe I can help.”

While the church needed a sound system, Pepperdine said the foundation does not fund capital expenditures. When Wilbur mentioned the Fund for the Needy, however, she thought it might
be a good fit between the organizations.

“Our mission statement sets very specific terms to help the underprivileged,” Pepperdine said. “The organization has to have nonprofit status.”

Through a back-and-forth process, Ames and Pepperdine consulted, which allowed the church to learn the parameters for eligibility and application.

“She also visited us to share information and that helped a lot,” Ames
said.

The fund helps people in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties in New York and McKean County in Pennsylvania.

“It comes from money that was invested when St. Francis Hospital closed and the Franciscan Sisters started the foundation,” Pepperdine said. “They are the unsung heroes in the community, and they don’t ask for a lot of publicity regarding the people they help.”

The Renodin Foundation has offered assistance totaling nearly $1 million since 2002.

“I’ve seen a lot of good that’s been done,” Pepperdine said. “Since I’m not personally able to help much financially, one of the ways I can help is with my time, making connections like the one Sue and I made and offering people like John and the church the tools they need to submit a grant.”

Young, in his sixth year at Ischua Union Church, was pleased with the award.

“The gifts that they offered are so much appreciated,” he said. “To me, I believe it helps with the continuing camaraderie between Ischua Union Church and the surrounding community. These gifts from the foundation are really special to those who need them and
receive them.”

Young and his wife, Myrna, were reciprocal recipients from community members a couple of months ago during a fundraiser to help defray their medical expenses. Young is still undergoing testing at the Cleveland Clinic to determine eligibility for a lung transplant.

“After this last series of tests, they’ll let me know,” he said. “Either way, I’m thankful for every day.”

Photo above: Ischua Union Church received a grant for $2,000 from the Dr. Lyle F. Renodin Foundation this year. Funds will help support the church’s Funds for the Needy program. Marking the moment are Sue Wilbur (from left), who serves on a church committee to determine distribution priorities; Linda Pepperdine, trustee of the Renodin Foundation; and the Rev. Richard “Buck” Young.

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