Our mission:

To provide services, with

dignity and respect, that

help people become

self-sufficient

JANUARY 2018 EDITION

Community Action Newsletter

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Employee recognition..…..2

Monthly trivia……………….2

Holiday help .................... 3

FFA Food Drive…..………..3

Batavia Christmas Celebration……………….4 & 5

EOCC Santa breakfast.......6

December events…………....7

Main St Store happenings..7

CATS charter info..……......7

UPCOMING:

February newsletter deadline:

Friday, January 26th

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S UPDATE:

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a good holiday season! It looks like it’s going to be a great winter for all the snow enthusiasts! Thank you for helping to make 2017 another successful year of serving our community at Community Action! Your hard work and dedication ensures that our programs function at a high level and provide the high quality services needed in our community! We have just submitted our Annual Program Report, based on the CSBG program year that ended on 9/30/17, which again reflects that we have either met or exceeded almost all of our planned program outcomes and expectations. On behalf of the board of directors, the directors’ team, and most importantly our customers, I thank you for your continued hard work and dedication to serving our community!

Congratulations to everyone involved in The Salvation Army bell ringing campaign in Orleans County! The funds raised by this campaign play a huge role in us being able to meet client needs in Orleans. The total raised this year is $25,115, an increase of more than 40% over last year! Thank you to Annette Finch for coordinating, Thank you to Mike Jessmer for all the running around picking up, Thank you to Amy Lester for tracking and tabulating, Thank you to the volunteers who spent hours three times a week counting the money, and Thank you especially to all the volunteers who rang bells! This awesome result will allow us to help so many more people this year!

I’m happy to let you know that Community Action was selected by the GLOW Workforce Development Board as their “Employer of the Year” for Orleans County for the 2016-17 program year. This honor was based on our years of partnership with Job Development through which we helped literally hundreds of people gain employment skills to prepare them for the workforce. A nice honor!

We have completed our triennial Community Needs Assessment and shared the results with the board at the December meeting. A special thank you goes out to the board program committee for their efforts to help plan the process as well as the time and effort to review the draft document in detail and provide their input into the analysis section. A huge thank you to Carly Ward also, who along with Nate Varland headed up the effort. Thanks also to the directors’ team who helped provide input and analysis.

REMINDER:

Visit our website at

www.caoginc.org. There are

various links that are useful

to employees under “Staff

Resources” including:

Links to ADP, the agency

newsletter, training

resources, employee

handbook, direct deposit

form, mileage forms and tax

forms (Federal and NYS ), as

well as other usual

information. Check it out!

PERFECT ATTENDANCE (NOVEMBER)

ANNIVERSARIES (JANUARY)

2

NEW EMPLOYEES (DECEMBER)

What year did Community Action buy the admin building (located at 409 E. State St., Albion)?

*One guess per person. In case of more than 1 correct answer, winner will be randomly drawn from those who

submit the correct answer. Submit your answer via email to: alester@caoginc.org by January 26th.

Test your knowledge (or learn a little something about the agency)

AND you may win a Dunkin Donuts or Tim Hortons gift card!

January’s trivia question:

$5

$5

DECEMBER TRIVIA RESULTS:

QUESTION 1: How long has Annette been treasurer for the Salvation Army? ANSWER: 40 years

QUESTION 2: Who played Santa when the agency delivered baskets in a CATS bus? ANSWER: Al Capurso

GIFT CARD WINNER (QUESTION 1): Congratulations, Cathy Brien! There were no correct submissions for

QUESTION 2.

Jan Albanese 1/1/1996

Nancy Eastlack 1/3/2006

Heidi Wyant 1/8/1990

Angela Perrin 1/11/2016

Mike Jessmer 1/11/2017

Carly Ward 1/19/2016

Carol Berray 1/23/1996

Emma King 1/27/2017

Jeff Atwell 1/29/1991

Michele George 1/29/2001

Rion Pawlak 1/29/2016

Lynda Litchhult 1/30/2012

Jan Albanese Mary Guzik David Reis

Jeff Atwell Julia Hiltz Debbie Renner

Julie Bailey Courtney Hodgins Christy Robertson

Christina Barnes Mike Jessmer Edna Schramm

Theresa Brien Susan Jessmer Christine Schuster

Virgie Brooks Sally Kidney Pam Sivret

Donna Caton Barb Kiefer Tami Slingerland

Lisa Church Cassandra Kinne Ricky Standish

Sheila Colf Amy Lester Nicole Struble

Melinda Cotter Teri Lester Terri Taylor

Elissa Davies Melissa Levins Melissa Thompson

Ann Dhanda Bonnie Malakie Jessica Tracy

Willie Drisdom Linda Malaniak James Willis Sr.

Nancy Eastlack Judy Martino Tammy Winkley

Gary Elich Erin Mattison Donna Wojdat

Edward Fancher Barb Miller Stephanie Wolfe

Annette Finch Larry Montello Donna Woodworth

Stephanie Fox Carrie Moreland Sharon Wright

Michele George Rion Pawlak Heidi Wyant

Karyn Giltner Teresa Pawlak Mary Yockel

Dawn Gray Angela Perrin Joann Zajaczkowski

Stacie Gronski Shelcy Plueckhahn

Karina Treleaven FCP ERSEA Specialist 12/5/17

Teressa Hirsch HS Home Visitor 12/5/17

Jeanne Taggert HS-Temp Family Advocate Asst. 12/11/17

Test your agency knowledge for a chance to win a

Dunkin Donuts or Tim Hortons gift card!

3

to those who helped our agency this holiday season...

7th grade Service Learning students helped to pack

holiday food boxes for families who signed up for holiday

assistance. Students from Mr. Archer’s class who helped

pack the boxes are pictured above with Annette Finch and

Michelle Figueroa.

FFA Food Drive

Total food donated:

35,000 pounds!

FFA students helping to unload the food off of the trailer.

Food donated included: potatoes, cabbage, squash, apples,

eggs, onions, green beans, corn, hams, and breads.

Annette Finch thanking the farmers for their

generous donations and the FFA students and

volunteers for helping unload the trailer. In

comparison, when this started in 2010, there was

3,000 pounds of food donated.

The trailer pulling up to the agency with donations from 20 farms, which

benefited 8 food pantries.

CRFS donated the toys they collected during their

toy drive to United Way who donated them to

Community Action to distribute to needy families.

Pictured above from United Way (along with Ed

Fancher and Michelle Figueroa), are Dave Cook,

Kaitlyn Delamarter, and Jackie Gardner.

4

Children attending the Christmas celebration show off the gifts

they received from Santa.

Guests working on a candy cane mouse

Assembling a “Countdown to Christmas chain”

Guests decorating foam snowflakes, Christmas

trees, and ornaments

Reindeer water

bottles used for

drinking and as

decorations for

the food table

Christmas Celebration

5

Christmas Celebration Crew posing with Santa

Students from Batavia High School Z-Club

were a huge help!

Gifts being delivered from Our Lady

of Mercy and St. Brigid Parish in

LeRoy for 8 Genesee County families.

Gifts were also donated from the

Knights of Columbus.

Members of the Genesee County Highway

Superintendents Association delivering gifts.

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in Batavia, December 15th Delivering

Christmas cheer...

6

Eastern Orleans Community Center

Breakfast with Santa

at the Holley Center

7

The Main Street Thrift Store

Store hours: Mon-Sat 10:30am-5 pm

Half Price Happy Hour -1st and 3rd Tuesday 11a-2p

50% off storewide sale

Community Action employee discount:

30% off regular priced clothing ~ 15% off regular priced household items

CATS can transport you to your group event!

Why schedule CATS?

Convenient

Attendees arrive at event together

Transportation to/from event without traffic or parking concerns

Safety– no worries about securing a designated driver

Contact Heidi Wyant at 589-7700 regarding pricing and scheduling.

Men's and

Women's

sweaters &

sweats

40% off

January 25th

“Winter Blow

Out Sale”

Every Monday:

Blue Light Special

Surprise Sale

Curbside Market @ Main St Store parking lot on the

following Wednesdays, January 10th, 17th, 24th, and 31st

11:30 am—12:15pm

Any questions regarding the above, call: Michelle Figueroa @ 589-5605.

ALBION:

Note: Consignment items are not eligible for discounts

JANUARY EVENTS:

Like and share us on Facebook:

mainstreetthriftstore.albion

Every Thursday:

Seniors and Veterans receive

an extra 5% off clothing

Every Saturday:

Children's

clothes~ 50% off