2013 Grant Awards

BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF WESTERN BROOME, INC.
$50,837

Many of the young people who attend after school programs at the Boys and Girls Club of Western Broome are at risk for obesity and other health problems. The Club’s Journey to Fitness Project is designed to address those risks. One crucial element of the project is a playground, which gives kids a chance to exercise while enjoying themselves. The Club has not had a playground since the old one was destroyed by flooding in 2011. Now, a $50,837 special project grant from Hoyt will help the Club install a new playground and also replace the bus that carries youth from three off-site locations to the main campus. With new play equipment and more reliable transportation, young people from throughout Western Broome will gain better opportunities for exercise and supervised after school fun.

BROOME COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION, INC.
$25,000

By providing tuition grants, the Broome Community College Foundation helps students in need achieve their academic goals and helps to foster a well-trained local workforce, which is crucial to our region’s economic health. Raising funds is a major challenge for any community college foundation, but the BCC Foundation enjoys support from many BCC alumni as well as from private donors, including the Hoyt Foundation. In 2013, Hoyt provided $25,000 toward the BCC Foundation’s Grants-in-Aid Program.

BROOME COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION, INC.
$185,000

When students, alumni and visitors come to the campus of Broome Community College, their first stop is often the Darwin Wales Administration Building. Constructed in the 1950s, this building has never had a comprehensive update. Leaking windows, decades-old radiators and inadequate air conditioners create discomfort and waste a great deal of energy. There is no elevator, making parts of the building inaccessible to students who can’t climb stairs. Those students cannot, for example, reach the area that serves as “scholarship central” for the school, or join meetings of student groups held in the second floor conference rooms. A $185,000 capital grant from the Hoyt Foundation will help make the Wales Building more accessible as well as more comfortable, attractive and energy efficient.

CHENANGO COUNTY COUNCIL OF THE ARTS
$37,500

In addition to providing cultural programs and services in Chenango County, the Chenango County Council on the Arts (CCCA) administers the New York State Council on the Arts’ (NYSCA) Decentralization cultural re-grant program for Broome County. Under its current contract with NYSCA, CCCA will allocate $27,344 each year, in 2014, 2015 and 2016, to arts organizations in Broome County. Through a special project grant, the Hoyt Foundation will add $12,500 to that sum each year, for a total of $37,500 over three years. This additional money will help CCCA respond more effectively to the needs of small arts organizations in Broome County.

CITY OF BINGHAMTON
$48,500

Following disastrous floods in 2006 and 2011, the City of Binghamton has been working to prepare for a future in which weather might be more extreme and flooding more frequent. As part of that effort, with $48,500 in support from the Hoyt Foundation, the city has created the Green Stormwater and Landscaping Matching Fund (GSLMF). This incentive program will help small business owners and homeowners improve their properties with features designed to minimize flood damage. Recipients might, for example, use money from the fund to replace impervious surfaces with natural or man-made surfaces that absorb water. They might also use it to plant shade trees or install rain barrels and rain gardens.

THE DISCOVERY CENTER OF THE SOUTHERN TIER
$9,800

To celebrate its 30th anniversary as an interactive museum for children and families, The Discovery Center of the Southern Tier is producing a large scale exhibition devoted to honeybees. Along with its related programs, “What’s the Buzz? A Honey of an Exhibit” will teach visitors about the place that this complicated insect occupies in the environment, including its role in pollinating two-thirds of the world’s crops. A $9,800 special projects grant from the Hoyt Foundation will support two aspects of this exhibit. One is a module called “The Hive,” which will teach about the social order of the honeybee. The other is a series of educational field trips to locations such as Lockwood Lavender Farm in Skaneateles, the Dyce Laboratory at Cornell University and Kutik’s Honey Farm in Norwich.

FAMILY & CHILDREN’S SOCIETY, INC.
$25,000

In February 2013, smoke and water from a fire next door caused serious damage in the Family and Children’s Society’s mental health clinic in Binghamton. While the clinic temporarily re-located, cleanup of the building uncovered materials containing asbestos. The organization could not complete repairs and return to the building until it had removed the asbestos, but its insurance policy did not cover such work. A $25,000 capital grant from the Hoyt Foundation will pay most of the cost of the asbestos removal. Once that’s done, the Society can finish its repairs and the clinic can continue to provide high-quality, affordable care to people who suffer sexual abuse, depression, anxiety and mental illness.

FOOD BANK OF THE SOUTHERN TIER
$5,000

During the 2013-2014 school year, the Food Bank of the Southern Tier’s Broome County Back Pack Program will distribute packs of food to more than 650 students who are at risk for hunger in Broome County. A $5,000 grant from the Hoyt Foundation to the Food Bank will help ensure that these children have nutritious meals available on weekends and holidays, when they can’t take advantage of breakfast and lunch programs at their schools.

GREATER BINGHAMTON EDUCATION OUTREACH PROGRAM
$22,000

The future success of Broome County’s non-profit organizations will depend on their success in attracting a new generation of well-qualified board members. Unfortunately, local non-profits have found it difficult to build boards that include both younger and older members. In 2012, Hoyt funded a pilot project that trained 20 business professionals, drawn from different age groups, in the basics of non-profit board service. The Greater Binghamton Education Outreach Program (GBEOP) conducted this project in collaboration with BoardSource, a well-regarded national board development organization. With a $22,000 grant from Hoyt, GBEOP will run the workshop for a second year, helping to ensure that younger and less-experienced individuals gain the skills to become effective board members for non-profits in Broome County.

JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF BINGHAMTON, INC.
$25,000

The Early Childhood Center (ECC) at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) serves more than 250 children between the ages of six weeks and five years. Another 125 children attend the JCC’s Kids Connection after school program, and the summer day camp serves more than 200 children each year. The JCC’s playground plays an important role in each of those programs, but the facility has reached the end of its life. According to an inspection conducted in early 2013, the play structures must be replaced, and the JCC must provide a separate play area for infants and toddlers, for children ages three to five and for children ages six to 12. The Hoyt Foundation has granted the JCC $25,000 toward the construction of a new playground that is safe, accessible, age-appropriate creative and fun.

MEALS ON WHEELS OF WESTERN BROOME
$6,533

Meals on Wheels of Western Broome (MOWWB) delivers meals to more than 400 people a year—including handicapped and older people who have limited mobility or live in isolation—in Endicott, Endwell, Vestal, Johnson City and Maine. In 2012, MOWWB started to improve its kitchen in order to support a new choice meal project. It soon became clear that the organization needed to upgrade its fire suppression system, which did not meet current local fire code regulations. Thanks to a $6,533 special project grant from Hoyt, MOWWB can continue to prepare meals for the community efficiently and safely. The grant also will allow the organization to replace its outmoded copying machine with a new one that works better and costs less to operate.

NEW YORK COUNCIL OF NONPROFITS, INC.
$10,000

Since 2006, the Hoyt Foundation has taken a leadership role in the Southern Tier Capacity Building Program. A partnership among five local foundations (including Hoyt), United Way of Broome County and the New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON), this initiative provides non-profit organizations in Broome County with support and guidance, including a series of capacity-building workshops, a mini-grant program and a mini-assessment program. In 2014, the Capacity Building Program will present four professional development workshops, with an emphasis on case studies and small group discussion. Participants who attend any of these workshops may then apply to the mini-grant or mini-assessment program. Hoyt will provide $10,000 toward the Capacity Building Program in 2014.

THE PHELPS MANSION MUSEUM
$5,000

After 96 years as a private women’s club, in 1986 the Monday Afternoon Club began to transform itself into a nonprofit organization. Today, it operates as the Phelps Mansion Museum, providing tours, exhibits and educational and cultural programs in a historic home in Binghamton. Using a small discretionary grant of up to $5,000 from the Hoyt Foundation, the Phelps Mansion Museum will engage the New York Council of Nonprofits, Inc. to examine and clarify the museum’s new identity.

Sarah Jane Johnson Memorial United Methodist Comm. Center
$2,500

Each week, several faith-based organizations hold a community dinner for families in need at the Sara Jane Johnson Memorial United Methodist Community Center in Johnson City. On average, they serve 125 individuals per week. The Hoyt Foundation has provided a $2,500 grant to help purchase supplies for these dinners.

SOUTHERN TIER ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
$25,000

The Southern Tier Zoological Society’s Zoo Mobile reaches more than 26,000 people each year, in locations ranging from schools to nursing homes. Operated by the Southern Tier Zoological Society, the Zoo Mobile brings animals and educational programs to people who can’t visit the Zoo in Binghamton, and provides extra enrichment to people who can visit the Zoo. A special project grant of $25,000 from the Hoyt Foundation will allow the Zoo to replace an aging van with a new Zoo Mobile, furnished with up-to-date equipment and adorned with an exterior “wrap” to help promote the Zoo and the Zoo Mobile Program.

WINDSOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION
$2,500

The Windsor Human Development Organization will use a $2,500 grant from Hoyt to purchase food, plus and toiletries such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap and shampoo, for those most in need in the Windsor community.

YWCA OF BINGHAMTON & BROOME COUNTY, INC.
$94,850

In 2004, the YWCA of Binghamton and Broome County started making extensive renovations to its building, which is listed on the National, State and Local Historic Registers. The work accomplished so far has made the building much more energy efficient, but there is still room for further improvement. With a $94,850 capital grant from the Hoyt Foundation, the YWCA will restore and replace the building’s historic storefront windows, the windows lining the mezzanine of the gymnasium and the front doors. These upgrades will save the YWCA money on energy, make the building more comfortable and, as older windows are replaced with safety glass, create a safer environment for people who use the facility.

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