2016 Grant Awards

BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF WESTERN BROOME
$10,000

One of the most successful programs at the Boys and Girls Club of Western Broome is Club Café, which teaches young people to cook nutritious meals. Run by 13-year olds, Club Café serves dinner to as many as 100 young people and 25 community members each day. In 2016, the Hoyt Foundation granted the Boys and Girls club $10,000 for much-needed repairs to its kitchen, which plays a vital role in Club Café, as well as in the Child and Adult Care Food Program and the afterschool child care program. The kitchen upgrades have made the facility safer, more sanitary and easier to keep clean.

BROOME COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION
$25,000

When New York State created its community college system 65 years ago, the plan was for students, the state and sponsors to share the costs of those institutions equally. Today, students bear an increasing portion of the burden. The Broome Community College Foundation raises money to put an education at SUNY Broome within reach of students who cannot afford the full cost of attendance. In 2016, the Hoyt Foundation provided a $25,000 program grant to fund grants-in-aid for 25 students who live in Broome County and maintain grade point averages of 3.0 or higher. Each award provides $500 for the fall semester and $500 for the spring semester.

BROOME COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL
$100,000

The United Cultural Fund (UCF) of the Broome County Arts Council (BCAC) provides operating support to established nonprofit arts organizations in the county, plus projects grants to individual artists and nonprofits. The UCF Campaign raised $278,509 in 2016, including $78,794 from Broome County government. For 2017, the BCAC has challenged itself to raise $281,399. It also expects to: keep grant awards at current levels; maintain county support at current levels; develop new revenue services; and expand and refine the engagement and effectiveness of its Board in fund development. Hoyt has awarded BCAD $100,000 toward the 2017 campaign.

BROOME COUNTY COUNCIL OF CHURCHES-CHOW
$19,473

On average, the Broome County Council of Churches’ Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW) provides more than 100,000 pounds of food per month to 68 emergency food assistance programs in Broome County. Wanting to increase its storage capacity, reduce energy use and provide a safer, more efficient environment, the Council launched a project to reconfigure the facility and upgrade many of its components. The upgrades include a new freezer/cooler unit and emergency generator, new racking, new storage containers and a better workstation for receiving and sorting food. A $19,473 grant from Hoyt covers the cost of new warehouse racks and a new workstation, consisting of six standing tables and six floor mats.

CHENANGO ARTS COUNCIL
$37,500

As part of New York State’s Decentralization Re-Grant Program, the Chenango Arts Council (CAC) provides a conduit for grant funds from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) to cultural organizations in Chenango, Broome and Otsego Counties. CAC’s successful outreach efforts have drawn more and more applications for NYSCA grants in recent years. In 2016, the Council evaluated proposals from 19 organizations in Broome County. CAC’s contract with NYSCA will allow the Council to allocate $27,344 to Broome County each year in 2017, 2018 and 2019. A three-year grant from Hoyt boosts that sum by $12,500 (Hoyt funds to total $37,500 over the three years), putting the total funds available in Broome County at $39,844 per year. Thanks to this larger funding pool, Broome residents will gain more opportunities to enjoy high-quality arts programs throughout the county.

FAMILY ENRICHMENT NETWORK
$27,990

Like most human services agencies, the Family Enrichment Network manages a great deal of information on behalf of the people it serves. Storing, retrieving, sharing and otherwise handling that information on paper documents puts a heavy burden on employees. Using a grant of $27,990 from the Hoyt Foundation, FEN has purchased a digital document management system, which allows employees to scan all paperwork into an electronic database. The technology makes it easy to search for and retrieve specific information; it also applies strong security measures and provides audit trails. As the new system reduces the paperwork load, staff can devote more time to providing services to local children, adults and families.

GREATER BINGHAMTON EDUCATION OUTREACH PROGRAM
$8,800

The Broome Leadership Institute (BLI) offers a six-month training program for professional adults who want to understand our region’s needs and help improve the quality of life. The Greater Binghamton Education Outreach Program (GBEOP), formed by the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce as a separate nonprofit in 2008, operates the BLI. With an $8,800 grant from Hoyt, GBEOP has added a new element to BLI, a Board Development component delivered by Board Source, a well known resource for nonprofit board development. Executives and board members from local organizations may join in the full day Board Source training session along with BLI participants. The goals are to: prepare new leaders for nonprofit board service; help nonprofits build strong board leadership; give participants insights, tools and materials to improve board governance and fundraising; and help participants to better understand the elements of good governance.

LITERACY VOLUNTEERS
$14,750

Literacy Volunteers of Broome/Tioga Counties offers free services to local adults who want to improve their reading and writing skills, master basic math, learn to use computers and learn to speak and understand English. The program relies mainly on volunteers and works closely with Broome-Tioga BOCES, United Way, local human services organizations and local employers. Literacy Volunteers recently launched an initiative to enhance and expand its tutor training and instructional activities. Those efforts include providing online tutor training, developing a new resource library with materials for people with low-level literacy and learning disabilities, developing English as a Second Language (ESL) lab at the Broome County Library, expanding community outreach to attract new tutors and supporters and providing staff development opportunities, among other items. Hoyt has supported this effort with a grant of $14,750.

LOURDES FOUNDATION
$125,000

Lourdes Hospital processed more than 100,000 mammography-related procedures in the past five years and diagnosed 1,000 breast cases. The mammography equipment that Lourdes uses at its Breast Care Center in Binghamton, at its imaging site in Vestal and in its mobile mammography van is eight years old and reaching the end of its life. To take its place, Lourdes has purchased four Selenia Dimensions Breast Tomosynthesis Mammography Units, funding the purchase with support that included a $125,000 grant from the Hoyt Foundation. These new machines provide extremely sharp images, 3D imaging capability, the ability to detect breast cancers earlier than before, and clearer lesion images. The new systems also feature ergonomic design, to improve patient comfort and make them easier to operate. Lourdes expects that the new systems will reduce the number of breast biopsies performed while detecting cancers earlier, improving patient outcomes.

NEW YORK COUNCIL OF NONPROFITS
$10,000

For ten years, the New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON) has collaborated with five foundations in our area (including Hoyt), plus the United Way of Broome County, on the Southern Tier Capacity Building Program. This initiative provides guidance and support to nonprofit organizations in Broome County by means of: capacity-building training workshops; a capacity-building mini-grant program; and a “building your organizational road map” program, which helps nonprofits identify fundamental challenges that they face and make effective changes. The program will offer five capacity-building workshops in 2017, with a focus on helping organizations to strengthen their boards of directors. In 2016, the Hoyt Foundation supported these efforts with a $10,000 grant to NYCON.

ROBERSON MEMORIAL, INC.
$12,550

The Roberson Museum, one of Broome County’s cultural highlights, started in the Roberson Mansion in 1954. Although Roberson has expanded greatly, the historic Mansion remains essential to the Museum, housing popular exhibits and special events. As part of a larger initiative to preserve and rehabilitate the Mansion, Roberson Memorial asked Hoyt for a capital grant to upgrade the building’s fire alarm and electrical systems. Hoyt awarded Roberson $12,550. The upgrades will help to protect the building’s historical integrity and also allow Roberson to continue to use the Mansion as a site for programming and social activities.

SALVATION ARMY BINGHAMTON CORPS
$150,000

The Salvation Army (SA) Binghamton Corps has launched a project to build a new, 30,000-square foot Community Center on Binghamton’s North Side. The goal is to bring its services closer to local residents who need them. SA chose the North Side because it is a low-income neighborhood that has several community development programs but doesn’t have enough appropriate space for meetings and other activities. The Hoyt Foundation is providing $150,000 toward construction of the new facility. The building will include two commercial kitchens where SA and other organizations can offer job training, a full-sized gym, a community garden, and space to accommodate the local groups such as the Urban League, the Healthy Lifestyles Coalition, Outdoor Pursuits, VINES, CHOW and the Broome County Health Department.

WATERMAN CONSERVATION CENTER
$2,150

In 2008, the Waterman Conservation Education Center installed a solar panel system that has helped to power the facility and reduced its carbon emissions by many thousands of pounds. Hoping to educate the community further about the importance of alternative energy, Waterman arranged to rent a film called “Catching the Sun” and show it at three locations around the community, free of charge. The Hoyt Foundation provided $2,150 to support these showings. Each event also featured a presentation by an executive from ETM Solar Works, an Endicott-based provider of solar energy systems.

WSKG PUBLIC MEDIA
$29,688

WSKG provides television and radio programming to 21 counties in New York and Pennsylvania. When the water-cooling tower on WSKG’s Vestal headquarters failed in 2016, the station had to respond quickly. Unless WSKG installed a new system in the spring of 2017, there would be no air conditioning in the building. That would cause major discomfort not only for station staff, but for students and teachers who use the Youth Media Lab, members of the public who attend events in WSKG’s facilities and tenants who rent space in the building. The station would also lose back-up cooling for its TV and radio studios, which could potentially interrupt service. The Hoyt Foundation has provided a grant of up to $29,688 toward a new water-cooling tower.

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