Collaborations
– The Farm to Food Pantry Collaborative – a coalition of local workers and volunteers from Community Gardens and Farms, Gleaners, Processors, Storage Facilities, Food Pantries and Soup Kitchens working together to help make the connections that will feed more people in our communities. Led by Family of Woodstock, the Rondout Valley Growers Association, UlsterCorps and the Bruderhof Community, the program addresses food insecurity by engaging local farmers to donate locally grown produce and training volunteers to glean, process and distribute nutritious food to the network food pantries, feeding programs and shelters in Ulster and surrounding counties. Farmers are generously offering to donate fresh produce but need help getting it to those in need. UlsterCorps is responsible for building a corps of volunteers, our Glean Team, to assist in growing, gleaning, processing and transporting food from local farms to local food pantries and soup kitchens.
– Emergency Response and Recovery – UlsterCorps collaborates with the Red Cross, United Way, Ulster County Office of Emergency Management and other local Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD) to assess our current capacity and improve our readiness for future emergencies. We have conducted a survey of local agencies and businesses to assess preparedness, volunteer workforce capacity and needs, and are working with the Red Cross to train more local volunteers in sheltering, feeding, bulk distribution, volunteer reception and management, communications and long-term recovery. We are also helping to develop a new Ulster County Animal Response Team (UCART), a cadre of pre-trained volunteers who can assist Emergency Management in the event of an emergency involving animals.
– Supporting Youth and Campus volunteer programs which seek to make service a key component of education. UlsterCorps has collaborated with SUNY New Paltz on its annual Make a Difference Day, Alternative Spring Break and September 11th National Day of Service, with SUNY Ulster and Ulster BOCES for MLK National Day of Service. We conduct regular presentations to both college and high school service learning clubs and community service programs, Girls Inc, and have, since our inception, included youth Student Associates on our Board of Directors.
– Arts for Ulster, raising funds and awareness for local non-profits through a collaborative group art exhibit and auction featuring 50 works by 50 artists for 50 causes in Ulster County;
– Harvesting a Lifetime, interviewing and recording the memories, stories, and histories of over 70 seniors (and growing) from around the county;