2024 Summer Newsletter

Catholic Charities is requesting your help preparing local kids for a successful school year. From now until August 14, area businesses and Catholic Charities will be collecting new school supplies.

The following businesses have partnered with Catholic Charities and Strong Kids Safe Kids to offer drop-off locations in Chemung County:

• Chapel Park
• Chemung County Library District (Big Flats, Horseheads, Steele Memorial, West Elmira locations)
• Cornell Cooperative Extension
• Corning Community College – Elmira Campus
• Department of Aging
• Panosian’s Famous Shoes
• Parmenter Tire, Auto & Truck Service – Horseheads
• The Purple Iris Boutique, Horseheads
• Tranquility Beauty Shop
• Treu Office Supply & Furniture, Elmira

The following businesses have partnered with Catholic Charities to offer locations in Schuyler County:

• Chemung Canal Trust Company – Montour Falls & Watkins Glen
• Famous Brands
• Parmenter Tire, Auto & Truck Service – Odessa & Montour Falls
• Quinlan’s Pharmacy, Montour Falls
• The Hi-Lites
• Visions Federal Credit Union
• Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce,Downtown Visitor Center at 214 N. Franklin, Watkins Glen: open every day, 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
• Watkins Glen Public Library

Donations will also be accepted at the Catholic Charities Main Office (215 E Church St, Elmira): Monday – Friday, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm and at the Schuyler Outreach Food Pantry (112 10th St, Watkins Glen): Tuesday and Friday, 9 am – 2 pm, Thursday, Noon – 4 pm.

“We are deeply appreciative of the partnership of our local businesses who make the Back to School Drive a success every year,” stated Nancy Koons, Executive Director for Catholic Charities. “It’s truly a community effort to help hundreds of children in Chemung and Schuyler Counties.”

In Schuyler County, backpacks will be distributed through the Schuyler Outreach Food Pantry on August 27^th and 29^th. Pre-registration is required by noon on August 23 for backpacks and school supply starter kits. Registration will be available at www.CatholicCharitiesCS.org starting August 1^st.

In Chemung County, Catholic Charities has partnered with Strong Kids Safe Kids to distribute backpacks and school supply starter kits at the Annual Strong Kids Safe Kids event on August 24 from 11 am – 2 pm at the Chemung County Fairgrounds. No registration is required. New backpacks will be available for students in kindergarten to 6^th grade.

For a complete list of needed items and additional ways to donate, please visit Catholic Charities’ website (www.CatholicCharitiesCS.org), email Katie Rhodes at Katie.Rhodes@dor.org, or call 607-734-9784.

About Catholic Charities of Chemung/Schuyler:
Catholic Charities provides support to individuals and families in our community to help them live a more self-reliant life. They specialize in emergency services and housing support. For more information on services, please visit www.CatholicCharitiesCS.org or call
607-734-9784.

 About Strong Kids Safe Kids:
Strong Kids Safe Kids of Chemung County is a mission-based, all-volunteer, non-profit 501c3 organization focused on building strong, safe, and healthy families by providing information about helpful community services while engaging children and their families in fun, educational activities.

In collaboration with the Elmira Pioneers, Catholic Charities is inviting the community to come out to Dunn Field on July 13^th for an enjoyable evening of baseball, while Catholic Charities brings to light how our community can become aware of and combat domestic violence.

Families in every community in the United States across age, gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic backgrounds are impacted by domestic violence. In Chemung and Schuyler Counties, Catholic Charities’ First Step Victim Services Program assists innocent victims of crime, with a strong focus on victims of domestic violence. In 2023, First Step served almost 200 individuals with over 4,088 services. First Step’s local 24-hour hotline can be reached by calling or texting 607-742-9629 at any time.

At the Pioneers game on July 13^th , attendees are encouraged to wear purple, the color of domestic violence awareness. There will be purple shirts for sale, as well as a jersey raffle and 50/50. All proceeds will help the First Step program continue to provide needed services to victims in our community. Call 607-734-2690 for your tickets. The game starts at 6:35 pm with gates opening at 5:35 pm. There will be a photo booth station and giveaways for the whole family.

For more information on First Step, please visit their page or call 607-535-2050 and speak with an Advocate.