PUTNAM SHOWS HEART IN TOUGH TIMES
Putnam Family & Community Services’ Dinner Dance a success, thanks to community support
Carmel, NY – On Friday, November 6, over 140 people gathered for “A Moment in Time,” Putnam Family & Community Services’ annual Dinner Dance Benefit, held at Sinapi’s Ceola Manor in Jefferson Valley. Thanks to an outpouring of community support, the event, which featured an interactive mystery concerning vanishing agency programs, raised more than $38,000 to help PFCS continue providing its mental health, chemical dependency, and family support services.
In between dinner and dancing, guests were invited to investigate the mysterious disappearance of four agency programs: Latino Outreach, Relatives as Parents Program, Family Support & Advocacy, and Senior Services. With the help of trench-coat wearing detective, Dr. Whodunnit, the “culprits” behind the possible loss of these programs were revealed to be fluctuations in private donations, the stigma surrounding mental health and substance abuse, time-consuming oversight requirements, and the current economic downturn. Any of these factors could adversely affect the agency’s services; while all four highlighted programs are still being offered at this “moment in time,” each is projected to remain underfunded at year’s end.
Despite the economic realities brought to light at the Dinner Dance, the overall tone of the evening was one of hope and gratitude. Said Putnam Family & Community Services’ Executive Director, Edythe Schwartz, “We are so grateful for the generosity of the community and the extraordinary support of all our friends and neighbors. The funds raised tonight are more important than ever before, given the threat of severe budget cuts that we, and non-profits in general, expect in 2010.” Tom Gill, Chairperson of the agency’s Board of Directors, also expressed appreciation for all who had contributed to Putnam Family & Community Services via the Dinner Dance, including the event’s sponsors: Platinum Sponsor, South Putnam Animal Hospital; Gold Sponsors, Clifton Budd & DeMaria and Schott North America; Silver Sponsors, Brookfield Technology Center, Hodgepodge Gardens, Putnam Federal Credit Union and TD Bank; and Premiere Sponsors, The Benefit Practice, Carmel Winwater Works, Credit Suisse, George Apap Painting, Law Offices of Edmund V. Caplicki, Jr., Putnam Management Group and Superior Communications, Inc. |
