Monthly Archives: January 2012

January 31, 2012 · 5:05 pm

Share and Share Alike

I believe when we hear about a business or company that, not only believes it can make the world a better place, but does something about it we should celebrate.  So today post is a celebration of the Enjoy One Share One project undertaken by The Century House, a hotel, restaurant and conference center in Latham, New York. The premise is simple: for every meal a guest enjoys, they honor the guest by donating a meal to the Regional Food Bank of Northeast NY.

Let’s stop and think about that for a minute. Since 2009 every meal means breakfast., lunch and  dinner, at every meeting, event, party or wedding as well as in the restaurant – almost 250,000 to date.  That’s a quarter of a million meals donated to those in need.  An awesome record for sure.  And that’s not all.  Each month these good people go off-site to a location selected by the Regional Food Bank and cook up a storm.

How did all this come about?   Called the Tradition of the Century House, their ‘mission and promise is to make the world a better place, by providing comfort and care for the body and soul.for all guests, staff and the community.’    The tranquility you experience at The Century House supports this promise.  Service is from a bygone day where businesses welcomed your presence and treated you like family.

The Century House is still family owned and operated by Colin DeMers, managing partner.  I’m fortunate to count Colin as a friend and fellow Rotarian.  My favorite words to describe Colin and everyone at the Century House are ‘caring and gracious’.

To read more about this oasis of fine dining and beautiful accommodations please click here.

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Filed under Doing Good, Making A Difference

January 10, 2012 · 5:55 pm

One Night Without Warmth

In my first article about Operation Warm, written a few months ago, I described them as a well-rounded social endeavor – passionate, creative, responsive and collaborative – all based on their belief that every child identified at risk should have a new warm winter coat.  In a few short weeks Operation Warm will deliver its One Millionth Coat to a child in need somewhere in the United States.

There’s much to admire about an organization desiring to help break the vicious cycle created by poverty in the United States.  Depending on where you seek your information anywhere from 20% to 30% of children live in poverty.  Let’s bring this closer to home.  According to the latest census data, my area, referred to by many as upscale, has ,conservatively, 3000 children, under the ages of 18, living below the poverty line.  The issues surrounding poverty are complex, complicated and difficult but the fact remains:

These are real children, like your own, with dreams and hope for the future.

No, this isn’t a post about solving the poverty barrier but it is about actually doing something to help alleviate one of the issues:  making it possible for kids to go to school because they have a new warm coat.  Operation Warm does just that through their many community partners and compassionate people.

Now Operation Warm is holding a national awareness event on February 22, 2012 called One Night Without Warmth designed to give information about the far-reaching cycle of childhood poverty and to share Operation Warm’s mission to provide some relief to these families.  Tailored locally by schools, communities, organizations, or churches as a fundraiser to support Operation Warm or as a call to action it’s surely a night to help people understand how cold you can get when you don’t have a coat.

For more information and to get involved click here

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Filed under Making A Difference