Posts Tagged ‘food’

Woodlands Community Temple Organizes Food Drive for HVCS

Monday, October 2nd, 2017

Woodlands Community Temple in Greenburgh, NY organized a food drive for HVCS’ emergency food closets on Sunday, October 1st. Thanks to everyone who donated and the volunteers who brought a delivery truck full of food to our Hawthorne office!

PACE Otisville Hold Food Drive for HVCS

Thursday, June 1st, 2017

Canned goods collected by Otisville inmates in the PACE program Melissa & Steven, two of our Prison Services CoordinatorsSpecial thanks to the members of the PACE (Prisoners’ AIDS Counseling & Education) program at Otisville for organizing a food drive for us in May! Members organized an AIDS Walk and asked fellow inmates to donate canned goods. Our Prison Services team attended the big event last month, and pictured here is Melissa and Steven with the results. Great job, PACE Otisville!

HVCS’ Food & Nutrition Programs Need Your Help

Wednesday, May 31st, 2017

When you don’t eat right, you don’t feel right. And so it was for Terry.

Terry* would make the rounds of local food pantries and soup kitchens. It was how he survived. His ‘home base’ was a homeless shelter in Orange County – where our Nutrition Education and Outreach coordinators would see him. But he always declined their help.

He didn’t trust anyone enough to let them assist him. However, after talking to him for a year, Terry began to confide in our coordinator, Debbie. He opened up about his addiction issues, his lack of family support, and his illiteracy. All of the systems that our society has set up to help people like him had let him down.

Then one day he appeared in our Newburgh office. “All right,” he said.  “I know you’re on my side. I need help.”

Debbie enrolled Terry into a nutrition access program in only two days.

“What are your goals?” Debbie asked.“I want a job,” Terry said. “I want a job so I can save money and get my own place, off the streets.”

Together, Debbie and Terry built a realistic plan to achieve that goal. After a few weeks and a referral to drug detox, Terry applied for and landed a job as a dishwasher in a local restaurant. Terry continued to receive nutritional assistance for a few months while he worked, and with our help he finally saved up enough money to rent a room of his own.

Terry went from being homeless and surviving on soup kitchens to being a fully contributing member of the Hudson Valley community.

And your support makes it possible. In fact, Hudson Valley Community Services has been supporting clients’ health with food and nutrition services for decades because of people like you. With your help we hand out over 10,000 food bags each year and feed nearly 1,100 people.

Donate today to keep our emergency food closets fully stocked.

We know you share our belief that a thriving Hudson Valley is made up of residents who are living their full potential: healthy, active and enjoying all the wonderful things that make this a great place to live. That’s why we connect anyone who needs temporary help getting enough food to all our available services.

But our food and nutrition programs are currently operating at a significant deficit because government grants aren’t able to meet the actual demand for food assistance in our area. In fact, three of our emergency food closets are sitting empty right now due to lack of funds, and we haven’t been able to purchase food from local food banks. Without direct support from caring people—like you—we’d be forced to reduce our services, hand out less food, and turn clients away from our emergency food closets.

Your contribution–of any amount–makes a difference. 

It means we can keep our food and nutrition programs strong. It means people like Terry have a chance to create a meaningful life. So please continue to help us build healthy communities right here in the Hudson Valley. It goes far beyond keeping food on our pantry shelves. You can help fuel bodies, prevent disease, and turn lives around—and more people can live their full potential.  Please give today.

Thanks to Whole Foods for donating hot cocoa to our PRO program!

Thursday, January 19th, 2017

Whole Foods donationOn January 18, 2017, Whole Foods in White Plains, NY donated a case of organic hot cocoa to our Project Reach Out (PRO) program. This is the perfect donation since the PRO team gets out there on the streets in all kinds of weather to talk to high-risk individuals about staying safe from HIV/AIDS. Many of PRO’s contacts are homeless or living in shelters. Thanks to Whole Foods, we can offer them a hot cup of cocoa while we meet with them inside our van. PRO provides HIV testing, information and referrals on PrEP, and referrals for substance abuse assistance.

“Testing All Queens” Gets Its Own Afterparty

Tuesday, November 29th, 2016

This just in! The Queens and Kings of New Paltz announced that their HVCS fundraiser, “Testing All Queens,” extends beyond the on-campus dinner and show this Saturday night with an official afterparty at Village Pizza! Join them for more shenanigans, $11 pies, and drink specials at this popular New Paltz hangout starting at 10:00 pm. Plus, there will be a surprise drag show at midnight so you get two shows in one night! $2 cover to benefit HVCS.

Testing All Queens Afterparty18 and up, 21 to drink. For more info on Testing All Queens see our previous post.

SUNY New Paltz Drag Club Presents “Testing All Queens!” on Dec 3

Thursday, November 17th, 2016

Testing All Queens 2016SUNY New Paltz’ Queens & Kings of New Paltz, an on-campus drag club, presents the 2nd Annual “Testing All Queens!” drag show fundraiser on Saturday, December 3rd from 6:00 to 9:00 pm in the Student Union Building. This outrageously fun holiday-themed event features performances by future drag all-stars, dinner by Pasquale’s, DJ music by Dangerboy, and a guest speaker from Love Heals. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for non-students, all to benefit HVCS. Our Project INFORM team will be on hand with sexual health info, condoms, lube and other goodies, too.

Last year’s event was a ton of fun, and we were so inspired by these talented drag kings and queens that we wound up hiring them for our other drag events later in the year! This is one event you don’t want to miss!

 

Photos from “Drag Brunch” 2016

Monday, March 21st, 2016

Special thanks to Tracey Buzzanco for taking photos!

Drag Brunch 2016 was made possible by Gunk Haus, Superior Sounds, and Big Gay Hudson Valley. Thank you for all your support!

Drag Brunch Almost Sold Out + “Best Look” Contest from BGHV

Monday, March 14th, 2016

Drag Brunch 2016 - almost sold out!There are only a few tickets left for HVCS’ Drag Brunch 2016! This event has sold out every year and we expect the same situation for Sunday’s big show. If you’ve been waiting, now’s the time to hop on over to Eventbrite to snag your tickets!

And, to add to the fun, our friends and supporters at Big Gay Hudson Valley hope YOU the audience will have just as much fun as our drag-tastic performers! They’re giving away two pairs of tickets to their upcoming event to the two “Best Gender Bender Looks” at Drag Brunch. Don your best gender-switcheroo outfit or bend your gender outfit to the extreme and you might win a pair of tickets to see “Nasty Drew & That Harder Boy: The Mystery of the Family Jewels” in Rosendale on Saturday, April 16th. Outfits will be judged by our performers TRIXIE STARR, JOJO GERARD, ANITA LAY and AVI MUNSTER, so dress to impress!

Learn More About BGHV’s upcoming show:

Great jumping catfish! Someone has snatched Lady Dubois’ cherished family jewels! Never fear, stripper sleuths Nasty Drew and That Harder Boy are on the case. Watch as they hunt for clues, ward off menacing suspects and loosen up a few buttons of their own on their search to find the dastardly diamond deviant.

Black Celebrity DressesPresented by Big Gay Hudson Valley and GayHudson.com, Nasty Drew & That Harder Boy: The Mystery of the Family Jewels is written and produced by Chris Harder (who you may remember from BGHV’s annual burlesque cabaret, HUNG With Care). This queer and campy “whodunit” play features some of NYC’s hottest names in burlesque, drag and circus performance.

Learn more and watch the trailer online at www.BigGayHudsonValley.com/NastyDrew

ShopRite Donations Roll In

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016

An overflowing cart of donated non-perishables from ShopRite in ScarsdaleHVCS has been the lucky recipient of several donations from ShopRite/Price Rite and Wakefern’s Partners in Caring initiative over the past week! Today, ShopRite of Scarsdale donated an overflowing cart of nonperishable foods for our emergency food closets. Catholic Charities helped them collect the food.

We also learned that our Monticello and Newburgh offices have each received a $1,000 credit at the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York thanks to the Partners in Caring program. Funds came through ShopRite in Monticello and in Vails Gate. We are extremely grateful for ShopRite’s ongoing support for our emergency food closets!

Loyal Sponsors Return for the Hudson Valley AIDS Walk/Run

Wednesday, January 13th, 2016

As the new year gets going (is it already mid-January??), we’re turning up the heat on preparations for the 2016 Hudson Valley AIDS Walk–and RUN! We’re excited to announce the return of several loyal event sponsors who have made the commitment to helping us end AIDS in the Hudson Valley.

Stop and ShopThanks to Stop and Shop on Route 9 in Poughkeepsie for signing on as our Healthy Snack Sponsor. Employees will be on site that morning with plenty of fresh fruit, water and granola bars for hungry walkers and runners! Stop and Shop also provides financial support.

Welcome back to the Crafted Kup (Raymond Ave., Poughkeepsie) as our official Coffee Sponsor! Enjoy free refills of gourmet java from a great local small business.Crafted Kup

 

 

Superior Sounds returns as our own version of the AV club, providing sound and DJ services. They’re huge supporters of HVCS and we’re huge fans in return.

Superior Sounds

 

 

 

 

Last but certainly not least, we welcome longtime supporter Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union as a Walk/Run sponsor. Hudson Valley Federal Credit UnionThey’ve sponsored other events in the past, so they’re still a returning sponsor but NEW to the AIDS Walk/Run!

Now’s a great time to sign up as a walker, a team or as a runner: get a jumpstart on training on our Walk/Run page!