FDN featured in pilot photo project

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Friendship Donations Network

Friendship Donations Network was honored to participate in the pilot year of the Park Award for Photo Activism. The Park Award for Photo Activism is a joint program of the Community Arts Partnership, Ithaca College’s Park School, and the Park Foundation. It was designed to serve as a link between students and the greater Ithaca community. Degree majors with proven photographic skills and a commitment to community activism have been paired with participating non-profits in Tompkins County to provide in-depth visual explorations of the contributions these organizations make to their constituencies and our community.

Selected images from the projects of the Park Award for Photo Activism program are on display May 2nd through the 30th at the CAP ArtSpace inside Center Ithaca.

Ithaca College student, Alex Mason, was awarded 3rd place for her project on Friendship Donations Network.

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The Good Food Exchange: Spring 2013

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Friendship Donations Network

We are happy to share the latest edition of FDN’s newsletter, The Good Food Exchange. This spring edition includes a profile of Sara Pines, founder of FDN, and a message from Linda Finlay, President of the FDN Board of Directors, on the 25th anniversary of FDN. Click here to check out the full content.

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FDN to join Just Be Cause Center for Not-for-Profit Development

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Friendship Donations Network
New Center for Non-Profit Development to Open in June

ITHACA, NY – The Just Be Cause Center for Not-for-Profit Development (JBCC) will open its doors this coming June in former Ithaca Paint Company building at 1013 W. State Street in Ithaca. The JBCC will fulfill some of the functions lost when the Women’s Community Building closed, with five office spaces, a conference room, and two multi-purpose activity rooms for use by local non-profits. An extensive renovation is under way; the approximately 5100 square foot building will have new bathrooms, air conditioning, heating, carpeting, kitchen, WIFI and shared office equipment.

“The building is dedicated to Judy Dietz, to honor the spirit of how she lived her life: caring for other people and always working to make sure the community is a better place to live,” said Jerry Dietz of his late wife. JBCC will be owned by the newly formed Just Be Cause Foundation and will be managed by his company, C.S.P. Management, LLC.

Four organizations will be in place when the building opens, with one office space yet to be filled. The rental for these offices will be well below market rate, in order to allow non-profits previously unable to afford dedicated office space to do so. Other community organizations will also be able to book time in the conference and activity rooms.

The goal, says Dietz, “is for the Just Be Cause Center to allow organizations to come together and draw energy from each other and operate more effectively because of that synergy.”

The Friendship Donations Network (FDN) will have both an office and storage space in the JBCC, allowing the organization to consolidate its currently scattered storage facilities. This will increase the efficiency with which food is stored and distributed to local food pantries by FDN.

Running to Places (R2P), a youth theater company will have an office and use of both activity rooms for rehearsal. The sprung floor in the activity rooms and the mirror-lined wall make the spaces perfect for dancing as well as theater arts. Using these spaces, R2P will be able to significantly expand its programming, and is planning summer workshops as well as classes during the year in dance and theater arts.

The Kitchen Theater, which has been in need of expanded rehearsal space, will also use the activity rooms for rehearsals.

Mira’s Movement, an organization supporting children with cancer and their families, will have an office in the JBCC, as will IPEI, the Ithaca Public Education Initiative.

An annual fundraiser at Agava Restaurant on July 28—in memory of the party held last July for Judy Dietz “just because”—will help support the JBCC’s operating costs.. A different non-profit will be chosen each year to receive 2/3 of the money raised. The 2013 recipient will be Loaves and Fishes, Ithaca’s community kitchen, in honor of their 30th anniversary.

 

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FDN Joins Get Your GreenBack Coalition

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Friendship Donations Network

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Friendship Donations Network is proud to be a member of the Get Your GreenBack Tompkins Coalition. Get Your GreenBack Tompkins is a community-based campaign to inspire all 42,000 households and every business in Tompkins County to take meaningful steps to save energy and money in the areas of Food, Building Heat & Lighting, Transportation, and Waste. Including you! Join the 100’s of others who have already taken steps to Get Their GreenBack! For more information, please visit: http://getyourgreenbacktompkins.org/

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FDN Participates in Park Photo Activism Project

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Friendship Donations Network

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Brett Bossard, Executive Director, 607.273.5072; director@artspartner.org

National Geographic Photographer Lynn Johnson Comes to Ithaca for Park Photo Project

February 8, 2013 (ITHACA, NY) – The Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County (CAP) and The Park School of Communications at Ithaca College are pleased to welcome National Geographic photographer Lynn Johnson to Ithaca as part of the Park Award for Photo Activism project.  In addition to working with student photographers participating in the project, Johnson will deliver a public presentation of her work on Thursday, February 21 at 7:30 pm in the Park Auditorium at Ithaca College.

Johnson is as well known for her sensitive yet unflinching approach to stories such as “The Impact of Avian Flu” and “TIBET: Freedom Denied” as she is for her artful, quiet, depiction of the life of a talented but tortured artist in “Vincent Van Gogh: Inspired by Light” (all for National Geographic). In addition to travel that has taken her to almost all seven continents and numerous nations, Johnson has had the privilege of photographing the entire Supreme Court and notable celebrities including Tiger Woods and Mikhail Baryshnikov. But when all is said and done, the stories that interest Johnson the most are about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances—those of everyday life.

Johnson’s involvement with Ithaca College (IC) began in 1999 when she joined Professor Janice Levy of the Cinema, Photography and Media Arts Department and Annie O’Neil, a photojournalist with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, to take a group of IC students to the Dominican Republic. The group travelled there to photograph the work of Global Links, a Pittsburgh based not-for-profit that distributes surplus medical supplies to developing nations. (http://www.ithaca.edu/icq/2000v2/soscrap1.htm). Johnson returned to IC in September 2005 to present “Hate Kills,” a project that began, in her words, a transition in her personal work from “observer to advocate.”

Johnson’s impressive 35-year career, her passion for telling compelling stories through photography, and her commitment to working with Ithaca College students inspired Levy to choose her to participate in the pilot year of the Park Award for Photo Activism Project.

The project, which is a joint program of Ithaca College’s Park School, CAP, and the Park Foundation, was designed to serve as a link between students and the greater Ithaca community. Degree majors with proven photographic skills and a commitment to community activism have been paired with participating non-profits in Tompkins County to provide in-depth visual explorations of the contributions these organizations make to their constituencies and our community. A special credit-bearing documentary photography course led by Professor Levy is underway and will provide students with ongoing guidance and support for these projects. During her stay, Johnson will visit the class and offer feedback on the work completed so far.

Along with other community members and photographers, Johnson will also participate in judging the completed projects. A screening of all work will take place at a downtown Ithaca venue in May. Cash awards will be donated to the non-profit organizations represented in the winning projects as follows: first place-$1,000; second place-$500; third place-$300. These donations will be made in the names of the respective winning students. Organizations participating in the pilot year of the program include the Alcohol & Drug Council of Tompkins County, Better Housing for Tompkins County, Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes, the Child Development Council, Friendship Donations Network, Habitat for Humanity of Tompkins and Cortland Counties, Ithaca Children’s Garden, Kids Discover the Trail, the Learning Web, Longview, Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes, Slaterville Ambulance, and the State Theatre of Ithaca.

Lynn Johnson’s public program will be held at the Park Auditorium on the Ithaca College Campus at 7:30 pm on Thursday, February 21st. The event is free and open to the public. For more information on Johnson’s past work, visit her website at lynnjohnsonphoto.com.

The Community Arts Partnership was founded in 1990 to serve as the arts council of Tompkins County, providing technical assistance, grant opportunities, and professional services and information to artists and arts organizations, as well as public programs that celebrate and support the arts community in the county.  To date, CAP has helped to distribute more than $2.5 million in grants and fellowships to artists and arts organizations in the community.    For more information on the Community Arts Partnership and its programs and services, visit www.artspartner.org or call Executive Director, Brett Bossard at (607) 273-5072.

 

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