2nd Annual Ulster Volunteers Day
Letter to the Editor
We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who participated in the Second Annual Ulster Volunteers Day at the Hudson Valley Harvest Festival. Special thanks to the many many volunteers who helped out all weekend, to the wonderful local businesses who donated raffle prizes and support for the event: Earthly Bodywork, Moxie Cupcake, Adams Fairacre Farm, The Bakery, and Main Course, Millens Metal Recycling and anonymous supporters. Most of all, our deepest thanks to those inspiring individuals who give so much of their time to make this community strong and resilient – the Guests of Honor who were honored at the Festival, long-term community volunteers from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County, Family of Woodstock, UlsterCorps, New Paltz Rescue Squad, the American Red Cross, Rondout Valley Growers Association Farm-to-Food-Pantry Program, RSVP of Ulster County, UCSPCA, Queens Galley, Bringing Agencies Together, Woodstock Volunteers Day, Riverkeeper, Jewish Family Services, Dispute Resolution Center, and other Ulster County service agencies. We also celebrated the amazing work of Erica Wagner at SUNY New Paltz to inspire a spirit of service in students through the Alternative Spring Break and Make a Difference Day programs, and making posters of Volunteers Day Guests of Honor at the 5th Annual Volunteer Fair. And we were both humbled and inspired by the grass-roots initiative of the organizers of last year’s Hurricane Sandy Relief efforts, from the New Paltz Town Hall Hurricane Sandy Relief Drive, to the amazing dedication of Helping Hands of the Hudson Valley/Sandy Sundays, who made weekly trips to Staten Island and Brooklyn to deliver donations and assist with recovery efforts. A complete list of honorees can be downloaded here.
