Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
Stakeholders set to go to the next level
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Kathleen Moore at 395-3120 or moore@dailygazette.com.

    It took more than two years, but the locally grown Stakeholders Inc. is finally flowering.
    Young professionals organized the group to convince their peers to volunteer. Now they’re receiving funding for their plans, which will allow them to do more than simply encourage volunteering. Soon, they’ll start organizing major projects.
    “We’re going to be ramping up,” said Jim Salengo, who runs the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp. and serves as volunteer vice president of the Stakeholders. “We need a lot more people. The whole point is to get people to take a larger stake in the community, learn more, get more involved, rather than sitting back and waiting for someone else to do it.”
    The group’s leader is an attorney, Catherine Hedgeman, of Albany. She called Salengo in 2008 to broach the concept of a youthful volunteer group.
    “Kate said, ‘Hey, I have this crazy idea,’ ” Salengo recalled. “We literally started as a bunch of people on a Saturday sitting around Kate’s living room. And now, 2 1 /2 years later, we have real programs.”
    They’ve started three educational programs, each of which is eight months long, teaching young professionals how to volunteer with nonprofits, cultivate the arts and transform the Capital Region.
    The first is the Young Philanthropists Institute, which teaches young professionals how to contribute their time, energy and skills to nonprofits. That includes explaining how nonprofits need skilled professionals on their boards to help them develop effective policies, as well as volunteers to run programs or raise money.
    The Arts Ambassador Institute introduces young professionals to the arts, emphasizing what various arts groups need to keep running.
    The Sustainable Communities Institute teaches the value of sustainability in cities — a culture of social responsibility — and then explains how young professionals can direct their time and money to specific goals to change their community.
    Organizing major volunteer projects is the next step. For that, the group needs volunteers.
    Resumes will soon be accepted through StakeYourClaimNY.org, with an application deadline of Sept. 1. ..............................>>>>....................>>>>......................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01401&AppName=1

Great way to take money from taxpayers to pay the DSIC head to get volunteers to non-profits. Come on! Listen, if no one wants to serve coffee at proctors for free, this won't help.

This is yet another pathetic way taxpayer money is being wasted. If non-profits need volunteers or need fund raising ideas...well, that's what they are supposed to do without burdening taxpayers! To now funnel taxpayer money to help non-profits?!? That's just insane.

Let me get this straight, the non profits pay no taxes, are funded by the taxpayer, and now will get more government funding too. Sounds like triple dipping to me.

Quoted from rachel72

Great way to take money from taxpayers to pay the DSIC head to get volunteers to non-profits. Come on! Listen, if no one wants to serve coffee at proctors for free, this won't help.That's just insane.

This has got to be a joke. The useless DSIC already gets $3 MILLION from the oppressed taxpayers. How much more down a rat hole? You have nailed it once again Rachel. Another victory lap for truth! More sheeple to pour coffee because Mercury Morris/Leeza can't run anything. More sheeple to prop up failed arts and farts night. More sheeple to run horrible DEM TV-OSM.

     I heard a rumor if you volunteer they give you a free City tree grate. With the seal of the City of Schenectady. DSIC is total taxpayer ripoff and job killer. Hopefully one of his first orders of business will be for Mayor Hull to disband it and fire every useless DEM idiot "working" down there. Small businesses are fleeing Downtown because of this crap. 10 have closed or gone belly up and it's just July.

S C A M

The Gazetto is more and more like Mad Magazine. A comedy publication. This "news", the "news" about Refreshing Springs with the two idiots talking about hope and the hilarious City neighborhood "analysis".