Alleviating Poverty and Helping Education and Seniors (Aired on July 6 and 7, 2019)

RadioRotary interviews “Mr. A,” also known as retired Red Hook math teacher
Nick Ascienzo, founder of The Ascienzo Family Foundation, a unique resource
for helping to alleviate poverty, provide educational services, and serve senior
citizens. Many of Mr. Ascienzo’s former students have become Ambassadors for
the Foundation, people who seek out local needs and write grant proposals so
that the Foundation can support these good causes. Among the examples
around the nation are Fresh Truck, a mobile farm market that brings produce to
underserved neighborhoods; the Sunflower Bakery, which trains and employs the
developmentally disabled in producing baked goods for sale in their store or
online; and We Care Solar, a provider of solar-power on backpacks , enabling
access to renewable electricity for people in developing regions. Although Mr.
Ascienzo’s former students range over the world, the Foundation is based in Red
Hook, NY, and many of its projects are local as well.

Learn more:
Ascienzo Family Foundation: http://www.ascienzofamilyfoundation.org/
Ascienzo Family Foundation on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ascienzofdn/
Fresh Truck: https://www.freshtruck.org/
Sunflower Bakery: https://www.sunflowerbakery.org/
We Care Solar: https://wecaresolar.org/
Red Hook, NY: https://www.redhook.org/31/Explore

Did you like this? Share it:
July 30, 2019 · Posted in Developmentally Disabled, Education, Financial Aid, Nutrition  

Pleasant Valley Days Weekend 2019 (Aired on July 13 and 14, 2019)

Mary Albrecht of the Town of Pleasant Valley returns to RadioRotary to describe
the annual event known as Pleasant Valley Days Weekend, a festival of food,
fun, fireworks, music, and a parade. The festival is largely at Cody Field behind
the Town Hall, but the parade is all along Main Street on Saturday evening,
followed by the fireworks. The Pleasant Valley Fire Department plays a big role in
the event. Many of the events and activities during the event are aimed at
children (although Pleasant Valley Rotary runs a beer-and-wine tent), including a
“Little Miss Pleasant Valley” pageant for girls 5 to 7 years old– entrants get to
ride in convertibles in the parade. But the whole family can enjoy the bands, the
country music, and the typical carnival foods, as well as the annual race of plastic
ducks down nearby Wappingers Creek, with the winner bringing a $500 prize to
the backer of the lucky duck.

Learn more:
Pleasant Valley 2019 Weekend Schedule: https://dutchesstourism.com/event-view/24738
Pleasant Valley Days on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pleasantvalleyweekend/
Pleasant Valley Rotary: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/50045/clubinfo/pleasant-valley

Did you like this? Share it:
July 14, 2019 · Posted in Children, Events, Hudson Valley  

Rotary Year 2018-19 Wrap-Up, District 7210 (Aired on June 29 and 30, 2019)


Christine Giangrasso (Highland Rotary), 2018-19 District Governor for Rotary
District 7210, reports to RadioRotary on her year of traveling to 55 of the 56
Rotary clubs in the 8 counties that make up the Lower Hudson Valley District
(Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, and Ulster).
DG Giangrasso is proud of her record of adding a new club, a new Interact, and
2 new Rotaract clubs to the District during her year as governor. A major theme
of her year was enlisting local Rotary clubs in the fight against heroin addiction
and overdose. She also was able to champion women’s place in Rotary with a
conference that featured Sylvia Whitlock, the first woman to lead a Rotary club
(1987) and honored some of the women who make District 7210 effective. She
also describes the very successful District Conference at the Red Lion Inn in
Stockbridge, MA.

Learn more:
Rotary District 7210: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/50045
Highland Rotary Club: https://highlandrotaryclub.com/
Rotary’s Fight Against Opioid Crisis: https://www.rotary.org/en/rotary-clubs-come-together-fight-opioid-epidemic
Rotaract Clubs: https://www.rotary.org/en/get-involved/rotaract-clubs
Women in Rotary: https://www.rotary.org/en/history-women-rotary

Did you like this? Share it:
July 14, 2019 · Posted in Addiction Recovery, Rotary District 7210, Women, Youth  

Cornell Cooperative Extension, Putnam (Aired on June 22 and 23, 2019)

 

Since 1862, states were empowered to set aside land that would be used to fund
institutes of higher education that would feature agriculture and engineering
along with other studies. These “land-grant colleges” became the basis of a
1914 law that had the Department of Agriculture work in improving agriculture
and rural life. Today every state has cooperative extensions that carry out this
mandate, including extension offices in every country of New York State, which
work with Cornell University. For this program, Radio Rotary interviews Stefanie
Hubert, the Executive Director of the Putnam County Cornell Cooperative
Extension. There are many fascinating topics, ranging from the effort to
encourage farmers to grow hemp; the master-gardener program; advice for good
nutrition; and the 4-H program for youth—which on the last weekend in July in
Putnam County puts on the only free-standing 4-H Fair in the nation.

Learn more:
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Putnam County: http://putnam.cce.cornell.edu/
Cooperative Extension History: https://nifa.usda.gov/cooperative-extension-history
Master Gardeners: https://www.ahsgardening.org/gardening-resources/master-gardeners
Slow Food USA: https://www.slowfoodusa.org/

Did you like this? Share it:
July 14, 2019 · Posted in Education, Environment, Events, Health, Nutrition, Service Organizations