“Cents for St. Susan’s” Campaign Kick Off Held (May 2, 2023)

The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities 24th annual “₵ents for St. Susan’s” campaign is now underway.

The campaign supports operating costs at the soup kitchen located at 31 Water Street.

St. Susan Center executive director Cherie Rowland said, “Only a few short months ago, we were averaging 120 meals served per day. Today we are averaging 180 meals served each day.”

BPU General Manager Dave Leathers said that the BPU “₵ents for St. Susan’s” drives have raised $307,611.54 over the past 23 years.

In addition to generous sponsors, the campaign is assisted by community members who drop coins, cash and checks into bright yellow “₵ents for St. Susan’s” coin canisters placed around the area to collect money to help the soup kitchen feed hungry people.

Residents also may donate redeemable cans and bottles at the BPU Customer Service Office, at Don’s Car Wash and at the Southside Redemption Center for St. Susan Center.

Gifts may be mailed to “₵ents for St. Susan’s,” c/o Jamestown BPU, P.O. Box 700, Jamestown, NY 14702-0700.

BPU customers who pay their bills online also may contribute online at www.jamestownbpu.com.

A hot dog sale for the cause will take place outside the BPU Customer Service Office from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Friday, June 2.

All gifts to the drive go directly to St. Susan Center.

For more information, contact Becky Robbins at (716) 661-1680 or brobbins@jamestownbpu.com.

St. Susan Center

The event, scheduled for 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., will be held at the Fluvanna Community Church, located at 3363 Fluvanna Avenue.

Over 97 baskets will be available at the event. Ticket sheets are $20. The drawing will take place at 2:00 p.m. Food and refreshments will be available for purchase.

Visit https://stsusancenter.org/basketfair for more information.

The Irish Brothers present their request for downtown event funding to the Jamestown Local Development Corporation (February 15, 2023)

Over $105,000 in grants and loans have been approved for four downtown events.

The Jamestown Local Development Corporation heard presentations from five organizations, tabling one at its monthly meeting Wednesday.

Funding approved includes:

– $9,500 for the Irish Brothers to appear at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on March 15,
– $10,000 for Roger Tory Peterson Institute‘s two-day presentation of the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts in April
– $49,970 for the 2023 Whirlybird Festival in July that includes $24,900 in grants and a $25,000 loan
– and $35,700 for four Earlybird concerts that includes $10,700 in grants and a $25,000 loan.

A $42,500 request from St. Susan Center to bring in CashCab’s Ben Bailey for a Trivia Night fundraiser was tabled, with JLDC members requesting additional information about the space for the event.

The JLDC Board also approved funding eight businesses under the Business Expansion and Building Acquisition (BEBA) Grant program. City Council allocated $750,000 in American Rescue Plan monies for the program with $749,980 in requests received.

Department of Development Grant Manager Tim O’Dell said the businesses receiving funds have promised to create 40 full time jobs and 18 part-time positions, “To mention as well, the contracts, if approved they would be signing as structured as a 50% grant and 50% forgivable loan. The forgivable loan portion comes into as they will need to meet their employment goal. And if not, they will have until December 31, 2026 in order to obtain that goal. And if they weren’t to obtain that goal, they would pay half of it that was the loan portion if the jobs were not met.”

The eight businesses who were approved funding are:
– The Beer Snob – $60,000
– BW Wholesale Florist – $83,335
– Falcon Acquisitions – $93,480
– Fringe Hair Salon – $58,500
– It’s Your Day – $64,000
– Labyrinth Press Company – $114,855
– Panache – $167,105
– and Summit Wealth Management – $108,705

Building Acquisition & Business Expansion Grant funded Companies

Jamestown Economic Development Coordinator Stephanie Wright shared that 54 businesses were notified directly about the grant program with 19 declining to apply.

O’Dell said they heard from the Small Business Development Center that often businesses don’t have the time to invest in the application process, “And they don’t want to go to a commitment like that, as it’s a very long project in when the American Rescue Plan ends. And we’ve also run into instances where either they’re just not interested, they do not want to participate, as well as some businesses do not want to get involved in government programs.”

O’Dell said the Department is working with SBDC and the Chamber of Commerce on getting out the word on the next set of business grant programs. He said SBDC also will help businesses complete the grant applications.

The grant applications for Labyrinth, Panache, and Summit Wealth Management will now appear under new business on City Council’s voting agenda on Monday, February 27. Any grant that exceeds $100,000 must also receive council approval to move forward.

Southwestern Central School District

Tonight at Southwestern, Jamestown Public Schools Lady Red Raiders will play Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart, with JV playing at 6:00 p.m. and Varsity playing at 7:30 p.m.

The tournament continues tomorrow, Saturday, December 10, with the following game times:
• 3:00 p.m. JV Consolation Game
• 4:30 p.m. JV Championship Game
• 6:00 p.m. Varsity Consolation Game
• 7:30 p.m. Varsity Championship Game.

Also on Saturday, the SWHS National Honor Society and Southwestern Girls Varsity Basketball team, will hold a canned food and winter items drive at the tournament to benefit St. Susan Center of Jamestown.

Admission will not be charged to any of the Saturday’s games, but attendees are asked to donate canned food items and/or winter items (hats, gloves, socks). Monetary donations are also welcome.

St. Susan Center officials and “Haul for the Holidays” sponsors

The 10th Annual “Haul for the Holidays” to benefit St. Susan Center will take place December 15 through 17.

Northwest Arena Executive Director Keith Martin will stand outside the Jamestown Cycle Shop for three days, accepting food and monetary donations.

Martin said the experience is heartwarming to see the support from the community, “I always say it may be cold outside for those three days, but each time somebody drives up and drops off a donation, you get all warm inside. So, I enjoy doing it. I enjoy seeing the people come in to help support St. Susan’s.”

St. Susan Center Director Cherie Rowland says the needs at the Center are as high as ever, “We’ve seen about a 15% from fourth quarter last year to fourth quarter this year. So, we’re on pace to feed 34,000 meals this year.”

Rowland said that Keith Martin’s goal was to try to raise enough funds to make it $150,000 total for the last 10 years, “He’s on track to do 150,000 pounds, am I right? [Keith Martin – “120,000”] 120,000 pounds. So, last year he collected 13,000 pounds and $24,000 for St. Susan’s. It’s truly been amazing.”

Rowland added that St. Susan Center remains open Monday through Saturdays, with a special Christmas Eve dinner being available noon to 1:45 p.m., Saturday, December 24.

The “Haul for the Holidays” donations can be dropped off at the Jamestown Cycle Shop, located at 10 Harrison Street, from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Thursday, December 15, 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Friday, December 16, and 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Saturday, December 17.

City Council Public Forum held September 14, 2022

Questions and opinions on how to deal with the rising homeless population in Jamestown were raised during City Council‘s public forum on Wednesday.

Several questions were raised about what is being done about the homeless people under the North Main Street viaduct and for homeless women and children.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said many people don’t realize there are only two shelters in Jamestown, with one housing men and the other housing women and children of domestic violence.

He said a census of homeless people in Jamestown has revealed new challenges, “Many years, that has been about 25 to 30 people. In the last several months, we have now seen an increase of over 70 people or more in just certain areas. So, it has risen rapidly across the city. In many cases it’s visible. We’ve always had homelessness, let’s be clear about that, it has not been as visible as it has been.”

Sundquist said the end of the COVID-19 eviction moratorium has led to increased evictions and movement of people to Jamestown.

He said he had met with over 60 local pastors Tuesday night along with council members to discuss homelessness.

Sundquist said in talking with other cities, that when faith leaders and resource providers work together, they’ve been able to tackle issues like emergency sheltering, getting resources to people, and, ultimately, getting people off the street, “That’s a model we’re trying to do right here in the city of Jamestown. And in the next two weeks we’ll be bringing both those groups together to start to look at that model. Because we’re afraid when winter comes, when the snow comes, we’re going to start to see people in abandoned homes. We’re going to potentially see people dead on the street. And that’s something we do not want to happen.”

Police Chief Tim Jackson said on every shift, officers having been meeting with the people taking shelter under the North Main Street viaduct to try to move them along while also handing out informational pamphlets about resources available for help.

Several comments were made by audience members about not wanting to give “hand outs, but hand ups” to homeless people, including not offering food to homeless but instead donating money and food to shelters and food pantries.

Mental Health Association Project Manager Sean Jones spoke up, saying “there are no hand outs in town” and that the MHA works with the homeless on a daily basis, “We help them navigate the system through the town. If there is a hand-out, yes, sometimes we give them a sandwich or a cup of coffee, but that’s how we build trust with them so they will trust us to then go through the process. And one of the things we have to go through is when we bring them to their appointment, they can sign up for help to get housing, to get food, to get medical assistance, to get a lot of different things.”

Jones said there are rules involved with getting this help, so if a participant is late or misses an appointment, they can be sanctioned for 45 days where they have to wait that entire time in order to reapply for services.

Sheriff Jim Quattrone, who had previously worked with a homeless ministry, said when it comes to homeless issues, one size doesn’t fit all, “There are some people that need that hand-out. They need it right now to survive. But then we need to do a rehabilitation. And how we talk to them, ‘How do you see yourself improving? What do you need now to survive? What do you need for the next month to survive? And then moving forward, the month after that?’ And then we have to have a development. It’s kind of like, give a fish, feed them for a day, teach them to fish, feed them for a lifetime.”

Quattrone said people should try visiting somewhere like St. Susan Center to have a non-judgmental conversation with those who are homeless or food insecure. He added that while there are a lot of resources in Chautauqua County, he’s been meeting monthly with area groups to learn what gaps need to be filled.

Jamestown BPU, St. Susan Center, and Sponsors gather on the Jamestown Riverwalk to celebrate ‘Cents for St. Susan’s’ Campaign Results

The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities announced the 23rd Annual “Cents For St. Susan’s” campaign has raised $26,693.

BPU Communications Coordinator Becky Robbins said around 50 canisters were put out at local businesses as part of the donation drive, “Those brought in about $2,000, which was very, very generous. And we did urge people to collect bottles and cans, redeemable containers. We didn’t do as much in that this year, but still raised $200 for that.”

She added a hot dog sale at the BPU also raised over $700. Robbins said campaign sponsors, which included individuals and local businesses, raised the rest of the funds.

St. Susan Center Executive Director Cherie Rowland said the funding will go toward feeding over 30,000 people this year, “It will be used for operating expenses as well as buying food. And as everybody knows, right now expenses are higher than they were at this time a year or so ago. So it’s a lot. It really does help.”

Rowland added that St. Susan Center not only feeds those who need it but also provides community, “That’s almost just as important as having a nourishing meal, is having human contact. Because humans cannot do life alone. We have to have participation with the community, I mean, just as individuals.”

Rowland said St. Susan Center also offered this summer a storytime for kids and adult learning programs.

Hot Dog Sale at Jamestown BPU to benefit St. Susan Center

A hot dog sale to benefit the ‘Cents for St. Susan’s‘ fund drive will take place today at the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities.

BPU Volunteers will sell hot dogs, chips and soda from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. outside the BPU’s Customer Service Office located at 92 Steele Street in Jamestown.

The utility raises money for St. Susan Center at this time each year to help provide meals in spring and summer.

The public also may bring empty redeemable cans and bottles to the sale to provide more “cents” for the soup kitchen.

During the fund drive through mid-July, redeemable cans and bottles also may be taken to BPU Customer Service. Cans and bottles also can be donated at Don’s Car Wash and the Southside Redemption Center.

Sponsors and St. Susan Center Board members gather to kick off the Cents for St. Susan’s Campaign (May 11, 2022)

The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities, sponsors, and St. Susan Center board members kicked off the 23rd Annual ‘Cents for St. Susan’s‘ campaign Wednesday.

The campaign features bright yellow coin canisters placed around the community to collect donations to assist the soup kitchen with feeding people in the Jamestown area. Since 2000, the campaign has raised $280,771.

St. Susan Center Executive Director Cherie Rowland said inflation has caused food prices to go up and up, “The supply chain is kind of disrupted, so we’re seeing it here at St. Susan’s. We’re seeing less food coming in from our donations from our supporters. Some of the major chains who give us food, they’re having shortages. So it’s more important now than even during the Pandemic.”

In addition to the coin canisters, donations may be mailed to ‘Cents for St. Susan’s, Jamestown BPU, PO Box 700, Jamestown, NY 14702-0700.

Redeemable bottles and cans may be donated at the BPU Customer Service Office, Don’s Car Wash, and the Southside Redemption Center. Also, a hot dog sale will take place outside the BPU Customer Service Office on June 3 to benefit the campaign.

St. Susan Center

This year’s event will take place 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Fluvanna Community Center on 3363 Fluvanna Avenue.

Dozens of baskets and gift certificates will be featured. Grand prize tickets will be sold with a chance to win $500 in cash, an adult electric bicycle, or inflatable paddle boards.

All proceeds benefit St Susan Center.

For more information about the Basket Fair, visit stsusancenter.org.