Halloween and Election Day are old news now (well for most of us) and Thanksgiving Day approaches.  With that I often think about the day after when my Pythian Lodge holds a BINGO fundraiser the night after. But, a few years back, an event a few days later captured my attention; and this year I opt to focus attention on it a bit earlier:  Giving Tuesday 2021 takes place on Tuesday, November 30. As in years past, I focus my giving on several causes including support for thoseimpacted by and/or fighting COVID-19.  These include  Services Now for Adult Persons (SNAP), the Pythian Humanitarian Fund  and Gotham.

Gotham relationships benefit SNAP and have also aided Pythian causes.

I chair SNAP’s executive board which includes Gothamite Renee Richter of Gotham Long Island Women and the spouse, Dr. Evelyn Miller-Suber, of Gotham Queens member Tony Suber.  SNAP’s Board of Directors, approved a first-ever capital campaign to help raise the funds needed to make the State of the Art SNAP Innovative Community Senior Center a reality (in Floral Park Queens). Gotham Construction member Steve Glassberg serves as our construction attorney (and more) and my fellow co-chair of Gotham Green® and my 20211 co-networker of the year Joshua Zinder and his firm JZA&D provides our architectural guidance. The draft one-pager we plan to circulate soon states, 

SNAP offers comprehensive programs, services and enjoyable meals at three vibrant senior centers: an Innovative Senior Center in Queens Village and Neighborhood Senior Centers in Rosedale and Far Rockaway. These centers continue to offer diverse programming targeted to the communities each serves. The Case Management Program and Caregiver Program provide the coordination of care plans to ensure that homebound seniors remain safe within the community and offer support and advocacy on behalf of its clients.

It also serves at its centers or delivers where seniors live 140,000 meals – annually. The agency and its soon to go live capital campaign certainly merit support.

The Knights of Pythias through its Humanitarian Fund and the support of its districts and local lodges have supported a variety of local relief efforts and essential workers. The Pythians also support scholarships, diabetes research and youth attending summer camp; their local lodges also make additional donations. Total Pythian COVID Relief donations in New York this year exceed $100,000, including $75,000 to relief organizations servicing the five boroughs, Long Island, Hudson Valley and upstate regions and an additional $18,000 from New York Pythian Districts matched by the Humanitarian Fund. In addition our Supreme Lodge provided $75,000 to the national relief organization, Feeding America.  Gotham Queens member Craig Shink serves as President of the Pythian Diabetes Research Association (DRA). Gotham’s Foundation has supported DRA and the Pythian-supported Parker Jewish Institute in the recent past.

And let us also remember The Theresa Foundation, which many in our tribe support, honored both Friday’s blogger Fred Klein and this correspondent in successive years. Vincent Russo and wife Susan do a wonderful job (in their spare times) shepherding a wonderful organization supporting arts for children with special needs.

Tomorrow, and every Monday, Gotham allows its members to post appeals to support causes on its Fredslist listserve. We call it MAD (as in Make A Difference) Mondays. 

And Giving Tuesday follows in three weeks. And in the week that follows – Wednesday, December 9 – to be precise, Gotham holds it virtual Holiday Party where it will also announce several grants based raised as part of the Gotham Season of Giving campaign. Our (Gotham’s) outing to the September 11 Mets-Yankees game at Citi Field raised over $2,500 towards the annual giving event.

So let’s get ready to give (and you need not wait for Giving Tuesday).