Full Circle Grant Making

We have a guest post from Ambassador Tessa Rothwell (RHHS ‘19), who completed her first year of grant making this fall. She advocated for the Girls’ Leadership Worldwide Summer Conference- not only did Tessa attend GLW one summer, but Director Ali Fraenkel (RHHS ‘11) also attended, a few years earlier!

If you had come up to me a few years ago and told me that I would have written a grant by the time I was 18 years old, I would not have believed you. Yet here I am, writing this in March 2020, having just attended my very first grant presentation as a Class of 2019 Ambassador for the Ascienzo Family Foundation. I wrote my grant for the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill (or ERVK for short), specifically for their Girls’ Leadership Worldwide (GLW) Summer Conference, which I attended as a participant over the Summer of 2018. The grant will be used to provide funds for girls in need who will be attending future GLW conferences.

From the moment I sat down at the table at the Elmendorph Inn during the December 2018 get – together, I was already getting excited about potential grant making opportunities.  It was my first time meeting the ambassador network, and I was already hearing some very inspiring stories about grants which had just been approved over the past grant writing cycle. By the time it came for me to introduce myself, I was already discussing my transformative experience at Girls’ Leadership Worldwide and my aspirations to work with ERVK. A year later, at the same table and gathering, I was reporting about my successful grant for ERVK which had just been approved. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams,” and this was an absolute dream come true!  Knowing that these girls will be able to participate in such a powerful leadership conference with the help of our AFF grant really means the world to me.

I would not have been able to succeed at this without the help of both the Ascienzo Family Foundation and ERVK.  Both non-profits were able to assist me in turning this dream into a reality.  I want to give a very special shout-out to Mr. Ascienzo and the ambassador network, which provided me the support and encouragement that I needed to get the job done!  From sample grant proposals to a timeline of events, I was able to stay on target and write a successful grant without feeling overwhelmed. 

On March 9, I had the opportunity to be present when Mr. Ascienzo met my connections at ERVK.  We were able to meet with the executive director, director of programs and development, and two of the ERVK board members.  It was such a memorable day – I never thought I would be involved in such an incredible opportunity.  Many thanks to Mr. A and the AFF ambassadors, as well as everyone at ERVK: April, Lys, Kathryn, Erica, and Kristin, for their support.  Here’s to many future years of partnership with ERVK!  

-Tessa Rothwell (RHHS ‘19)

Community Center Activities

Brittany Florio (Bard Food Supervisor) and Rebecca Yoshino (Bard Farm Coordinator), two of the planners for the "Food for Life" component of the event, are shown here with Larry and Nick.

On Saturday, January 18th, the Ascienzo Family Foundation collaborated with other civic groups for the MLK Day of Engagement at the Red Hook Community Center. Bard College’s Sustainability Team (lead by Laurie Husted) coordinated the event, which included a Repair Cafe, music by Maggie Rothwell, and the opportunity to enjoy fresh foodstuffs prepared by Chef Larry Anthony. Chef Larry was assisted by AFF's Ambassador Tessa Rothwell, AFF Founder Nick A., and a number of Bard undergrads. The soup, dips, and crostini were a hit with the crowd of 100 or so that participated!

This past granting season, we provided two grants to the Red Hook Community Center. One will help support the Center’s Makerspace, which is a creative space that local residents access to the Tool Center where they can spend time on craft projects. The second grant supports the Center’s Teen Program, which provides a safe place for teens to pursue community service, life-skills learning, and organized recreational activities.

Review of 2019

The Foundation’s main granting season has passed, and it was a busy one! In 2019 we provided over $156,000 in grants, including $90,000 in local grants and $66,000 in grants through our ambassador network. Brief descriptions of our 2019 grants can be found here. We also awarded our first Ascienzo Family Foundation scholarship to a graduating RHHS student, and helped organize the second No Cost Farm Market as part of our Nourish Your Neighbor campaign.

Back row (L to R): Brenna Dolen, Tessa Rothwell, Sophie Laing, Elizabeth Ricci, Jonni Mills, Brittany Mosher. Front row (L to R): Iana Robitaille, Brita Brudvig, Mr. A. Photographer: Betsy Kirtland

On December 23, some of our ambassadors met up at the Elmendorph Inn for brunch. We had a wonderful time catching up on everyone’s various personal, academic, and volunteer endeavors. We talked about the future of the Foundation, and emphasized the importance of community building and sustainable programming. It was meaningful to hear from RHHS graduates at all stages of their lives- from those still in college, to those moving forward in their professional careers, to those in graduate school- who are investing in their communities but also still feel a connection to Red Hook. It was a great morning, and we couldn’t resist getting a selfie.

Nourish Your Neighbor 2019 Highlights

Linda, Nick, and Nancy

Back in December, Nick A. met with Nancy Keeney, the President of the Red Hook Faculty Association, and Linda Greenblatt, longtime Rotarian and Red Hook Community supporter, to review the recently concluded Nourish Your Neighbor campaign. 

Through the efforts of Red Hook Schools’ personnel, including teachers, students, and staff, Bard students (through the Center for Civic Engagement with assistance from Sarah DeVeer), and other local contributors, the NYN Food Drive collected over 4,000 food items that were distributed to local food pantries. Additionally, Mike McCrudden from the high school helped raise over $1,600 for this Holiday Season’s food voucher program. The Ascienzo Family Foundation was happy to match that. All in all, the Foundation’s pledge of $1 per food item donation and additional $1,600 in matching funds resulted in a charitable gift of $5,437 for the voucher program. 

Nancy’s message yesterday to her teacher colleagues reads in part:

Feel good! Food cards have been delivered to our food-insecure families, thanks to the diligent efforts of many. On behalf of the RHFA, I accepted a check from Nick Ascienzo and the Ascienzo Family Foundation for $5,347 yesterday. That's a lot of food cards!

Thanks to our lead volunteers, including Peg D'Onofrio, Kim Goldhirsch, Lauren Cerullo, Mary Hare, Jane Hillery, and Mike McCrudden…...Thanks to our amazing nurses and guidance counselors for getting the food cards into the hands of food insecure families for the holidays.

We’re grateful to partner with so many advocates who address food insecurity, are so generous with their time, and resolve in assisting community neighbors. Perhaps one of these years we will reach our goal of 10,000 collected food items - better yet, perhaps one of these years there won’t need to be any number to address at all and our collective generosities may be focused in other areas!

Read about last year’s Nourish Your Neighbor Campaign here.

No-Cost Farm Market 2019

Our Ambassador Tessa Rothwell provides a recap of the second No-Cost Market (read about the first here):

Maggie Rothwell (Tessa’s mom) preforming at the No-Cost Market.

I joined the Foundation a year ago, and remember hearing throughout the year about the success of the first No-Cost Farm Market in 2018.  I arrived at the 2019 market knowing there would be a large turnout. What I did not expect was the hundreds upon hundreds of fresh produce items that I, along with a large team of helpful volunteers from the community (including our partners from Red Hook Rotary), put into paper bags to be passed out later to the community members.  It seemed as if there was no end to the amount of fresh broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, lemons, onions, and other items which were being distributed.  When the event began, I was bursting with excitement to be the first greeter in the distribution line.  When I wasn’t busy interacting with the community, I saw the other volunteers’ interactions, and it was special to feel the positive energy coming from all four corners of the room.  Knowing that many families would be going home with fresh produce as well as Thanksgiving turkeys was heartwarming.  Endless gratitude to all of the local farms and vendors who donated their time and their food to help the community, to Nick Ascienzo and Emma Donahue for planning the event, and to all of the community volunteers. Special thanks to Chef Larry for his food samplings, to my mother, Maggie Rothwell, for providing music, and to Bard CCE for providing fun children’s activities, including pumpkin explosion demos!  We couldn’t have done it without all of you!

-Tessa Rothwell (RHHS ‘18)

The volunteers for the day!