Highlights 2024

The Wolf Lake Neighbors Foundation, Inc.

"Building Stronger Communities Together”

Dear Wolf Lake Neighbors,

We spent $9,000 of your money last year, and we hope to spend slightly more of it in 2025. We’d like to tell you how we spent it, and what we plan to do next.

1. We now operate “Care Closets” in two Monticello elementary schools, offering shampoo, tooth brushes, socks and similar basic items to children whom teachers identify as needing them. Many of these children are homeless.

2. We established a scholarship to send SUNY Sullivan grads to go on to a four-year college, and we made our first award.

3. We made it possible for Literacy Volunteers of Sullivan County to expand its English as a Second Language program in Monticello.

The Wolf Lake Neighbors Foundation is continuing to look for charitable initiatives in our local communities, and with your continued support we can continue to make a difference. Here is a snapshot of our finances, grants, and plans for next year.

The number of individual donors and local business sponsors increased 50% in 2024, to 60.

We raised over $10,000 in cash and in-kind donations.

1. The foundation is an all-volunteer group, and we spent 95 percent of the money on direct help to others. The remaining $500 was spent on the company that hosts the foundation’s website, and a web developer who generously did the work at a steep discount.

2. The names of our business supporters are listed on our website and they deserve our thanks and continued support.

With your financial support, we will continue these projects:

Transfer scholarship:

1. We awarded $5,000 to a graduate of SUNY Sullivan so he could go onto SUNY Stony Brook, a four-year institution. Community colleges such as SUNY Sullivan, provide a start for students with limited resources, but with the cost of higher education seeming to increase endlessly, they need help to continue. In speaking with our donors, we learned how a community college changed their lives. The question was how could we encourage promising students to continue their education after earning a two-year Associate’s degree.

2. With the assistance of our donors and the enthusiastic support of the leadership at SUNY Sullivan we created what we call the Wolf Lake Neighbors “Transfer” Scholarship. To be eligible for the scholarship the student has to be a graduate of SUNY Sullivan, a resident of Thompson or Mamakating, be accepted at a four-year SUNY college, and demonstrate financial need.

We are planning to make another $5,000 transfer scholarship award in 2025.

1. Literacy: We gave a grant of $2,500 to Literacy Volunteers of Sullivan County, enabling the group to hire a teacher and to offer an additional English as a Second Language (ESL) course for 12 months at its facility in Monticello. Some students enter the course with nearly no English. Angela Dutcher, Executive director of Literacy Volunteers reported that out of the 20 students registered, three quarters gained in comprehension and ability to converse. We have been asked to support the ESL course for another year due to the high number of immigrants in the Monticello area.

2. Care Closets: We gathered in-kind donations and cash totaling $1,000. As more students suffer homelessness, Care Closets are becoming popular with many teachers and school administrators, to serve their students in need. Care Closets provide free essential items that students and families are struggling to afford. The care closet evolved to provide deodorant, lip balm, socks, underwear, toothbrushes, snacks, winter clothing, nutrition when school is not in session, and more. The Monticello Central School District has a total of 2,754 students (Pre-K- 12 th grade) and over 100 are homeless, which is defined as children and youth who lack a “fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.” As we get to know our local community better with the help of our Advisory Committee, and community leaders we are learning who needs assistance and what form of assistance would be useful.

We were shocked to learn recently that just a few miles from the lake, at the Rutherford Elementary School (grades 3-5), there are 20 homeless children and at the Cooke Elementary School (grades K-2) there are 27 homeless children. Although the support structure for homeless children is comprehensive, we have learned from our meetings with educational professionals in Monticello that the system is “stressed” and students still need basic items including, winter clothing, hygiene supplies and food over the weekends. Most importantly, when students basic needs are met, they are more likely to attend school and be able to focus on learning.

In response to the children's needs and in coordination with the teachers, we purchased supplies and donated them to the Care Closet at the Rutherford Elementary School. We took a different approach for stocking the Care Closet at the Cooke Elementary School. Through Facebook, we announced that help was needed, and that items could be dropped off at the porch of one of our supporters.

We got overwhelming support. Donors, most of them anonymous, brought toiletries and other donations in excess of $1,000. We will increase our budget in 2025 as we work the schools to keep the care closets fully stocked and work on establishing a summer backpack program for needy students.

With your support we will continue to help elementary school teachers with this challenging situation, and meet the needs of homeless children. We plan to have another donation drive in May, for summer supplies: sunscreen, deodorant, refillable water bottles, and new and gently-used books at the K-5th grade reading levels.

We want to thank our Advisory Committee members, Fr. Bob Porpora and Mike Taylor who have awakened us to the needs of young children in the Monticello schools and were instrumental in making our Care Closet initiative a reality.

We want to acknowledge and thank our local newspaper, the Sullivan County Democrat, sharing our work with the community. The Democrat’s articles have helped generate many donations.

We have received flattering comments about our first logo. Special thanks goes to Kim Flynn, our Wolf Lake artist in residence, who donated her artistic talents and created this evocative logo for all of us.

Looking forward to your continued support.

Your Directors,

Jean Eifert

Jim Gleason

Don Kennedy