The mission of the Advocacy Center is to prevent and reduce sexual and domestic abuse through supportive services and education in our community. We provide advocacy services for those who have been victimized through domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse. We provide a 9-bed emergency safe house for victims of domestic violence. Additionally, we provide community prevention/educatio nservices.

Nearly half a million New Yorkers are living with Alzheimer’s disease, with just as many Caregivers providing support to those affected by the disease. Serving 14 counties including: Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, St. Lawrence, Tioga, and Tompkins. The Central New York Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association is here to support our community. We offer FREE education, guidance, and many resources to individuals living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, as well as their caregivers, families, and healthcare providers. We’re also deeply committed to advocating for the needs and rights of those affected, while pushing forward vital research aimed at treatment, prevention, and, ultimately, a cure.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention saves lives and brings hope to those affected by suicide. Whether you have lost someone to suicide, struggle personally, or care about someone who does, you are not alone. Research shows that suicide is preventable. To learn the risk and warning signs of suicide, what you can do if you’re concerned about someone, and how you can get involved, visit www.afsp.org/ithaca

Finger Lakes Toy Library is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Ithaca, NY committed to offering membership to all, regardless of ability to donate. Our mission is to improve quality of life by increasing access to toys, supporting play, and encouraging a culture of reuse and sharing.

Foodnet Meals on Wheels is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide meals and other nutrition services that promote dignity, well-being, and independence for older adults and other persons in need in Tompkins County, N.Y. We envision a county in which senior hunger is eliminated, supportive services are readily accessible, and our neighbors enjoy independence without isolation. Foodnet operates the Senior Nutrition Program under contract from the Tompkins County Office for the Aging (COFA), which includes home-delivered meals, community dining, and senior nutrition education and counseling. Foodnet staff and volunteers cook and prepare nutritious, delicious meals and deliver them to people's homes and community dining sites five days a week. In 2025, we drove 92,655 miles to deliver 116,227 meals to 633 clients, of whom 24% are aged 85+ and 55% live alone. The Community Dining program also includes occasional presentations, such as senior nutrition, free cancer screenings, scam awareness, and other topics relevant to the health and safety of older adults. Our registered dietician designs the menus to meet the nutritional needs of older adults, and also provides nutrition education and counseling. Foodnet drivers are often the only person our clients see each day and provide an essential safety check when they deliver the meals. Our client services team also are an important conduit to other social supports in the community based on clients' needs. Foodnet Meals on Wheels truly does offer much more than just a meal.  

The Friends of Ithaca Sea Scouts financially sponsors Ithaca Sea Scout Ship 25 serving young men & women ages 13-20. The Sea Scout program is a 114 year old program in the USA. Here locally, this co-ed leadership and character development program uses hands-on training in aquatic skills, community service, financial and other life skills to provide opportunities for young people to put their leadership training into action. To raise future leaders, we help them learn to work together in a fun and safe way.

Golden Opportunity (GO) was founded in 2005 to provide equitable educational support for economically disadvantaged students performing below grade level in math and reading. What began with just three students has grown to serve up to 75 of the district's most vulnerable children. For two decades, GO has offered its free, one-on-one tutoring and mentorship program to students in grades 2–8 across the Ithaca City School District's eight elementary and three middle schools. GO targets students who are quiet, overlooked, or struggling with undiagnosed learning challenges, who too often fall through the cracks, and whose caregivers cannot afford private tutoring. For these students, GO provides advocacy and academic support, removing barriers to access so that students become confident learners.

Groton Community Cupboard (GCC) is a food pantry that serves nearly 200 families in and around Groton, NY. We are located in a tri-county area and serve all those who come looking for assistance. We have no grocery store in Groton so this service is much needed. Clients come into the pantry once a week and self-choose what they would like. We offer fresh produce, meat, dairy and canned goods as well as some health and cleaning supplies when available. We also provide delivery to those who have no transportation or difficulty getting to the pantry due to medical conditions, work schedules or day care.

Ithaca Community Childcare Center (IC3) is an NYS-licensed, non-profit, and NAEYC-accredited center that offers care for children aged 8 weeks to 12 years old. We provide child-inspired, professionally nurtured care and educational opportunities, including a nationally recognized continuity of care program for infants and toddlers. Our child-centered approach offers a safe environment for hands-on learning, where experienced, professional, and nurturing teachers and assistants help children embrace a lifelong love of learning.

The Ithaca Health Alliance (IHA) is a 501(c)3 organization that sponsors and operates the Ithaca Free Clinic. The Ithaca Health Alliance has been dedicated to seeking solutions to local healthcare issues since 1997. Opened in 2006, the Ithaca Free Clinic is widely known as one of the first free clinic in the US to offer both primary medical and holistic care through an integrated model. The mission of the Ithaca Free Clinic is to provide access to health care based on need, not on ability to pay, where the talent and generosity of our health care community come together through mainstream medicine, complementary alternative medicine, and social advocacy to establish health care as a human right, not a privilege.

The Lansing Events Committee, Inc. organizes and hosts fundraisers and events for our community. If we win, we intend to use this money toward the annual Fall Community Celebration, Lansing Recreation department scholarships, and our LCSD Graduating Senior Community Spirit Scholarship. We also support local organizations and charities with their fundraisers and/or events by donating to their causes and promoting their events. Our hope is to continue donating to our local food bank and blue cabinets, as well.

As Tompkins County's only community kitchen serving five meals per week, Loaves & Fishes provides a place for free meals, hospitality, companionship, and advocacy for those in need, regardless of their faith, beliefs, or circumstances. We have put this mission into practice and to date have served one and a half million meals.

The Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) was founded in 1932 by Gilbert D. Harris, a professor of geology at Cornell University. Today, PRI houses a collection of more than 7 million specimens, one of the largest in the nation, and publishes the oldest paleontological periodical in the western hemisphere (Bulletins of American Paleontology, begun in 1895). It has active educational outreach programs in Earth and environmental science that serve thousands of students, teachers, and the general public throughout the northeastern U.S. and beyond. The Museum of the Earth, PRI's public outreach and exhibits facility, opened in 2003 and has more than 30,000 in-person visitors annually. PRI's online content is accessed by more than 1 million people annually. PRI scientific staff conduct original research in paleontology, geology, evolutionary and marine biology, and science education. PRI is an independent not‑for‑profit 501(c)3 organization chartered by the State of New York in 1936. PRI is formally affiliated with, but separate from, Cornell University. The Institution has approximately 15 staff and an annual operating budget of approximately $1.7 million. 

Running to Places (R2P) is a youth development organization that seeks to foster a safe and supportive community where any interested youth has the opportunity to learn important life skills through theatre.

Tompkins County 4-H, a program of Cornell Cooperative Extension, annually reaches more than 4,000 young people ages 5–19 each year through hands-on learning experiences that build confidence, leadership, and life skills across our rural and urban communities. 4-H Clubs bring youth together to explore shared interests, develop new skills, and proudly showcase their work at the 4-H Youth Fair and the New York State Fair. Much of this programming is made possible through community donations and volunteers. Rural Youth Services provides free afterschool and school break programming for primarily middle school youth, along with low-cost summer camps, field trips, and group enrichment opportunities. County grants and donor support make this access possible. Primitive Pursuits is a fully outdoor program that fosters a healthy relationship between youth and nature, teaching what we can responsibly use from the earth and how we can care for it in return. Offerings include afterschool programs, homeschool days, teen weekends, and seasonal camps (and now we offer Adult Earth Skills Workshops). While fee-based, all scholarships and BIPOC reciprocity waivers are entirely donor funded. Together, these programs ensure that every young person, regardless of background or financial circumstances, has access to meaningful opportunities to learn, grow, and belong.

We are a youth and family-centered organization in Tompkins County that addresses systemic injustice through responsive anti-racist programming and services to build an equitable and inclusive community. We envision a community where all youth and families are seen, heard, valued and thriving.

AngelEyes Animal Rescue & Wildlife Rehabilitation focuses on providing professionalized care to wildlife under the guidance of a NYSDEC Certified Class II Wildlife Rehabilitator. Their mission provides training to qualified volunteers in the rescue, reunification, rehabilitation and transportation of wildlife ensuring that these animals are provided for and eventually released back to their natural environments. Guided with the commitment that “no animal is ever left behind”, limited individualized services for domesticated animals are coordinated such as trapping, tracking, transporting, sheltering, nutritional care, medical needs and significant behavioral issues.

 

Family Reading Partnership connects families with young children to the joy of books and read-aloud experiences to expand their horizons. Their programs give away over 20,000 children's books to local families each year, and offer abundant opportunities for playful interactions as a pathway to literacy.

The Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC) serves the immediate neighborhood and greater Ithaca area by providing multicultural, educational, and recreational programs focused on social development. Dedicated to supporting at-risk, disenfranchised, and underrepresented populations, GIAC works to improve quality of life, advocate for rights, and fight oppression.

Ithaca Children’s Garden is an award-winning, 3-acre public children’s garden designed for kids, enjoyed by all, and driven by a mission to connect children to nature to create a more beautiful, resilient and just world.

The CNY Living History Center has a four-fold mission: to develop a museum complex for the preservation of historical artifacts of local, national and international significance, to educate students from the intermediate grades through college, to contribute to the economic revitalization of Cortland County by creating a museum that will enhance tourism in the Central New York area, and to provide opportunities for volunteers to become involved in community-building activities while sharing our facilities with a wide range of community partners.. To realize this mission, the Homer-Cortland Community Agency, Inc. oversees a museum complex that houses the following collections: The Brockway Truck Preservation Association, largely made up of individually owned Brockway trucks, and Brockway history and memorabilia; The Homeville Museum, largely composed of the Ken Eaton Collection of military, train and local historical artifacts – including a recently added digital display featuring Cortland County music and musicians; The Agricultural Heritage Exhibit in the Big Red Barn, provides an exhibit of individually owned vintage tractors, examples of rural farm life and expanding exhibits of local agricultural heritage; and the recently added Antique Firehouse Museum and First Responder Display depicts the rich history of firefighting from the early 1800's to the present and while incorporating the value of all first responders.

The Tompkins County Workers Center (TCWC) and Mutual Aid Tompkins (MAT) work together to support the community in many ways. Through its Workers Rights Hotline, TCWC advocates for, provides resources for and supports workers in the community with any issue they have related to employment. TCWC also works hard to strive for a living wage for all employees in the county. TCWC fiscally sponsors Mutual Aid Tompkins, which facilitates neighbors helping neighbors. MAT promotes the exchange of resources both via its Immediate Needs Facebook page and the Food Sharing Cabinets. More than 40 blue Food Cabinets distributed throughout the county and beyond make food and household items available to community members in need, anonymous and unrestricted, available 24/7, with the premise “Take what you need, leave what you can”. Working closely together, TCWC and MAT are a crucial resource for the community.

The mission of the SPCA of Tompkins County is to protect companion animals. We are a no-kill shelter dedicated to preventing animal cruelty and overpopulation. We promote responsible pet stewardship by providing education, counseling and training to nurture and enhance the human-animal bond.

Ben’s Place Senior Dog Sanctuary is dedicated to improving senior dogs’ lives by rescuing them from shelters and giving them a loving place to call home. We coordinate with local shelters and adopt the older, harder to place dogs. Once here, this is their forever home, where they will spend the rest of their days living as a beloved family member. There are no cages, no kennels. The dogs live together in a pack with free roam of the house and yard. They have food, water, soft beds, veterinary care, treats galore, and love. So much love.