Ambassador Spotlight: Maria Barsa

Welcome to another one of our new Ambassadors, Maria Barsa! Maria grew up in Red Hook and lived here her entire life - except for one year in Germany. She had Nick as her teacher in high school every year and was valedictorian! After graduating from RHHS, Maria went to Yale and studied architecture. During college, she was involved with the soup kitchen and loved hearing from the people she worked with and getting to know them. 

After college, Maria moved to New York City and went to architecture school at Columbia. She then worked in the city for a few years, first in design and then in marketing, where she met her husband (who coincidentally had also gone to Yale and then Columbia). After her husband finished his fellowship they moved back upstate. Together they have three daughters.

When asked about which AFF core value resonates with her the most, Maria writes: “Education is about access to information, people, cultures, differing opinions, and resources to broaden our understanding of the world. While I am endlessly grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to study at Yale and Columbia, I’m acutely aware that Ivy League schools, and higher education in general, is not always the best education for everyone. I think you can go through the world’s “best” schools and still come out ignorant, and you can conversely go through life with no formal education of any kind and have boundless wisdom and compassion for humanity.  With that in mind, I think empowering lower-income communities with education means implementing programs and providing resources within those communities just as much as it means giving them access to means beyond their communities.”

We’re excited to have Maria onboard!

Fall Updates

Perhaps the biggest fall news we have is that our annual grant deadline is fast approaching! Local organizations and AFF Ambassadors have until November 1st to submit their grant proposals for our consideration. We are looking forward to reading about the great work everyone is up to.

Even though the grant cycle isn’t yet upon us, we’ve still been busy! Our most recent local grant was extended to the Poughkeepsie Farm Project (PFP). PFP has a food share program on their farm on the campus of Vassar which supports hundreds of families in the area. This is our third year partnering with PFP.

Hardscrabble Day was on September 17th - those of you who’ve grown up or have lived in Red Hook all have vivid memories of that event, no doubt! A recent article in the Daily Catch highlighted the mood and feelings of many in attendance. The Daily Catch was also a recent awardee of an AFF grant. One of our underlying goals is community building, and a local newspaper is essential to that end.

Speaking of communities, Election Day is coming up! Your right to vote is the most basic tenet of our democracy. Unfortunately, it’s counteracted by voter suppression tactics - even in our own backyard at Bard College. A series of court case rulings with additional litigation pending - outlined here - address the fight for a polling sight on Bard’s campus. We’ve contributed to the endeavor to ensure everyone has the ability to vote, with a $10K grant to Elections at Bard through the Center for Civic Engagement. We applaud the leadership at the Center for Civic Engagement in this decades long battle for justice.

We’ve long been working with folks at the CCE, and on Sept. 30th CCE hosted their annual celebration of community partnerships at Blithewood. Some sixty or so folks gathered - Fran, Jen, and Nick were in attendance - to honor a couple of local awardees for their dedication and commitment to community building. Sarah Ugolini, the ED from the RH Community Center - one of our benchmark partners, as well - has orchestrated significant program growth over the last few years.

We’ve also fostered connections with other institutions in the area, including Marist. A few of us met last Tuesday with Dr. Melitski’s Nonprofit Management class answering questions about our work and outlining a matching donation commitment to two local Poughkeepsie agencies. Two groups in the class are in a friendly competition to raise money for Grace Smith House, a center that provides counseling, shelter, and other services to victims of domestic violence and their families, and the Special Olympics of the Hudson Valley. Our match commitment is now in its third year. A matching donation in 2021 led to a full-fledged grant with the Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse this spring!

Lastly, we've always enjoy updates from our Ambassadors and the organizations we’ve funded in the past. Aminy Ostfeld, Ambassador Class of 2015, advocated for We Care Solar/We Share Solar for a number of years. We Share Solar design solar suitcases for energy needs both domestically and internationally. The energy generated provides power for health facilities and schools within those communities where grids are nonexistent. They are now part of our “Legacy Portfolio,” which includes six organizations which can apply to the AFF directly for funding after a history of Ambassador advocacy on their behalf. Aminy continued her wonderful ambassador service with a grant for City Slicker Farms in Oakland, CA. last year.

As always, keep us up to date on your volunteering, endeavors, and anything else!

Ambassador Spotlight: Luke Franek

This year, we welcomed three new Ambassadors to the AFF Family, and Luke was one of them!

Luke Franek went to Red Hook Schools all throughout childhood (taking AP Calc with Nick!) and then to Ithaca College, where he graduated in 2006. He then worked in film production in NYC’s for two years, before moving to LA in 2009, where he’s lived since working for directors and producers as a film development executive and creative producer. 

Alleviating poverty and homelessness is the Ascienzo Family Foundation funding priority that most resonates with Luke, particularly because it is such a large issue in LA. Luke’s also interested in working on environment and climate control work in the future.. 

When asked what his favorite way to give back is, Luke reflects on the times that he’s been able to take on a leadership role and draw more people into a community organization. Luke’s appreciated opportunities to work with young people or people new to a cause, and how they can learn, grow, and contribute. “It’s very empowering,” he says. “It all comes together.”

Summer Updates

Wondering what the AFF has been up to this summer?

A lot!

Here are some highlights:

• Summer Academy at Red Hook High School recently completed its sessions. We’re proud to support the district in offering unique opportunities in theater, automotive maintenance, bird watching, farm to table hands on activity, writing the all important college essay, and other unique coursework.

• In July there was a community build at the Linden Avenue School. A much needed physical education space complete with various apparatus was constructed in the northeast corner of the school’s grounds. Volunteers, a few AFF directors included, met to install equipment and help in the landscaping.

• Nick was a panel judge for LearnServe’s 2022 Global Fellowship Program - his 2nd panelist appearance this year! The fellows had been working on social impact ventures in their communities vying for funding to move their concept forward. LearnServe is a grantee of AFF, and it was so nice to collaborate with them.

• Long Table is a food sourcing agency serving Columbia and Dutchess counties. We’ve approved an application from them to assist in their gleaning operations - the produce of which will make their way to various local food pantries and organizations.

• A shout out to Four Corners Community Farm in Red Hook’s backyard. Sam Rose has been creating programs designed to support “community resilience in providing a center for residents to adopt garden parcels, produce and donate agricultural products, acquire education in food security and self-sufficiency, and congregate to promote community recreation and initiatives.”

• CultureConnect has been a partner of the AFF for five years now! Culture Connect offers after school enrichment programs for English as a New Language Learners students in grades K- 5. They support the entire family to nurture a sense of the child’s and family’s belonging in the school and local community. Recently, they have begun CollegeConnect in Red Hook High School - mentoring seniors through the college search process.

• We all know there is joy in learning- the AFF recently approved a grant from the Rhinebeck-based nonprofit Joy of Learning, which will provide support for a magazine and programming to promote, and make more accessible, early childhood education in the area. Welcome to our newest grantee!

• A second round of funding to the Kingston Boys and Girls Club was just finalized. Thanks to AFF Director Fran, who sponsored this Director’s Grant! We’re assisting the Kingston Boys & Girls Club in their Teen after school programming which has an average of 80 young adults per day.

• Red Hook Together is a group of civic leaders and active citizens who gather monthly to chat about topics pertinent to the Red Hook scene, with an ultimate goal of fostering inclusivity and comfort for everyone within the community. Their first physical meeting in over two years took place in August at the Rec Park.

• Lastly, a big congratulations to our new class of 2022 ambassadors - Maria Rizzolo Barsa, Luke Franek, and Fiona Dwyer-McNulty. Additionally, we’re happy to announce the 2022 AFF scholarship recipients: Ava Michaelides, Lucia Link, and Cassandra Coleman, received $2,000 scholarships each.

Please stay in touch! We always like to hear from our neighbors near and far.

Reflecting on LearnServe’s Change Fest

This blog post comes to you from AFF Founder and Co-Director Nick Ascienzo.

Earlier this month, I was a panelist at an event conducted by one of the AFF’s grantees, LearnServe. LearnServe empowers young adults from diverse backgrounds to take on social challenges with an “entrepreneurial vision”, providing them with the necessary support to move their vision forward. 

Specifically, the LearnServe Change Fest in early March was the culmination of seven months of planning on the part of the organization’s Fellows which I had the honor to attend and participate in by evaluating a few Fellows’ proposals. What a delight to listen to three passionate presentations on climate change action, financial literacy, and leadership development from two DC students and one from Ecuador - the first international Fellow to present in LearServe’s history. No doubt the many other Fellows who presented that day to other panelists in other groups were just as excited, knowledgeable, and well spoken as those I heard - A credit to the many hours of research and networking the Fellows spent on their projects, as well as the guidance, both social and technical, from LearnServe staff. 

AFF’s connection to LearnServe is a direct result of AFF Director Ali Fraenkel’s advocacy in March of 2021. Ali sits on their Growth Council - a group of professionals amplifying LearnServe’s work - and sponsored an AFF grant of $20,000 for a full-time Student Success Coordinator. Recently Scott Rechler, Co-Director and CEO, sent this report along, from focus group reflections with Fellows this past week:

"I absolutely loved Latrina's support. Her sessions were so helpful. My school counselor doesn't do anything like that. She is so easy to talk to. It's such a comforting space. She extended resources outside our projects. I love it and I think you should do it every single year and Latrina should be the person in that role."

We’re proud of our partnership with LearnServe and its impact in creating a space for young minds to change the world!