Skidmore College
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Each year, Skidmore comes together as a community to celebrate and strengthen connections with each other and to improve the circumstances of neighbors in Saratoga Springs and the region. Since being launched in 2006, the College has celebrated the holiday season by donating monetary gifts, food items, school supplies, and personal-care items to Saratoga organizations that do good work throughout the year. Skidmore has partnered with Corinth Central School District, Economic Opportunity Council, Franklin Community Center, Latino Advocacy Program, Mary's Haven, Salvation Army, Saratoga Springs City School District PATHS, Shelters of Saratoga, Wellspring, and Saratoga Center for the Family. This annual effort engages people across the Skidmore community. Scores of team leaders coordinate efforts in academic departments and administrative offices. Hundreds of faculty and staff contribute canned food, school supplies, and toiletries to the effort. Cash donations come from Skidmore’s preferred vendors and most significantly from the wildly popular Beatlemore Skidmania concerts, with much of the proceeds contributed to Skidmore Cares. Other student organizations that are involved in the success of Skidmore Cares include Benef-Action and the Student Athlete Advisory Council. http://www.skidmore.edu/skidmorecares/

Each year, Skidmore partners with the Backstretch Employee Service Team (B.E.S.T.) to coordinate Give+Go, the College's annual move-out donation program. B.E.S.T. is a non-profit organization that is devoted to meeting the health and social welfare needs of the several thousand barn-area (“backstretch”) workers of the Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga Race Tracks by providing on-site counseling and primary health care services, access to health insurance and case management assistance. Give+Go is designed to capture used goods that students leave behind at the end of the year and donate them to local and regional nonprofits. A large portion of Skidmore's donations go to the individuals and families that B.E.S.T. serves. Members of B.E.S.T. are included in Give+Go program planning and assist during move-out to manage and deliver donations. Skidmore's relationship with B.E.S.T. has strengthened after more than a decade of partnership, and the College often donates other material to the Backstretch during campus renovations. Additionally, student clubs organize clothing drives to support the Backstretch community, and students and faculty regularly work with the Backstretch workers through formalized program projects or volunteer opportunities.

Skidmore College and Big Brothers, Big Sisters (BBBS) have partnered for over ten years to advance the mission of BBBS in providing "children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever." Skidmore's campus is used as a place for "Bigs" and "Littles" to meet and build healthy, strong relationships. The Skidmore Student Government Association supports the partnership, and about 20 student "Bigs" participate in the program every year.

Skidmore College is deeply committed to developing and fostering community partnerships throughout our region. A more comprehensive list of community partners can be found here: http://www.skidmore.edu/community_service/agencyguide.php