SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)- Local Community members were recently honored at the National Philanthropy Day luncheon hosted by The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) of Central New York.
The President-Elect of the AFP Central New York Chapter, Gracie Thorpe, said that National Philanthropy Day is the largest event for the AFP calendar year. The luncheon was held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Syracuse on Nov. 15.
“It’s our event where we not only get to network, but we get to recognize and celebrate our fellow award winners, organizations, individuals, and such in the community,” Thorpe said.
She added that it takes around 6-8 months of planning to pull the event together.
During the ceremony, business corporations, organizations and individuals were honored for their philanthropic efforts toward the community.
The awards given out at the ceremony were Berkshire Bank for Outstanding Corporation, Ashlea Schad for Outstanding Fundraising Professional, Dean Ripley for Outstanding Philanthropist and Dennis and Judi Hebert for Outstanding Volunteer Fundraisers.
Ripley said that he felt humbled to accept the award.
“Just being connected to the community through all these different things has been so neat for me,” Ripley said. “It’s amazing the opportunity you have to help and then the help you get, frankly from folks, you know, that you meet through these organizations.”
At the ceremony, Ripley was especially honored for his and his team’s work with the nonprofit organization, Erin’s Angels.
Erin’s Angels is an organization that fights food insecurity in Central New York. Ripley was one of the first major supporters of this local nonprofit and since his involvement, Erin’s Angels raised over $200,000 to feed hungry children.
Ripley said that he owes a lot of credit to his team for making him aware of the organization, to begin with.
“It’s an amazing organization that feeds well over 100 kids now putting lunches together for over the weekend, breaks and summer,” Ripley said.
He said that every organization can use more people donating their time and resources.
“People kind of get focused on money when it comes to philanthropy. But time is the first step, you know,” said Ripley. “If you get people involved with their time, the money will come.”