For Paul Anderson-Winchell, business has been very, very good and that, he says, is not a good thing.
Anderson-Winchell is executive director of the Grace Church Community Center Inc. in White Plains, which serves 3,500 people a year, including the hungry, the homeless, disadvantaged youths and the elderly, in nine different programs. The center provides the needy with nearly 90,000 meals a year and 28,000 nights of shelter.
From 2008 to ”™09, Grace Church has seen a 33-percent increase in meals at its soup kitchen in downtown White Plains, with 6,000 more midday meals being served, Mondays-Fridays. The annual spring-summer dip that occurs as day laborers get jobs hasn”™t happened this year, says Chris Schwartz, director of development. At the same time, drop-in attendance at the center”™s two shelters has increased. And donations have been falling.
Perhaps then, this year”™s fundraiser is particularly aptly named: “An Oasis of Hope” will be held June 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester in White Plains. The cocktail reception ”“ featuring music by Juilliard-trained pianist Sean Jackson and a silent auction of art, sports tickets, Ritz packages, vacation-home stays and entertainment ”“ honors the White Plains Business Improvement District (BID).
“The BID is an interesting choice,” says Anderson-Winchell, whose organization started working with the BID over the last two years. “We feel that even though we serve the poorest of the poor, we serve the same mission as the BID ”“ to make White Plains a livable place.”
The center has an $8 million budget and 200 employees. “We add to the economic fiber of the city,” Anderson-Winchell says.
It”™s a message he plans to convey at the fundraiser, which 150 to 200 people are expected to attend.
Invariably, critics argue that whatever is spent on the reception could be saved or donated to the center. Why have a benefit at all?
“It”™s hard to get people to pay attention without the fundraiser,” Anderson-Winchell says. “There”™s something to getting people together in the same room.”
Others don”™t need the incentive.
“The good news is that people at all levels are trying to do what they can,” he says. “There”™s been a huge outpouring in sweat equity. People want to volunteer.”
And donate: Besides money, the center could use rice, beans, pasta, tuna and coffee for the soup kitchen.
“There”™s a huge outpouring at the holidays,” Schwartz says. “We want to tell people that others are hungry year-round.”
For its part, the center continues to strive to justify the public trust.
“We have a responsibility in tough times”¦to be as smart and as frugal as we can be,” Anderson-Winchell says. “It”™s an opportunity to do things better.”
Individual tickets are $150. Sponsor tickets range from $500 to $7,500. To RSVP, call 914-949-3098, ext. 151.
