Those of you following our blog know that Saratoga Springboard is a group of energetic professionals improving the quality of life in the greater Saratoga region by supporting local non-profit organizations. Through fundraising events, community outreach, or volunteer coordination, Saratoga Springboard fills a variety of needs for the organizations it serves, upholding Saratoga’s distinctiveness as a culturally rich, dynamic community.

Each year, Saratoga Springboard selects one non-profit organization based in Saratoga County to support with a specific project. For our 2011-2012 project, we’ve teamed up with the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation to organize an art show and auction to benefit the Spirit of Life and Spencer Trask Memorial Restoration Campaign. The event will be held on June 28 at the Canfield Casino in Saratoga Springs.

During the 2010-2011 year, we worked up with Franklin Community Center’s after-school program, Project Lift, to organize a fundraiser called Project Lift University. The event was held at Longfellows in Saratoga Springs and raised over $20,000 for the organization. In years past we have assisted Caffé Lena in celebrating their 50th anniversary with a fundraising event that raised nearly $10,000 for planned renovations, and we put our skills and energy to use supporting Universal Preservation Hall with fundraising and outreach, helping the newly established organization raise nearly $150,000 and strengthen community awareness. We’ve been honored to help such important organizations in Saratoga County and look forward to continuing to support worthy causes that need an extra boost to accomplish a particular goal.

Our group consists of more than a dozen involved community members who have experience in a range of fields, including: marketing, public relations, fundraising, economic development, sales, consulting, law, public policy and graphic design. We are a creative group of progressive thinkers who want to help our unique community continue to flourish.

Saratoga Springboard is currently accepting applications for our 2012-2013 project. If your organization has a specific project that you believe Saratoga Springboard could help accomplish, please apply. Eligibility requirements and guidelines are outlined on our website’s “Apply” page.

We will be accepting applications until July 30, 2012. All applications will be reviewed and our new project will be chosen by September 2012.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us by email at info@saratogaspringboard.com. We hope to hear from your organization!

We’d like to thank our media sponsor, Look TV, for hosting a press conference last week about TRASK: Preserving Saratoga Springs Through Art, our current project with the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation to benefit the Spirit of Life and Trask Memorial Restoration.  Thanks to the support of Look TV, we received outstanding media coverage.  Check it out –

May 15, 2012
Art Show to Raise Money for Restoration of Spencer Trask Memorial in Congress Park

May 15, 2012
Art Show, Auction to Benefit Trask Memorial Restoration

May 14, 2012
‘Spirit of Life’ to be Restored

May 14, 2012
TRASK Fundraiser

The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation and City of Saratoga Springs’ campaign to restore the Spencer Trask Memorial and Spirit of Life statue is well underway.  We are thrilled to have partnered with the Preservation Foundation this year to assist with this effort.  WNYT News Channel 13 brings you the details in the video below.

We are extremely grateful and excited that Look TV has signed on to be Saratoga Springboard’s media sponsor again this year!  Take a look at this clip of Look TV’s David Storey speaking with Springboard members, Betsy Boland and Stephen Carleton, about the organization, and our current partnership with the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation.

Here’s a look back to an interview that Look TV ran last year when we partnered with Franklin Community Center.

 
THANK YOU, Look TV, for your continued support of our organization and the Saratoga community!

Saratoga Springboard is extremely excited to be working with the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation (SSPF) on our recently announced June 28th art event to benefit the Spirit of Life and Spencer Trask Memorial Restoration Campaign.  The inscription on the memorial, “To do good and serve my fellow man”, really struck a chord with all the members of Saratoga Springboard. As an organization, we are compelled to give back to our community, and feel that the Spirit of Life and Trask Memorial are beautiful reminders of this important message.

The Spirit of Life is also a constant reminder of the broader spirit of Saratoga, the unique and special community in which we have chosen to live and work — all that represents Saratoga Springs, the “history, health and horses”, the bustle of Broadway, and local businesses that we’ve come to know and love.

Of the Spirit of Life statue, Saratoga Springboard member, Colleen, said, “She is the woman who watches over the antics of Spit and Spat, the fireworks of the yearly 4th of July celebration and visitors as they sample the springs of Congress Park. She silently witnesses as children come to feed the ducks and ride the carousel, grow into teenagers who play frisbee in the grass and become adults who hold their wedding reception at the Canfied Casino. The Spirit of Life is the woman who contemplates, day by day, the perpetual motion of a community and the infinite continuation of the story of the city of Saratoga Springs.”

Springboard member, Stephanie, said, “To me, the Spirit of Life represents all that this great city has to offer – the many reasons that made my husband and I choose to live and raise our own family here.  Saratoga is a thriving community that provides opportunity and a quality of life not easily found elsewhere. The Spirit of Life is a reminder of our collective, civic responsibility to give back and preserve all that makes Saratoga the place we choose to live and raise our families now and for future generations to come.”

We are so proud to be a part of this city, and to have a contributing role in restoring two of its greatest symbols, the Spirit of Life statue and Spencer Trask Memorial.

What does the Spirit of Life mean to you?  Do you think of the statue and what it symbolizes? Or maybe the overall spirit of Saratoga?  We want to hear from you!

Call for Artists for TRASK: Preserving Saratoga Springs Through Art

A Juried Show and Benefit Reception

Prospectus

Entry Form

Saratoga Springboard and the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation have aligned to plan TRASK: Preserving Saratoga Springs Through Art, an art show and fundraiser to benefit the Foundation’s efforts to restore the Spencer Trask Memorial, which includes the Spirit of Life sculpture, in Congress Park.  TRASK, will held on Thursday, June 28, 2012, 6:30PM at the Canfield Casino and feature a silent auction of art work by local artists in all mediums. Donna Hassler, former Saratoga Springs’ resident and Director of Chesterwood, the home and studio of Daniel Chester French, and Elaina Richardson, Executive Director of Yaddo, will be Honorary Co-Chairs of the event.  Proceeds from TRASK, including ticket and art sales, benefit the Spirit of Life & Spencer Trask Memorial Restoration Campaign.

Organizers of TRASK are currently seeking submissions from artists for this juried art show. TRASK will showcase artists who, in some way honor, ideas or images of preservation, local history, architecture, landscapes, and culture, concepts of philanthropy, and generally the “Spirit of Saratoga Springs.” Interpretations and concepts can be applied literally or broadly, works may be from an extant body of work that addresses these themes or newly created for the show. After applications are submitted, a selection committee will make certain works are appropriate to the scope of the show. After works are installed, prior to the TRASK opening and reception, the works will be judged by well-known sculptor Beverley Mastrianni and painter David Miller.  Works will be on view for one night only and all works submitted must be available to be sold as part of the silent auction that night. Artists will receive 50% of the sale of their works with that other half benefitting the Restoration Campaign.  All entry applications are due by Tuesday, June 12^th. Selected works must be dropped off on Wednesday, June 27th between 9AM and 7PM at the Canfield Casino. Late entries are not permitted. The exhibition is juried by review of actual artwork, not digital images or slides, three submissions per artist are permitted.

For complete guidelines and exhibit information, please visit www.saratogapreservation.org.

In 1913, Katrina Trask, philanthropist, Yaddo founder, and Saratoga resident, along with George Foster Peabody, commissioned the Memorial to honor her husband, Spencer Trask, and his efforts to protect and preserve Saratoga’s natural springs while further beautifying Congress Park.  The work for the memorial was completed through the artistic collaboration of two significant Americans, sculptor Daniel Chester French and architect, Henry Bacon, who were also responsible for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.  French created the bronze sculpture Spirit of Life, while Bacon designed the architectural and landscaped surrounds.

Each facet of the memorial, which was completed in 1915, is in need of restoration.  The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, in partnership with the City of Saratoga, has been leading the charge in preserving and caring for the Memorial.  The Foundation is currently kicking off a four-year campaign in which they will need to raise approximately $250,000.  The proceeds of this campaign will go to the repair and restoration of the Memorial as well as developing a plan for future maintenance.

The Spencer Trask Memorial, 1913-1915, serves as a constant reminder as to our civic responsibility to preserve our national and city resources, to give back to the community, to have pride in creative partnerships, and find comfort and respite in beauty. As The Saratoga Sun published in June, 1915 “The sun shining upon it gave added beauty and effectiveness and the statue will always be, besides being a memorial to Mr. Trask, one of the beauties of the parks, which will attract the eye of all who come to this city.” The same holds true for today’s visitors since the Spirit of Life has become the symbol of the city, as the winged-figure returns the once endangered waters from her bowl to the springs of Saratoga. Yet contemporary residents and tourists will not have the opportunity to enjoy the meaning of the sculpture, the once beautiful surroundings, or appreciate its national significance if the Memorial is not fully restored to its former glory and maintained for years to come.

Founded in 1977, the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation has been the leading advocate for the preservation of Saratoga Springs’ unique architectural, cultural, and landscaped heritage. We continue to shine a spotlight on new opportunities for community growth and economic development through preservation.  For more information about the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, please visit www.saratogapreservation.org.

Founded in 2009, Saratoga Springboard is a group of professionals volunteering together to improve the quality of life in the greater Saratoga region by selecting one local non-profit organization annually to support, with fundraising events, community outreach, or volunteer coordination. Saratoga Springboard fills a variety of needs for the organizations it serves, upholding Saratoga’s distinctiveness as a culturally rich, dynamic community.

To Love a Child, a non-profit organization based in Saratoga County, has a mission to provide humanitarian assistance to impoverished children and their families throughout the world to help create a better future and quality of life for all.  They serve individuals here in our own community, and in other countries such as Haiti and Zimbabwe.  The work of the organization was recently featured in an article in the Times Union which can be found here.

In 2011, the organization served over 17,000 nutritious meals to the people of Haiti, and 7,000 meals in Zimbabwe, they worked on a solar panel project in several villages, and created a maternal health program for pregnant women in these countries, too.

In 2012, the organization plans to provide even more meals to people in need, to expand their maternal health care program, to work to make clean water a reality for thousands of people, to provide funding for permanent housing for orphans, and much, much more.  If you’re interested in getting behind these initiatives and supporting the work of To Love a Child, consider attending their January 28th event at the Publik House in Malta.  Details are below.

Hope to see you there!

Join Saratoga Springboard THIS Friday, December 2nd, for the 22nd Annual Candle Light House Tour!  The event, which is hosted by the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, allows you to tour festively decorated homes in the Fifth Avenue and Phila Street neighborhood of Saratoga between 5:30 and 9 p.m.  In addition, a gala reception and silent auction will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Saratoga Golf and Polo Club.

To purchase tickets, or for more details, visit the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation’s events page.

We hope to see you there!

We received a great response to the series of posts we did this past summer with Out of the Pits pit bull rescue, so we wanted to let you all know about a great event they’re hosting next weekend which will feature Martha from the PBS kids’ show, Martha Speaks, as well as pet adoption, pet care tips and lots more.  Check out the flyer below for details!

Saratoga Springboard welcomes Maggie Fronk, Executive Director of Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis (DVRC) Services of Saratoga County, as a special guest blogger for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Please read on to learn how domestic violence affects every member of the family, including the family pet, and consider joining DVRC on October 22nd for their first inaugural Purple Pooch Parade for DV Awareness!

Raise your paws against abuse during Domestic Violence Awareness Month!

In a family with domestic violence, every household member is affected by the abuse, and that includes our furry family members. Abusers often use the love we have for our pets as a tool of coercion. In a national study of domestic violence survivors who were in shelter, 71% of those who owned pets reported that their abuser had threatened or injured the family pet. Many domestic abuse victims are afraid to leave the abusive home because they fear retaliation against their beloved pets.

That’s the sad reality, but there’s hope and help right here in Saratoga County. In 1999, Leadership Saratoga assisted DVRC in creating an innovative resource to help victims of domestic violence (both pets and humans) break free from abuse. DVRC’s Safe Pet Partnership provides temporary, loving foster homes and medical treatment to pets while the family is in shelter. Once the family has exited the abuse, they are all reunited to begin a violence-free future together.

Our goal a DVRC is to END abuse! We feel that no woman, man, child or pet should live in fear at home. Won’t you (and your favorite pooch!) join us to increase awareness and help us make Saratoga County free of domestic abuse?