Subscribe to The River's COVID-19 newsletter to get updates on how the pandemic is affecting daily life in the Hudson Valley and Catskills, and how the region is responding.
General
A Facebook group called the Hudson Valley Mutual Aid Network is offering resources and support to the Hudson Valley community. The organizers are compiling information in a spreadsheet that will be shared with all who express interest. Read more here.
The New York Times has launched an information hub for questions about money during the pandemic. It offers financial strategies and information on government benefits and free services.
Radio Kingston is raising money for a community fund, which will offer one-time financial assistance payments to residents within the City of Kingston’s School District. The fund will be facilitated by Family of Woodstock. Learn more and donate here.
UlsterCorps is compiling a list of volunteer needs from local agencies. Contact them to offer help or to announce a volunteer need: “Email [email protected], call/text 845-481-0331, or post directly to our Facebook group or page. If you would like to help out, please register for the specific opportunity or sign up for our Action Alerts, join our Facebook group, or text UlsterCorps to 22828 to get started.” Note: Ulster County only
Residents of Cornwall and Cornwall-on-Hudson have started a community bulletin board on Facebook to provide aid and updates.
Residents of Cornwall and Cornwall-on-Hudson have started a community bulletin board on Facebook to provide aid and updates.
The MARK Project, a nonprofit serving eastern Delaware County and the Ulster County town of Shandaken, is building a locally focused list of resources and announcements.
Food
ShopRite and Hannaford are continuing delivery and to-go grocery orders, with some modifications.
The Table at Woodstock is offering meal and grocery pickup for Onteora School District residents in front of the Woodstock Reform Church on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 4-6 pm (or until they run out). Seniors and individuals in self-quarantine qualify for meal delivery. Those in need can contact [email protected] or message through Facebook. Town of Woodstock residents are encouraged to register via the Town Supervisor’s Office for delivery, grocery boxes, and check-in calls. Volunteers and donations of funds or Hannaford gift cards are needed.
At 188 Liberty Street in Newburgh, LODGER is using their kitchen lab and event space as a hub to prepare and distribute 200 school-lunch-replacement meals for free Mondays through Wednesdays, from 10am-1pm. Their staff are driving deliveries, and their efforts are being supported through donations from neighbors and local businesses.
The YMCA Farm Project in Kingston will provide Kingston City School District students with free breakfasts and lunches every day of the week. Pickups are between 11am and 1pm at JFK Elementary and Bailey Middle Schools.
Cherries Ice Cream Bar & Grill in Stone Ridge is providing free kids meals to students in the Rondout Valley School District Monday through Friday between 11am until 3pm while schools are closed. Order for pickup by calling (845) 706-2466 or through their website. Children need not be present. To donate to this cause, find Cherries on Venmo at @cherriesstoneridge; they are also accepting donations of juice boxes.
The Hudson Youth Department is creating food packages to ensure children who depended on breakfast and lunch within the Hudson School District have access to nutritious meals while school is closed. The Friends of Hudson Youth Food Bank is currently accepting donations to ensure these costs remain covered. To donate or to receive services, email Peter Frank or call (917) 748-4662.
The Kingston Food Co-op started a GoFundMe page so they could purchase food from local farms to provide Family of Woodstock and Kingston-based food pantry People’s Place with bagged lunches and hot meals. Their fundraising goal was reached in seven hours and has more-than doubled. Each additional dollar will go to organizations working to feed those in need.
A coalition of Westchester chefs led by Eric Korn—owner of Good-Life Gourmet catering in Irvington—are organizing restaurants to join their cause of cooking one million gallons of soup for regional communities. Known as the Million Gallons operation, they’re raising money through GoFundMe and partnering with local food pantries to distribute fresh or frozen soup. Restaurants can register online to help.
The Food Bank of the Hudson Valley is boosting its school BackPack Programs, filling lunch bags for vulnerable children and their families, as well as setting up distribution centers. Those in need of a local food pantry can access the Food Bank’s online Find Food feature. To contribute financial or volunteer support, visit their website or call 845-534-5344.
Children and Education
While most of the locations in the Mid-Hudson Library Network are closed to support social distancing, the libraries offer a range of online resources from e-books and digital magazines to audiobooks, foreign language courses, and online classes in a wide rage of subjects from accounting to psychology to web development and even home-schooling.
The COVID Childcare Co-op Calendar is a social tool that allows groups of parents and other caregivers to automatically generate a fairly distributed cooperative childcare schedule given each adult’s availability.
The educational publisher Scholastic has created a learn-at-home site with daily projects to projects to keep kids reading and thinking.
Spectrum is offering 60 days of free internet access to new customers in households with K-12 or college students, starting today, Daily Freeman reports.
freeCodeCamp has a directory of 450 Ivy League courses available for free online, across a wide range of disciplines.
Group Health Solutions, a family-owned insurer in Hudson, has an explainer on the Family First Coronavirus Response Act, which was signed into law on March 18 and creates emergency paid sick leave and paid family leave in the case of school closures.
Group Health Solutions, a family-owned insurer in Hudson, has an explainer on the Family First Coronavirus Response Act, which was signed into law on March 18 and creates emergency paid sick leave and paid family leave in the case of school closures.
Artsy.net put together a list of 10 university art classes you can take for free online.
Small Business and Workers
The Service Workers Mutual Aid Fund supports furloughed service industry employees who “need funds for food, medical bills, childcare, or any other financial stressor.” It was started in Ohio, but workers anywhere can apply for relief—and anyone can contribute.Creatives
The COVID-19 Freelance Artist Resources website is just what it sounds like: An aggregated list of free resources, opportunities, and financial relief options available to artists of all disciplines.
Sweet Relief, which provides financial assistance to career musicians facing illness, disability, or age-related problems, has started a COVID-19 fund for those affected by the virus and fallout therefrom.
Arts Mid-Hudson is pulling together resources, including emergency funding, on its website.
Subscribe to The River's COVID-19 newsletter to get updates on how the pandemic is affecting daily life in the Hudson Valley and Catskills, and how the region is responding.
