Since many people couldn’t donate coats in late December due the blizzard, we’ve extended coat collections at several locations.  If you have a coat to give, please visit:

• * New York Penn Station, LIRR and Amtrak concourses: Weekdays 7:30-9:30am
• * Port Authority Bus Terminal: Weekdays 7:30-9:30am
• * New York Cares Coat Drive Warehouse, 250 Hudson Street: Weekdays 9:30am-5:00pm
• * Manhattan Mini Storage locations

It’s not too late – help us collect as many coats as possible for New Yorkers who need them during this cold and snowy winter.

New York Cares is partnering with the Jewish Association for Services for the Aged (JASA) for a free conference and volunteer fair for adults ages 50+ on June 16.

Volunteers: Meet representatives from dozens of New York City nonprofits looking for people like you as well as other civically engaged New Yorkers. Learn more.

Organizations: Register for a table at the expo by Friday, May 28, for a discounted fee of $25. The normal fee before the June 9 deadline is $30. Learn more.

Do you have experience in budgeting, auditing, or fiscal reporting?
Use your financial skills to help New York City’s nonprofits better respond to the changing economy and plan for long-term success through sound fiscal management.

New York Cares is launching a new initiative in partnership with Fiscal Management Associates, LLC (FMA) to help nonprofits meet the challenges of the current fiscal environment. We’ll be running multi-session committed projects with local commmunity-based organizations from May to October and offering customized training for interested volunteers.

Learn more about the program, and contact Carol Chang with questions.

Your nonprofit organization could benefit from a new volunteer program New York Cares is launching in partnership with Fiscal Management Associates, LLC (FMA), experts in the fiscal management needs of community-based organizations.

We are recruiting nonprofit partners who want to improve their fiscal management practices but simply don’t have the resources. If your organization is selected, we will match you with volunteers who have backgrounds in finance, accounting, strategic planning, or nonprofit management to create customized solutions to your financial needs. Find example work plans here.

Is your organization interested? Contact Monica.Garcia@newyorkcares.org. We’ll be recruiting volunteers for the project in the spring. Contact Carol.Chang@newyorkcares.org with questions about how to get involved and share your skills.

New York Cares won the top award for Overall Excellence in Management at the 2009 New York Times Company Nonprofit Excellence Awards!

We’re incredibly gratified to earn this prestigious award, and are proud to be in the company of the other finalist nonprofits honored yesterday. Read more in the NY Sun and New York Nonprofit Press.

Thanks to our volunteers, donors, Board, staff, and agencies we work with – your support and hard work make New York Cares what it is, and we share this award with you!

Executive Director Gary Bagley (center) and Board President Gail Harris (right) on stage with Jack Rosenthal of the New York Times Foundation

According to this recent story on CNN (from O, The Oprah Magazine) about what makes people happy and relieves stress, volunteer work is one of the three “most reliable vehicles for uplift.”

Look for a mention of New York Cares and the surge of  new volunteers who’ve joined us.

Today we came across Performance Research’s latest consumer survey.

The poll, conducted in February 2009, found that consumers prefer to see increased sponsorship of nonprofit causes versus sports.  Forty-one percent felt sponsorship of nonprofits and causes should increase, and just 12% indicated it should decrease.

We’re so grateful to our generous corporate and other supporters, and are glad to see that the public appreciates their support of our work, too.

Julie Bosman‘s story about how people between jobs are volunteering made the front page of the New York Times today.

Julie attended an orientation last week at Whole Foods Market, where she met new volunteers and talked to them about why they’re volunteering now.

New York Cares had double the number of volunteers this February as last, and a survey the group conducted showed that a third of them were unemployed. At one of two packed orientation sessions on Thursday, aspiring volunteers scribbled notes as they listened to Dennis Tseng, a cheerful 27-year-old, speak rapid-fire for nearly an hour about the nuts and bolts. The session, held adjacent to a cafe in Whole Foods, was so full that latecomers had to stand and lean against a wall. Check out the full article.

The story mentions that smaller nonprofits are struggling to use this influx of volunteers.  They may lack resources to put volunteers to work, despite budget cuts that limit their capacity to provide critical services.

In our opinion, this is why New York Cares has never been more critical to the city. We deliver volunteer services to other organizations – we develop and plan projects, recruit and train volunteers, and manage the process from soup to nuts.  We make it possible for nonprofits and city agencies to benefit from volunteers to support the people they serve despite limited resources.

We’re grateful to the many people who volunteer with us, and those who support us financially so we can continue to provide this important lifeline citywide.

Our ED Gary Bagley did a great interview and call-in show with Brian Lehrer  of WNYC radio on MLK day (Jan 19th).

We’ve been remiss in posting a link, so we hereby present it for those who may have missed it.

Listen to the interview on WNYC.

Tomorrow morning, New York Cares will be featured on New York 1‘s ‘Giving Thanks Week’. Look for live interviews from our partner Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation (NMIC) around 7:00am and 8:00am.

From 9:15-9:30am, our Executive Director Gary Bagley will ring NASDAQ’s Opening Bell to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the New York Cares Coat Drive (which starts December 1st).  Presenting Sponsor Health Plus will join us for this special honor.  View it live tomorrow HERE.