You never know where a New York Cares volunteer will turn up.

Longtime Team Leader Melvin Francisquini left us last fall when he moved to another city.  Yesterday we spotted his name in a story on CNN, and discovered he’s taking a year off traveling around the world volunteering.   He’s currently in Mexico City, and is keeping a video blog of his travels.

Congratulations Melvin – we’ll be following your global adventures in doing good!

We just found out that New York Cares is one of 6 finalists for the New York Times Nonprofit Excellence Awards!

Representatives of the selection committee will visit us later this month to complete their final evaluation.  Winner(s) will be announced in June.

The awards honor outstanding management practices and encourage innovation among New York’s nonprofit community. The finalist organizations were chosen by the program’s selection committee for their outstanding management.

Volunteers are almost finished painting this tree mural at the Bedford Stuyvesant Family Center in Brooklyn.

Before

Sketching

Getting Started

Making Progress

Almost Done!

It’s hot outside, but not hot enough to stop volunteers from working!  After getting their assignments from Site Captain Linda Blacken, teams got started at Forest Park in Queens.

Project assignments

Team ITOCHU International

Volunteer from The Art Institute's team

Art Institute volunteers

We’re looking for 100+ NYC public schools that could use our help.

Each year, we bring 8,000 caring volunteers to over 100 New York City public schools for New York Cares Day, the city’s largest day of volunteer service.  Volunteers paint colorful murals, paint classrooms and hallways, brighten up playgrounds, reorganize libraries and storage rooms, and more. This year, the event will take place Saturday, October 17th.

Schools can apply until May 8th to receive this free service.  Please spread the word to help us reach every school who can use our help this year.

Thank you!

Searching for the perfect gift for your favorite caring New Yorker? Give something that makes a difference.

New York Cares has some great spring gift ideas at Changing the Present that will help spruce up New York City’s public parks and gardens and keep them well maintained throughout the year.

You can make a donation in a friend’s name, or create your own unique registry with gifts for others to donate in your name. It’s a great way to give and receive.

Check out the New York Cares Facebook gifts as well. For just $1 you can give a virtual gift to a friend and help continue to improve our city.

Each year we collect 80,000 warm winter coats through the Coat Drive, but as of this post, we are projecting that we will fall 8,000 coats short of our goal. Winter is far from over–as more New Yorkers face unemployment, our nonprofit partners will see an even greater demand for coats. In our commitment to meet this need, we are extending the Coat Drive at the following three Manhattan locations until January 9:

*New York Penn Station, Long Island Railroad (LIRR) level, 34th Street entrance corridor. Weekdays from 7:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

*Grand Central Terminal (Graybar Passage). Weekdays from 7:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

*The Pond At Bryant Park, 42nd Street and 6th Avenue. Anytime during rink hours.

Economic conditions are tough, and homeless men, women, and children, seniors on fixed incomes, and immigrants need our help more than ever before. Please dig deep into your closets. Your gift may very well save a life on a cold night.

New York Mets Pitchers John Maine and Mike Pelfrey will help collect coats for the 20th Annual New York Cares Coat Drive on Thursday, December 18 at 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM at NYPD – 13th Precinct at 230 East 21st Street (bet. 2nd Ave. and 3rd Ave.).

The players and our old friend Mr. Met will also donate coats from the Mets to encourage everyone to donate a new or gently used this holiday season.

Come donate a coat and thank them for their support if you’re in the neighborhood!

We did our annual media event with NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly at the Bowery Mission today.

Thanks to our participating supporters: Ada Rodriguez, Health Plus; Lynda Baquero, WNBC 4 New York; Dennis Brady, Jack Resnick and Sons; David Goldstein, UPS; and Ed Morgan, Bowery Mission.

Thanks to all, and we encourage everyone who can to give coats this year!

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.