Foundation gives senior center a boost
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » The Saratoga Springs Senior Center had a little bit more to be thankful for this year as the organization received a $15,000 donation Wednesday from The Melanie Foundation.
“We are really thrilled with what they do in the community and we’ve always wanted to make sure that the results of our fundraising are shared with everyone in the community,” said George O’Donnell, the husband of the late Melanie Merola O’Donnell. “It’s really important to us to make sure that we’re supporting those people that really make up the fabric of this community.”
The Melanie Foundation began in 2006 to honor the life of Melanie Merola O’Donnell, who was pursuing doctoral studies in psychology when she tragically died.
Every year, scholarships are given to four to five students throughout the country who are pursuing mental illness careers.
Since 2009, however, money has been given to non-profits throughout the Saratoga Springs community.
The Saratoga Palio, a 5K and half marathon held in September, has been the main fundraiser for the foundation.
“We started this race shortly after my wife died, and we thought we would just have a real small race and raise a few dollars to help with the scholarship, and we have been thrilled with the success of that race and it become so popular in the community that we decided we had to share our success with the rest of the community,” O’Donnell said. “It’s really great to be able to do this year after year.”
The center will use the funds for the Community Connections program and Senior Support Services.
“It’s huge for us. We work so hard to fundraise and to support this program and the whole agency,” said Lois Celeste, executive director of the senior center. “The growth of seniors, the boomers are just growing exponentially and we can’t keep up, so for us donations of this sort allow us to do all kinds of things.”
Celeste was very thankful that The Melanie Foundation chose the agency this year.
“So much work goes into one of these fundraisers, and we usually do them ourselves,” Celeste said. “For someone else to do all of the work and give us a check is just beyond amazing.”