Middletown, NY (OCLT): Nearly 250 people came out to support land protection and land conservation at this year’s Orange County Land Trust Annual Benefit Reception and Silent Auction held Friday, June 4 at the Falkirk Estate and Country Club in Central Valley. The event, the Land Trust’s largest annual fundraiser, raised nearly $70,000 for future land preservation and farmland protection projects in Orange County.
Honored at the event for their leadership in land preservation were four local family foundations and two family endowment funds, all of which have provided significant support to the Orange County Land Trust. Land Trust President Mary Yrizarry presented awards to The Berman Field Foundation, represented by Andrew and Jenna Field of Warwick, Greystone Foundation, represented by Mary F. Graetzer of Tuxedo Park, The Richard and Rebecca Evans Foundation represented by Nancy and Dr. James Hays also of Tuxedo Park, and to The Land Family Foundation, represented by Douglas L. S. Land and Lynn Peebles of Cornwall-on-Hudson. Awards were also presented to Carole Levine of Goshen, for the Harold and Carol Levine Memorial Fund and to Jacques Levine of Middletown, for The Jacques and Florence Levine Charitable Fund. Both endowment funds are managed by the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan and income generated by these funds supports the operations of the Orange County Land Trust.
In attendance were both long-time and new land trust supporters, members of Orange County’s nonprofit and conservation community, and members of the local and regional business community. In a rousing call to action, Land Trust Executive Director Jim Delaune said land protection is a cause that connects us all, and the protection of our green spaces, working farms and wildlife habitats has a positive effect on human health, as well as our local economy. He called on several people in attendance to respond to the importance of land preservation in Orange County. To Dr. John D’Ambrosio, president of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce, Delaune asked if being green was good for business. “Absolutely,” said D’Ambrosio. To David Church, Commissioner, Orange County Department of Planning, he asked if it made sense to manage growth and support the protection of our working farms and important natural areas, to which Church responded with an emphatic “yes”. To Kara Dorsey, Independent Living Board Chair, he asked if it made sense to build trails that made nature accessible to the handicapped, and to Ronald “Animal” Hughes, he asked if it made sense to build community gardens in our three cities, providing urban green space for the county’s city residents. Both also responded with a resounding “yes”.
The lead corporate sponsor for the 2010 Annual Benefit Reception and Silent Auction was First Federal Savings of Middletown. Other corporate and community sponsors of the evening’s festivities were:
- The Richard and Rebecca Evans Foundation
- The Land Family Foundation
- Blackburne Development
- Christina and Robert Dow Foundation
- Pat and Jerry B. Epstein Foundation
- Greystone Foundation
- Central Hudson
- Fabco Power Generators
- O’Donnell & Associates
- The Preservation Collective
- Provident Bank
- Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio
- Turner Miller Group
- Adams Fair Acre Farms
- Deedy and David Goldstick Foundation
- Mount Saint Mary College
- Ralph E. Ogden Foundation
- Rider, Weiner & Frankel
- Roe’s Orchards
- Valuation Consultants
- Warwick Associates
The Orange County Land Trust has protected nearly 3,500 acres of important working and natural lands in communities throughout Orange County since its formation in 1992. The Trust owns and manages nine nature preserves that are open to the public for hiking, birding and nature study. For more information including volunteer opportunities, ways of giving, and upcoming events, visit www.oclt.org.
