The holiday season is a time of joy and giving, but for many of Buffalo’s neediest children, it can be a time of hardship. We are almost at the end of the holiday season; it is important to remember that not every child will wake up to presents under the tree. Poverty is a persistent issue in Buffalo, and it has a significant impact on children. According to a report by the Partnership for the Public Good (PPG), poverty rates in Buffalo-Niagara are high, with 30% of children living in poverty, and for Black children, it is 75%. The childhood…
Author: Mark Lazzara
From time to time, I run into people who say they don’t “do” technology. Most of these people are over 55 years of age. At this moment, 28 million Americans are digitally illiterate. Compound that with the fact that 92% of current jobs require some computer skills, and we have a serious disconnect. I have been beating the same drum for a long time – every age group, especially seniors, needs to learn computer skills. Thankfully there are some organizations out there that are stepping up to help. From the milestone of feeding over 1 million meals during the pandemic,…
Tom Rutherford 2022 was a summer of service and leadership for some AmeriCorps members at the Dream Center and throughout Western NY, learning the power of serving others while gaining leadership skills. Selfless service has always been and always will be a powerful tool to break away from some forms of depression. This year millions of young people, almost 20% of Americans, 17 to 25, are struggling with depression. Here are a few young people that broke the odds, serving in Buffalo’s poorest neighborhoods. Buffalo Dream Center AmeriCorps members’ summer reflections: I asked Tom Rutherford, a 17-year-old summer AmeriCorps member,…
More than ever children need adequate technology and leadership development. Not long ago, a kid’s computer was mostly just fun. Now, it’s a necessity! With that in mind, AT&T, Western New York, United, and Mission Ignite teamed up to support WNY United Leadership in Training Public School Program (LIT), with funding from AT&T, to provide every one of their students with a computer. Seventy students who successfully graduated were gifted a free computer, helping to bridge the digital divide while closing the homework gap. WNY United’s Leaders in Training Summer Program is designed to help under-resourced students from four regional…
Friday January 21, 2022 marked the Martin Luther King Day of Service initiated by a small team of AmeriCorps members, to provide groceries for over one 120 needy families from the Buffalo Dream Center. “The Martin Luther King Observances in 2022 did not seem like the others in the past in Buffalo. Maybe the snowstorm, maybe apathy, or maybe it is the changing times,” said Aaron Iannello, Operations Director for Mission Ignite and its AmeriCorps program. ”AmeriCorps members approached me to do something to honor Dr King. We decided the best way to honor Dr King was to support…
Thanksgiving week, for almost a quarter of a century, finds Rev. Eric Johns, pastor of the Buffalo Dream Center living and/or working among the homeless. Along with his team, Johns can be found staying on the streets, sleeping under bridges, in parks, in shelters, and outside in freezing temperatures. They will eat in soup kitchens and spend their days with the poor. Every year the Western NY community rallies around Johns’ homeless trek, by funding the Dream Center’s “Boxes of Love.” This year’s goal will be serving over 5,000 children for Christmas, bringing the entire total of the over two-decade…
Mission: Ignite’s Operations Manager, Aaron Iannello, and a team from Mission: Ignite recently received a generous donation of laptops, desktops, monitors, desk printers, cables, and additional equipment from Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of WNY. Mission: Ignite strives to end the digital divide in WNY, and surrounding areas, by collecting and refurbishing technology to provide STEM training to children in the community, while also reducing hazardous e-waste often created by discarded technology. Additionally, Highmark’s donations of technology assets were given to South Buffalo Community Association, Family Promise of Western New York, Gerard Place, and EdTech Western New York. In total, almost 300 laptops, and upwards of 75 desktops, 228 monitors, and…
The year 2020 and COVID-19 will never be forgotten. From the devastation of those who have lost someone, to the frustration and loneliness of being confined. I had the good fortune, during COVID-19, not only to serve at the Buffalo Dream Center, but also to closely observe the nephews and sons of Pastor Johns, who I have written about before. To me, this family continues to inspire, especially during these unprecedented times. It is my hope, that these stories help to inspire others to rise up, to help others in need. This holiday season, my story about the Buffalo Dream…
COVID -19 is taking its toll on Western New Yorkers; families’ want for food has increased beyond comprehension. Addressing the situation, the Buffalo Dream Center Mobile Food Pantry has now pulled up to more than 50 neighborhoods to distribute groceries and hope to families in need. The Dream Center, a FeedMore WNY site, is a mobile food pantry that has reached a milestone of serving 5,000 households since the beginning of the pandemic. This 1000% increase in just 2 months is staggering, considering that there was no warning, which meant that there was no time (or formula in place) to…
The Buffalo Dream Center, under the leadership of Pastor Eric Johns and his wife Michelle, continue their role as compassionate leaders of an invaluable community resource. They have now stepped up again, and are helping individuals and families who are being negatively impacted by the economic effects of COVID-19 – just this past week The Dream Center pantry quadrupled its typical weekly supply of provisions given to people in need prior to the pandemic. Feeding families in need has been a cornerstone in Pastor Eric and Michelle Johns’ ministry for over two decades as they deliver groceries to families in…