THANK YOU, STEWART’S HOLIDAY MATCH!
We’re thankful to have received a Stewart’s Holiday Match Grant in the amount of $1500!
This funding comes at a critical time midway through our school year, and will be applied to expenses of our Social Skills Development programming and Healthy Food Program. Both programs are essential in building foundational skills that are imperative for success in life. Likewise, both programs are costing increasingly more to consistently provide quality materials and ingredients for in the current economic state we are all living in.
The Stewart’s Foundation has supported Crossroads Center for Children for over seventeen years. The Holiday Match Grant provides concrete help to our ongoing needs. We deeply appreciate the help of their foundation, and the generous community of customers that donates to Holiday Match.
If you are one of the shop partners who worked to collect funds or one of those who contributed to the Stewart’s Holiday Match program this year, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We can’t do this huge job of raising funds to run our program without your help!
*** Scroll down to read some of the past ways we’ve been grateful for the help of Stewart’s Foundation ***
http://crossroadcenter.org/donor-recognition-page/
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THANK YOU, STEWART’S HOLIDAY MATCH!
A Fixed Finger 8.10.22
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A Visit From Andre – 5.20.22
Andre Ramotar manages the Stewart’s Shop on Guilderland Ave. in Rotterdam.
Yesterday he came with a “big check” for us, representing the amount the Holiday Match raised for Crossroads this year. 
It was a great chance to thank him for all that he and his colleagues do for the community, Crossroads included.
In the past when Andre has been here, we were limited to visiting outdoors, due to covid-related concerns. This time, he took the whole tour, and got to actually see the children he and Stewart’s Shops supports each year through Holiday Match, and in lots of other ways. He was delighted to see the children and several of them got to practice their social skills of greetings and introductions with him.
“I had no idea how big it is,” he said, speaking of the school and clinic here. “You are doing so much. Thank you for your work.”
In turn, it is we who are thankful to people like Andre, and companies like Stewart’s, who make it their mission to help others, and care. We are very thankful for the financial support, which allows us to do the work we are called to do for the children here, and for the advocacy, which can only happen in people’s hearts. Thank you, Andre. Thank you, Stewart’s Shops.
Holiday Match 3.22.2022
Once again, Stewart’s Holiday Match Program is helping Crossroads this year. Past grants from this program have helped to provide art supplies, furnishings, technology, school materials, and most recently COVID relief funds. This year, we are going to use the $1,500 they have given us to keep our sanitation efforts in high speed, now that other relief has been expended and we are still operating with heavy protocols in place. Things like bleach, gloves, paper towels and disinfecting spray have been flying off our supply closet shelves as we’ve worked to keep our students, staff and volunteers safe and healthy. We’re so very grateful to have this extra help to go the extra mile for our special population.
Ice Cream Social! 2.4.2022
Wow! Thanks to the amazing generosity of Stewart’s Shops, our staff and students were able to enjoy an ice cream social yesterday!
Stewart’s Shops reached out a few weeks ago wondering if we’d be interested in a special donation of other Chocolate Sea Turtle ice cream. Of course, we were delighted to accept. The pickup was arranged for the morning of 2/3 at the shop at 2146 Broadway, Schenectady. Many thanks to Manager Kelly for getting the 3 heavy boxes of ice cream and cups to Mrs. Vicki’s car!
An eat-in or take-out ice-cream social was held in the staff room. Mrs. Kathleen and Mrs. Vicki scooped and then students and staff could come and help themselves. We provided a few simple toppings, too. You can see that everyone enjoyed the treat.
Earlier in the day, we had made over 80 valentines to give to residents at Kingsway Nursing Center, and we told some of the students that the ice cream was a thank you from Stewart’s for making someone else happy. (#reinforcement)
By the way, in case you’re wondering, we highly recommend the Chocolate Sea Turtle ice cream. It’s delicious by all accounts, with chocolate ice cream with a sea salt caramel swirl and chocolate fudge pecans. It’s gluten-free, which several of our friends appreciated.
Pictures to add to this gallery can be sent to Vickir@Crossroadcenter.org.
Holiday Match Check Presentation! 5.6.2021
Today we had a chance to have an in-person visit from Andre Ramotar, Manager of the Stewart’s Shop at 2970 Guilderland Avenue Rotterdam. While we received the check back in March, see below, today was special as we were able to have Andre see the school and learn more about our mission while we gathered outside at our entry doors for a picture.
We have a long and happy relationship with Stewart’s Shops and are proud of that bond, as Stewart’s is the type of organization which is always doing good things in the community. Today we gathered with gratitude and excitement about the good they are helping us do at Crossroads. 
3.17.2021 Holiday Match Thanks!
With heartfelt thanks, we are pleased to share that we have received support again this year from the Stewarts’ Holiday Match program. Today we received a gift in the amount of $1,000 to help the school with technology needs which have increased significantly due to COVID-19. We are proud to have Stewart’s in our corner in many ways throughout the year and over the years. Thanks so much to the foundation and to the corporation, as well as to the many customers who donated to the Holiday Match program in November and December.
12.10.2020 Spectrum / Holiday Match Interview
We’re delighted to share that today Crossroads had the opportunity to be interviewed by Spectrum TV photographer/reporter Shawn Hilleboe. Kelly Young and Vicki Ramotar went to the Rotterdam Stewart’s Shop at 2970 Guilderland Avenue to chat about our history with Holiday Match and how this program helps our organization. This interview will be shown on Spectrum TV tomorrow, 12/11
After the Spectrum interview wrapped up, a second interview, this time with Erica Komoroske, Director of Public Affairs for Stewart’s Shops. This will be shown on the internal television network that plays in all of the Stewart’s Shops to spotlight the Holiday Match Program.
Holiday Match is an easy way for anyone to contribute to making our communities brighter. Simply drop your dollars or loose change into the collection container at the counter in every Stewart’s Shop until Christmas Day. Stewart’s matches every penny, and donates 100% of those funds to the non-profits in your own towns. It’s a wonderful way to help!
Scroll down to see some of our stories from Stewart’s Holiday Match!
9.21.2020 Thank you Stewart’s Shops!
On Friday, 9.16.20 we were excited to be invited to attend a ribbon cutting for the Grand Opening of a new Stewart’s Shop in Rotterdam. Crossroads received a donation of $1000 from Stewart’s to help with our greatly increased technology needs.
Many thanks to Stewart’s Shops and congratulations on this wonderful achievement. Welcome to the neighborhood!
5.6.2020 See other ways the Stewart’s Dake Family is helping our community!
4.2.2020 Thank you Stewart’s Holiday Match!
We’ve received a $1000 grant from this wonderful program. Stewart’s has been giving back to the community forever, and to Crossroads now for eleven years. The Holiday Match program has now allocated over $30 million since the program’s inception. Customers donate, and Stewart’s matches those donations.
Find out more about the program here:
http://www.stewartsshops.com/community-giving
This year’s Crossroads request was written to help with our SMART schools upgrade, and implementing the new online server which we are still raising money for. This grant will get us closer to our goal in a big way!
Thank you to everyone who contributed!
12.18.19 The Holiday Match Program is going on now!
During these busy days of the holidays, we hope you’ll take a few minutes of the season to stop into your local Stewart’s shop! While you’re there make a donation of any amount to the Holiday Match Program! The last day to donate is Christmas day!
The Holiday Match program has contributed to fund development for Crossroads for over 10 years now! We are so thankful for their ongoing support! Here’s the video they created to showcase Crossroads when they visited us back in August! We think it’s awesome! Thank you, Stewart’s Foundation for your spirit of giving in our communities!
8.16.19 Representatives from Stewart’s Holiday Match Program visited Crossroads Center for Children today, to find out what the Holiday Match Program means to us.
Crossroads Center for Children was happy to have Amy Potter, Corporate Contributions Director for Stewart’s Shops stewartsshops.com, and Heather Bennice, Videographer, here with us today.
During today’s visit, Mrs. Kelly Young, Executive Director for Crossroads Center for Children, was interviewed and recorded telling about how the grants have helped us over the years and the ease of this particular program for us to apply for. Students were recorded saying a big group thank you to the foundation, and then Amy and Heather were taken through the building to see and photograph various settings and resources. They were present for the school-age program’s Graduation and Achievements Celebration, too, and we thank them for being with us. They will be using content collected today during their Holiday Match campaign this year, as a way to show donors how their contributions are making a difference. Here at Crossroads, contributions such as these make a huge difference and we are grateful.
For 10 years now, Stewart’s Holiday Match grants have helped our students at Crossroads Center for Children learn essential skills and given them the tools they need for successful lives, now and in the future.
The Holiday Match Program has helped us purchase supplies and furnishings for classrooms some years, upgrade technology in others. It’s helped with everything from renting this space, the building we are housed in to paying the therapists and teachers that work with the children here.
We’re a non-profit organization, so we very much need a huge amount of financial support to exist. And to carry out the mission we have here – preparing children for lives they’ll be successful in. We have many students here with very significant needs. There’s a large gap between the funds we receive from tuition payments and what it actually costs to run a school such as this one. By supporting Crossroads, the way Stewart’s Foundation their customers and stores do, they are helping to meet that gap and help children from all over our region, from the very communities that Stewart’s Shoppes are located.
THANK YOU STEWART’S HOLIDAY MATCH!
Amy and Heather will be sharing their final work with us, and when we do, we’ll share it here!
