It’s been quite a year…
for all of us.
But, for SABAH athletes challenged by disability, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has been especially difficult. During any season, individuals with
disabilities face the ongoing challenges of isolation, a lack of physical activity, and obstacles to gaining transportation. Add to these struggles the fact that most of SABAH’s athletes have additional health challenges that have made the fear of Covid-19 a significantly life-altering season.
During these difficult days, SABAH was faced with the decision to indefinitely postpone or cancel its programming. Yet, as an organization, SABAH has always prided itself on a spirit of community, or maybe even more so, a sense of family. Often, our athletes, their families, and our volunteers make reference to their “SABAH family,” as a place where they belong and a place where they are cared for. So, in the midst of one of the greatest times of separation and isolation over the course of generations, we were faced with the prospect of being unable to serve over 830 SABAH athletes when they needed us the most.
As a result,
we struggled with our options to serve our athletes and their families. We began with optimism, believing that the Covid-19 pandemic would be short-lived and that we would be able to resume programming nearly on schedule. Since the onset of the pandemic coincided with the end of the 2019-2020 season, we were in a natural break in our programming. But, as time moved on, we became increasingly aware that there would be no quick conclusion to the pandemic and we’d be faced with the choice of pausing programming for an indeterminate amount of time or finding a way to serve our athletes that ensured their safety.
We are pleased to share that we found a way. As many of our SABAH athletes struggled with being alone, fearful, and sedentary; SABAH began to reach our athletes in ways we have never tried before. With the support of many of our dedicated volunteers and donors, we created the 2020 Walk with SABAH, a socially distanced, outdoor program that featured many fun-filled activities at various stations along the route.
At the conclusion of the Walk with SABAH,
there was brief hope that normal programming would resume. Yet, once again, Covid numbers spiked and there was a growing realization that the season would not be able to begin as scheduled. After two postponements, we increasingly became aware that we would, once again, have to be creative if we were going to serve SABAH athletes. Again, we changed our programming to an outdoor recreational program in collaboration with Ladders to Outdoors and the New York State Parks. These sessions, still ongoing, feature activities including snowshoeing, nature hikes, and birding.
For many SABAH athletes, the 2021 Outdoor Series has offered a desperately needed respite from the loneliness and isolation created by the pandemic. Just as significantly, the newly created program has encouraged our athletes to be physically active under the most stringent safety measures.
In addition to our improvised programming, SABAH also made a tremendous effort to reach out to our athletes via social media and email. The staff and volunteers made encouraging videos to share with SABAH athletes and their families. During the holidays, SABAH staff held Zoom parties for each Evening and Weekend program, so that each rink could see each other again and share some holiday cheer. In February, 2021, SABAH also held a Snowman Contest via social media to encourage SABAH athletes and their families to be physically active outside and enjoy a spirited competition. All these events served to connect and encourage our participants, as they isolated from the outside world.
While it has been quite a year, we have learned a lot:
- As an organization, we have learned that we have the ability to adapt better than we ever knew we could.
- We realized that, in difficult times, creativity is more important than comfort.
- We saw that by connecting with one another, no matter how we do it, we can improve the lives of our athletes.
- We learned that, as a SABAH family, we need to be there for each other, most especially when life is difficult.
Results of Programming:
While SABAH typically evaluates programming through research-based evaluations, this year’s fast adaptation of programming has made the development of measurable indicators an impossible task. Yet, through many comments posted on our social media pages, we are pleased to share with you some of the gratitude for these programs:
“Walk with SABAH” social media comments:
We had a wonderful time all four times. Thank you to all the SABAH volunteers for helping to set up some fun for the kids. It was great to see everyone. Till next time…
We had fun last night! Thanks again!
Can not wait for tonight
What a fun night, thank you ::thumbs up::
So much fun! Thanks for doing this! We had a great time.
Thank you! My kids loved it!
We had a blast thank u for doing this for everyone. We loved it
This was a great time. We participated in a couple of the evenings. Thanks so much for sharing!!
“2021 Outdoor Series” social media comments:
We had a great time. Wish this was on a Saturday and we would be there. If you add any more dates let me know.
I love to snowshoe, it was wonderful to see a lot of my friends outside, having fun out there!!
has absolutely loved his outings with SABAH.
Video Series for The Children’s Guild Foundation’s Summer Athletes Bold At Heart Program
Video Series for The Children’s Guild Foundation’s Summer Athletes Bold At Heart Program
Every week, my class watched the opening video together on our video call. When asked if they were ready for the SABAH Sports Video, they exclaimed “YES!” every single time.
When you ask a student to be physically active each day, they typically do not do so because they don’t have a model to do so. These videos provided a model.
Fundraising by the Numbers (gross revenue):
$119,204
Starlight Night Auction & Gala – virtual event
$26,519
2020 Holiday Appeal
Other Events:
Social Media Videos:
SABAH also attempted to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic by posting encouraging videos from our instructors to our athletes and their families on all our social media outlets. These videos encouraged participants to be physically active and healthy, while safely distancing from others.
Holiday Zoom Parties:
During the winter holidays, SABAH hosted four Holiday Zoom Parties to offer cheer and a social connection to our athletes, volunteers, and families. The Zoom parties brought together individuals from each Evening and Weekend program rink to celebrate the spirit of the holidays and to reduce the loneliness created by the pandemic.
Snowman Contest:
In order to keep our athletes healthy during the pandemic, and especially during the winter months, SABAH held a Snowman Contest. The goal of the contest was to encourage our athletes to get outdoors with their household, while having fun and being active. SABAH awarded $50 gift cards to Chef’s Restaurant to the winning snowmen in six categories!
Board of Directors:
Mary Clare Koessler-Smith
(President)
Brian F. Costello
(Vice President)
David V.L. Bradley, Esq.
(Secretary)
William P. Keefer, Esq. (Treasurer)
Dianne Charsha
John S. Dengler
Laura Hettrick
Margaret McCarthy, PhD
Mark McDonnell
Tim McMorrow
Sarah O’Brien
Kelly Papa
Tom Rennie
Alan J. Rosenhoch
Doug Smith
Robert M. States
Al Vaughters
Financial Information:
Total Gross Revenue:
- Foundations: 30.51%
- Starlight Night Auction 26%
- Payroll Protection Plan 13.05%
- Individual Member 12.24%
- Corporate Donations 8.33%
- Miscellaneous Fundraising 3.82%
- Ice Show 2.56%
- Skater Contributions 2.13%
- Memorials 0.84%
- Service Club Associations 0.52%
- Interest Income 0.01%
$458,552.09
TOTAL
Total Expences
- Payroll Expenses 55.60%
- Employee Benefit 8.25%
- Office Expense 7.86%
- Insurance 6.78%
- Payroll Taxes 4.59%
- Rink Expenses 2.98%
- Professional Services 2.87%
- Ice Show Expense 2.71%
- Publications 7.86%
- Other Fundraising Expenses 1.95%
- Payroll Taxes 4.59%
- Other 4.44%
$380,996.85
TOTAL