Greetings RB members and friends,

Happy July (well almost)!!! After a hiatus, Revitalize Buffalo is pleased to give you updates and news about what we’re up to…

I’m pleased to announce that we’ve finally begun the filing process for our 501c3 status…thanks to the generous donations of two RB friends…thanks to them…

Santaland

As some of you know, in December, Revitalize Buffalo successfully held an event called Santaland, with the help of our friends at the WNY Coalition for Progress.

This event had been held for more than 30 years by Erie County at Chestnut Ridge Park in Orchard Park. However, due to the budget cuts, it was cancelled for last year. We had cooperation from the Erie County Parks Commissioner. In a matter of 10 days, we pulled off a modified version of Santaland, delighting kids and parents in December.

Thank you to Drew Cerza of the Buffalo Wing Festival who provided invaluable support and assistance to us on this event. We were also very lucky to have financial assistance from Niagara Hobby as well as a local law firm. From their donations and money we collected the weekend of the event, we were able to donate more than $1,500 to the Food Bank of WNY.

Mostly, thank you to the staff at Chestnut Ridge Park and all of the volunteers who assisted us – we couldn’t have pulled it off without you!!!

And…since it’s been cut of out of the budget again this year, we’re already in the planning stages (December 9 & 10, 16 & 17)…stay tuned…we’ll be looking for volunteers and support for this great event!

Taste of Buffalo - City Hall tours

Last year, during the Taste of Buffalo, RB members gave tours of City Hall with members of the Landmark Society. We’ve been asked again to assist with tours.

I assure you that it was a lot more fun and I learned a ton about the history of the city as well as City Hall itself.

Volunteers are needed for 3-hour shifts on Saturday, July 8 and Sunday, July 9 (11-2 and 2-5 both days). Please e-mail me at: amy@revitalizebuffalo.org if you are interested in helping out!

Buffalo Old Home Week

Have you heard about this event? The more people I talk to, the more people say that they’ve been hearing about it around town.

Last held in 1907, this event is to showcase Buffalo and the amazing reasons we all live here! Revitalize Buffalo is thrilled to partner with Buffalo Rising and coordinate this event August 24-27 in conjunction with Elmwood Festival of the Arts.

Go to www.buffoldhome.com for all the details!

College Student/Urban Experience Sub-Group

I want to take a minute to thank Jill Shuey. For the past year, Jill has chaired this subgroup and worked with the WNYSLC on ideas and ways that we can reach the college students and encourage them to stay in the area after graduation.

I’m pleased to announce that Jill now has a full-time job, which will occupy her time. Congratulations Jill and thanks for all of your hard work and dedication!

Luckily, Jessica has graciously agreed to take over as co-chair of the subgroup. So far the transition has been smooth. Thanks to Jessica for accepting this roll!

Next RB Meeting

The next Revitalize Buffalo meeting will be on Tuesday, August 1st, where the main focus will be on Buffalo Old Home Week. No location, but check back to Revitalize Buffalo’s website for more details.

Have a safe and happy holiday weekend and enjoy the beautiful Buffalo summer!!!

Chairperson,
Amy Maxwell

With almost 30 colleges and universities in the greater Buffalo area, college students are a vital and vibrant part of our community.  Recently the College Experience sub-group met to continue working to connect local college students with the city of Buffalo.  The goal of the sub-group, in collaboration with the Western New York Service Learning Coalition, is to engage students in the life of the city, as well as to encourage current students and soon-to-be graduates to consider living in area after graduation to help keep our city prospering.  Many initiatives are on the slate for the sub-group including creating a video on the local area for local colleges to show to prospective and current students.  The video will highlight the city’s youthful vibrancy and its features as an attractive destination for young professionals.  The group is also looking to put together some opportunities to ease college students’ transition into the “real world” by hosting tours of local housing and cultural attractions.  This summer and fall, the sub-group has plans to participate with some of the local college orientation sessions, to give students and their parents information about the city and local area.
If you are interested is contributing to the sub-group, we’d be happy to have you.  Please contact Revitalize Buffalo College Experience sub-group member Jessica.

If you haven’t heard about one of our sub-groups, here is your chance to learn what the College/Urban Experience group is about.

Revitalize Buffalo believes that an important part of revitalizing the city is in retaining college students post-graduation. RB, in collaboration with the Western New York Service Learning Coalition, formed a College/Urban Experience sub-group. Together, members of the sub-group are working on projects to engage college students, from freshman to seniors, in the activities of the city. The sub-group’s goal is to reach out to college students, to make them ambassadors for Buffalo, and give them a pro-Buffalo experience in hopes of getting students to stay in Buffalo after they finish school.

Two of the most recent projects for the sub-group have been a speaker series at Daemen College and class projects at Buffalo State, both mentioned here on December 1st. Future initiatives for the sub-group include becoming involved in orientation at the schools and becoming more involved with other colleges and universities.

Anyone interested becoming involved with the sub-group can contact Jill Shuey at jillashuey@hotmail.com.

So, if you haven’t already, please go and check out
Harvey’s post on Buffalo Rising because it is great and gives a fantastic description of Revitalize Buffalo’s current work with local college students.

Some of us have been going into classes at Daemen and speaking about Revitalize Buffalo and why we all love Buffalo so much! And, one of the Creative Leadership classes at Buffalo State has put together a whole evening of speakers/music to celebrate Buffalo and to raise $$ for RB!

So, if you don’t have any other plans tomorrow night, come to the Student Union at Buf State between 5-9 PM.

Or…come to our next meeting…it’s Monday, Dec. 5, 6:30 PM, at the Morlock Foundation, 512 Pearl Street. The Buf State students will be coming to talk about how tomorrow went and we’ll have an update on some of our projects!