Rockin' a Purse to Continually Push for Excellence

By now I'm sure you've heard that Saratoga County continues to rank as the #1 healthiest county in NYS. Not content to rest comfortably with those accolades, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce has spearheaded the Healthy Saratoga initiative, bringing together community leaders and seeking guidance from national experts on how we can build on our achievements ... and also address areas that could use improvements. We're looking for innovative models from other communities across the country so we can continue to challenge ourselves and improve. Click here  to hear from Todd Shimkus about why he's, "rockin' a purple purse for Healthy Saratoga."

DeCrescente Distributing is a family owned business that prides itself on giving back to the community. For many years they've been a drop off location for used cell phones that are repurposed as 911 phones to assist domestic violence survivors to be safe at home, at work, and throughout their daily lives. CJ DeCrescente states, "We've heard incredible stories about how your used cell phone can  -literally- save someone's life." Click here to hear CJ's inspiring words about how collecting cell phones has made them aware of domestic violence in our community.

For the last 35 years, Mark Baker has dedicated himself to fostering the vibrancy, culture, community spirit and economic prosperity of Saratoga Springs. As the president of the Saratoga City Center, he oversaw one of the most important economic drivers in our community... one that consistently surpassed performance goals year-after-year. Like Todd and CJ, he's no stranger to pushing past current success to reach even higher. Click here to hear his thoughts on how Wellspring's work can "help make our community even better.' 

Are you inspired by these leaders who challenge us to excellence? We often think the big social issues that plague us are just too challenging for any one person to make a difference... but that's not true. Former District Attorney James Murphy III often told the story of a local domestic violence victim who locked herself in the bathroom during an assault... and hidden in the linen closet was one of those used cell phones that had been donated to be used as a  911 phone. She made that emergency call and the police came as her abuser was breaking through the door to assault her. One business took the initiative to put out the collection box... one person donated their used cell phone instead of tossing it in the trash... so that our advocates could give that phone to a victim as part of a safety plan... and that one phone may very well have a saved a life that night.

This October Wellspring has set it's own big goal... to lead Saratoga County to the #1 ranking in the nation showing that our community is committed to ending relationship and sexual abuse. The Allstate Purple Purse Challenge starts October 2 and ends October 31. Will you help us by leading a fundraising team, setting up an event in your workplace, spreading  the word on social media and donating? If one person donating a used phone can save a life, imagine the difference we can all make if we work together. Oh, need more inspiration? Allstate is donating $100,000 to the national winner to support survivor services and prevention programs in their community.  If one cell phone can save a life, think what an impact we could make with $100,000 toward making Saratoga County free of relationship and sexual abuse. Want to know how you can help? Just give at us a call at 518.583.0280.