Empowering Families: MercyFirst’s 130-Year Legacy and the 2024 Angel of Hope Gala ✨ | CyberSound™ Podcast by Vancord | Ep 114

00:01

This is CyberSound, your simplified and fundamentals-focused source for all things cybersecurity.

Jason Pufahl  00:11

Welcome to CyberSound. I’m your host, Jason Pufahl, joined by Michael Grande, our CEO,

Michael Grande  00:15

Great to be here.

Jason Pufahl  00:16

And Renee Skolaski from MercyFirst. Hi, Renee,

Renee Skolaski  00:18

Hi. Nice to see you guys.

Jason Pufahl  00:20

So we’re thrilled to be here. We’re fortunate to be the Corporate Honoree for your upcoming Angel of Hope Gala. I believe that’s November 7, right?

Renee Skolaski  00:31

Yep, that’s correct at The Rainbow Room.

Jason Pufahl  00:33

So this is, this is our opportunity to really showcase your event, showcase everything that MercyFirst does. So it might be a slight departure for what we often do on our podcast, but we’re so proud to have a client like you, and so proud to be able to participate that we really wanted to do our best to give you an opportunity to showcase your event and talk about your mission.

Renee Skolaski  00:54

That’s terrific. We really appreciate it. Vancord is such an important partner for us. We’re a social service agency, a nonprofit started in 1894 and we serve kids and families across Long Island in the New York Region, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. And while we focus on the needs of children and families, it’s so important to have a partner like Vancord that focuses on the technology, because the technology is not our expertise. Cybersecurity is not what I know a lot about, but as a social worker, myself and my colleagues do about helping kids and families in need. So So the partnership is super valuable to us, and we’re so pleased to be able to recognize Vancord as a as an important partner in our work at our up and coming Gala. Our gala is a really important annual event for us, because it’s an opportunity for us to raise much needed funds for our kids and families. And oftentimes people ask, you know, doesn’t government fund what we do, right? And they do, but they don’t fund the full extent of the services, so they fund the basics, and in order for us to really do the next step of service delivery, the private donations, the private participation, is just incredibly important for our organization. So we’re really grateful and really happy to be able to talk about it today.

Michael Grande  02:15

And this is the 130th year?

Renee Skolaski  02:19

Yes, that’s correct, 130 years of serving kids and families, and we’re really, really quite proud of that, that the work has obviously changed over time. And today, the agency, we have over 500 staff, over 16 locations, and we provide foster care, adoption health services, mental health services, services to unaccompanied minors who have no adults with them, as well as preventive services, helping families that are struggling to overcome really large odds and keep their families together. So the work is far ranging, wide ranging. We also provide educational support, scholarships and help families provide, find housing and all the services they need, so their families can be strong, and they can move on from their time with us and be independent and kind of achieve all the goals that all of us want for our children and all of us want for our families.

Jason Pufahl  03:17

So when we were talking about this, you used an analogy that everybody loved, and I’m hoping you can spend a minute on it, I know, yeah, I can see, you know where I’m going, if you could, talk a little bit about the ice cream sundae.

Renee Skolaski  03:30

Yeah, the ice cream sundae. I oftentimes people, when you think about a lot of the services we provide, you think that really, that’s the responsibility of government. And it’s true, the government provides public funding, provides the majority of the funding to run an organization like us. We have lots of contracts with the city, state and federal government. And while that’s great, it’s important. It’s like the vanilla ice cream in a Sunday. It’s the chorus, the basis of it, effective when a sun, if you want a sundae, vanilla ice cream is not not adequate. It’s not adequate, not quite enough. And so the private support, the private dollars, whether it’s the end of the year, giving or participation in our gala, all of that support provides the chocolate sauce and sprinkles that turns the vanilla ice cream into a sundae. And you know, when you do this work a long time, you you know what is most effective, evidence based practices, etc, but what’s really going to work to help elevate the work to help, really help children and families, not Band Aid it, but makes life changing impacts, and it is the chocolate sauce and the sprinkles that turn it into a sundae so that we’re actually able to do the work at the level we want to do it at. So so everyone likes to talk sundae, and so that’s what we’re trying to do.

Michael Grande  04:50

That’s great. Spend a moment just maybe sharing with the audience a little bit about other ways for folks to get involved.

Renee Skolaski  04:58

Sure, sure. Um. There are a number of ways. And the best way to learn more about Mercy First and find ways to get involved is actually on our website, which is MercyFirst.org so it’s easy to find. And we work with volunteers all the time. We work with corporate volunteers who participate in various, various activities all year long, is kind of group projects. And then we also work with sometimes there’ll be a baseball, you know, a Boy Scout troop, or a an after school group, etc, kids that want to get involved and donate and do something. And so we facilitate that kind of volunteer work as well.

Michael Grande  05:40

That’s awesome.

Jason Pufahl  05:41

And the event on the seventh is there still opportunity for people to attend that?

Renee Skolaski  05:46

Absolutely, absolutely it’s on November 7. It’s at The Rainbow Room. It starts with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and moves into a full dinner. And it’s a lovely space. It’s lovely space to see the sunset over Manhattan, and so to get involved again, it’s MercyFirst.org and click on Donate, and it’ll take you to the event website.

Jason Pufahl  06:10

And at the end of the podcast, I’m sure we can have a copy of the brochure pop up as well so people can see that.

Renee Skolaski  06:15

Oh, terrific. We really appreciate it. We’re so happy again to be recognizing Vancord as our as our corporate honoree this year, because, like I said, without, you know, it’s, it’s, without that kind of support, that sophistication and cybersecurity to protect, you know, all the personal information that we manage for kids and families, you know, that’s, it’s, it’s integral to our business, but it’s not something that we specialize in. So we rely on on partners like Vancord to keep us safe and keep the keep the organization running.

Michael Grande  06:44

Well, we feel the, you know, immense pride in our association and participation, not only in this event, but just, you know, being associated with such a nonprofit, with such a noble cause and with such a long history of really doing essential work in a challenging environment. There’s plenty of challenges and struggles I’m sure that you have to face on a regular basis, and funding, of course, is one of them. So any small part we can do to get word out and increase attendance and increase about your mission, that’s what we’d like to do.

Renee Skolaski  07:18

Terrific. Really, thank you. Thank you,

Jason Pufahl  07:21

Renee, is there anything, before we wrap up that you wanted to either convey to listeners or address that maybe we haven’t yet?

Renee Skolaski  07:30

I think that oftentimes, when you look at the world and you see what’s what’s either happening in your own neighborhood or more broadly, sometimes it can be overwhelming how you can make a difference. And I can, I can really directly share that it’s really possible to make a difference by supporting an organization like MercyFirst, whether it is MercyFirst or or another organization, but local organizations in our own communities, day in and day out, are working to care for children and families that really need the support. So I encourage folks to get involved locally, and certainly encourage folks to donate to to MercyFirst, because I can guarantee that we will put the support to good use.

Jason Pufahl  08:08

Well, that’s great. So we’re excited to see you on the seventh. We appreciate you joining the podcast and spending a minute here sharing your message.

Renee Skolaski  08:17

Thank you so much. I look forward to seeing you on the seventh. Thank you. Great. Thank you.

08:23

We’d love to hear your feedback. Feel free to get in touch at Vancord on LinkedIn, and remember, stay vigilant, stay resilient. This has been CyberSound.