2025/26 ANNUAL REPORT Celebrating 75+ years of impact
2025/26 IMPACT STATISTICS Across Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam Counties
40,000 40,000
550,000 550,000
VOLUNTEERS MOBILIZED
HOURS OF SERVICE
12 12
CORPORATIONS COMPLETED
192 192
VOLUNTEER PROJECTS
300+ 300+
NONPROFIT PARTNERS
$21 $21 MILLION MILLION IN VALUE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 2
To Our Community, This week, a local food pantry will feed more families because volunteers stocked the shelves. Students in an after-school program will successfully finish homework because volunteers spent time tutoring. Unhoused families will receive much-needed clothing because volunteers distributed donated clothing. At Volunteer New York!, we know volunteerism is one of the most powerful tools that we can leverage to solve the greatest needs facing our community and improve quality of life for all. We have been capacity builders for over 75 years, supplying the people power that our community partners need to fulfill their missions while running our own volunteer engagement programs open to all community members. As you will see in this report, we activate volunteerism in all forms: from training community members to serve on nonprofit boards, running Days of Service to engage people in projects, to working with Corporate Champions to build employee volunteer programs that deliver measurable results. This year marks International Volunteer Year (IVY), a United Nations initiative that recognizes volunteerism as essential to a strong and thriving society. As a proud member of the Points of Light Global Network, Volunteer New York! is invested in the National Volunteer Strategy to double volunteering by 2035, focusing on building capacity, strengthening a culture of service, and creating meaningful volunteer experiences. As we look into the future, the need for volunteerism is growing. More of our neighbors are turning to volunteering to meet new requirements that keep their SNAP benefits, and soon their Medicaid coverage, in place. At the same time, loneliness and isolation have become a public health concern, and volunteering is one of the most powerful remedies we know. It connects people to purpose and to one another. Getting involved is easy. Visit volunteernewyork.org to register for one of our programs or search hundreds of opportunities in our Volunteer Opportunity Database. Find one that fits your life, whether that's an hour a month or a day a week, and show up to give back. Thank you to our volunteers, nonprofit partners, funders, and board members. When you support Volunteer New York!, you invest in everyone to provide solutions for all the issues facing our community. With gratitude,
Amy Seiden Board Chair
Polly Lagana Executive Director
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 3
ABOUT US Volunteer New York! has mobilized our community through volunteerism and civic engagement for more than 75 years, serving Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam counties in the Lower Hudson Valley. We are far more than a place to find an opportunity. We run direct-service programs that engage people of every age and ability, from students to older adults; we strengthen local nonprofits with the training, leadership, and board development they need to thrive; and we connect thousands of neighbors each year to the causes that need them most. We believe volunteering is essential to a strong, healthy, and connected community, and we work to make it easy for everyone to serve.
OUR MISSION Volunteer New York! mobilizes our community to address its greatest challenges.
WE FULFILL OUR MISSION IN THREE WAYS:
1
VNY! Signature Programs
2
Nonprofit Capacity Building
3
Corporate and Community Partnerships
PROUD MEMBER OF THE POINTS OF LIGHT GLOBAL NETWORK Volunteer New York! is one of over 118 Points of Light Global Network affiliates, the largest network of volunteer connector organizations in the world, which includes innovative volunteer-mobilizing organizations across 36 countries around the world. The core mission of the Points of Light Global Network is to inspire, equip and mobilize people to take action that changes the world. Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 4
VNY! SIGNATURE PROGRAMS Building a more inclusive vision of volunteerism RISE RISE (Readiness thru Integrated Service Engagement) reframes what community engagement can look like for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For the past 10 years, RISE volunteers have contributed to nonprofits across the community through projects shaped around their individual strengths and interests. In doing so, they strengthen the community and advance a more inclusive vision of volunteerism. Additionally, the RISE program provides disability awareness training and helps our community partners accommodate new volunteers. It is a program built on a simple belief: everyone can serve.
Aspiring LeaDDers graduation ceremony
2025/26 IMPACT
250 RISE volunteers gave 3,100 hours of service Volunteer Story
Aspiring LeaDDership Aspiring LeaDDership is a 10-month, cohort-based program that empowers adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to build leadership skills, strengthen self-advocacy, and take active roles in their communities. The program culminates in a graduation ceremony celebrating participants alongside their friends
I'm thankful for volunteering at the Milk Bank because it gives me an opportunity to help out others in Westchester County.
and families. AMONG PARTICIPANTS
Employment rose from 41% to 73%, far above the 20% national average for people with disabilities.
- Diana, a longtime RISE volunteer who helps pilot new opportunities and has grown to secure part-time employment.
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 5
VNY! SIGNATURE PROGRAMS
Turning a lifetime of experience into real community impact. RSVP Retired and Senior Volunteer Program For over 50 years, RSVP of Westchester proves that giving back has no age limit. As Volunteer New York!'s AmeriCorps Seniors program, it connects adults 55+ to the causes that
Volunteer Story
need them most, turning a lifetime of skill and experience into real community impact. Members choose how, where, and
Since joining RSVP in 2018,
when they serve, from a few hours to a full week, tutoring a
I’ve considered it my ‘volunteer
child learning to read, driving a neighbor to a medical appointment, or supporting veterans and military families
home.’ I have been a member of
facing food insecurity. In return, they forge new friendships and
the RSVP Advisory Council,
a renewed sense of purpose, backed by orientation, training,
collaborating with staff and
supplemental insurance, travel reimbursement, and annual recognition. For hundreds of Westchester residents every year,
fellow volunteers to expand our
RSVP is proof that the best service can be a second act.
membership, strengthen our outreach, and develop new
OVER THE PAST 16 YEARS:
partnerships with local nonprofits.
12,600 RSVP volunteers gave 1 MILLION hours of service
- Lew Koflowitz
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 6
Tuesday McDonald and Angel Gray at the 2026 Leadership Westchester graduation ceremony
Leadership Westchester Since 1996, Leadership Westchester has been the signature leadership development program in the area. It is designed to sharpen leadership skills, build networks, and teach Volunteers helping clean up Ward Acres Park in New Rochelle
participants to leverage their strengths to make a lasting and powerful impact on Westchester and beyond.
Youth & Civic Engagement When a young person volunteers for the first time, it can spark a lifetime of service. Volunteer New York! introduces youth and families to that possibility through a range of opportunities designed to meet them where they are. Many teens connect to opportunities via
Leadership Westchester helped
Volunteer New York! to fulfill service requirements for
me clarify how I want to contribute,
honor societies, confirmation, or a bar or bat mitzvah, while discovering causes they genuinely care about. Through our Civic Engagement Workshops, offered in Westchester high schools, students learn how volunteerism, advocacy, and voting can shape their communities. Volunteer New York! also conducts teen voter
professionally and personally, in the community. It was one of the richest growth experiences of my life. - Tammy Bordeaux Dancing Village Partners Leadership Westchester Class of 2026
registration workshops and encourages youth participation in our Community Days of Service.
OVER THE PAST 30 YEARS:
534 Leadership Westchester graduates have gone on to make a positive impact in the community. Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 7
VNY! SIGNATURE PROGRAMS
9/11 Days of Service press conference with Westchester County Executive Kenneth Jenkins Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard of Mount Vernon volunteering at Wartburg to benefit WESTHelp Shelter on MLK Day of Service
Volunteers help create scarves during MLK Day of Service Volunteers pack meals during 9/11 Days of Service
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 8
COMMUNITY DAYS OF SERVICE 9/11 Days of Service For 16 years, our 9/11 Community Days of Service have united our neighbors in honor and remembrance. In partnership with Westchester County government, we mobilize volunteers from the public and private sectors for a series of
Volunteers allow us to supplement
high-impact, hands-on projects, from packing meals to
limited resources and ensure that
creating laundry pouches. We turn a day of remembrance
residents have access to essential
into a day of action.
items that promote comfort,
670 volunteers participated & 51,400 meals were packed
dignity, and stability during their stay. The scarves filled an important need by providing warmth and protection during the winter months, something many of
Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
our clients are unable to afford on
Each January, our MLK Days of Service brings our
their own due to financial hardship.
community together to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the way he taught us, through service. Volunteers of every generation and background take part in projects that meet real community needs, from assembling care packages to creating essentials for local shelters, carrying his legacy
- WestHELP Shelter of Mount Vernon Recipient of 85 scarves created by volunteers
forward one act of service at a time.
390 self-care kits were assembled for unhoused individuals
When moments of remembrance become days of action
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 9
NON-PROFIT CAPACITY BUILDING Nonprofits are the backbone of our community. With the right people and resources behind them, they change everything. For more than 75 years, Volunteer New York! has stood alongside local organizations, helping them recruit, train, and lead. When a nonprofit thrives, the whole community benefits.
BOARD TRAINING Strong organizations start with strong boards. Our Nonprofit Board Boot Camp equips aspiring and current board members with the skills and confidence to serve effectively, then connects them to organizations that need them through our board matching. Participants learn how to contribute to meaningful change, strengthen their communities, and grow as leaders. The results are real: participants have gone on to join, and lead, boards across the region, bringing fresh talent and energy to the nonprofits that depend on engaged, capable governance.
OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS:
We have trained 931 potential board candidates
BOARD MATCHING Our annual Board Speed Dating event connects nonprofits looking for board members with people trained and ready to serve, all in a single event of quick, focused conversations. Its real power is reach: rather than recruiting from the same familiar networks, organizations meet new-to-them candidates who bring fresh perspectives, energy, and connections. Since launching, the program has made hundreds of matches,
I wanted to send you my heartfelt thanks for organizing the Board Bootcamp. I recently joined the Board of STEM Alliance and I truly don’t think I would have known how to approach a board role without this program. Coming from a corporate environment at Accenture, where the work is quite different, this bootcamp gave me practical guidance that made a real difference.
introducing capable leaders to the boards that need them. It's a simple idea with lasting impact.
- Mili Iyengar Partner, Accenture
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 10
NONPROFIT TRAINING Great volunteer programs don't happen by accident. For more than 20 years, our Volunteer Managers Networking Breakfast has brought nonprofit leaders and volunteer managers together to learn from one another and sharpen their craft. At most organizations, a single person carries the entire weight of volunteer management, with few peers who understand the work. Participants dig into shared challenges, from recruiting the right volunteers to keeping them engaged, and leave with practical solutions and a stronger network. It is professional development built specifically for the people who power volunteer programs.
Nonprofit leaders connect and trade strategies at the Volunteer Managers Networking Breakfast
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY DATABASE Behind the scenes, our online volunteer opportunity database expands where a nonprofit can reach. Rather than recruiting from the same familiar circles, partner organizations can post their needs and connect with new and different volunteers, people beyond their existing network who bring fresh skills and energy. For volunteers, it works the other way: with so many opportunities in one place, nearly everyone can find a cause that fits their interests and abilities. It is one of the practical tools we offer to build nonprofit capacity, expanding an organization's reach so it can spend less time searching and more time serving.
THE DATABASE CONTAINS
500+ nonprofits promoting thousands of local volunteer opportunties each year
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 11
CORPORATE & COMMUNITY PART Helping companies build positive culture through meaningful experiences. For companies, volunteerism has become a strategic advantage, and Volunteer New York! is the region's leading partner in making it real. We design and lead customized employee days of service, match teams with causes they care about, and turn a company's values into meaningful, hands-on impact. And because the impact is local, employees see the difference in the very communities where they live and work.
COMMUNITY PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Volunteer New Rochelle! Partnership isn't only about companies. Through Volunteer New Rochelle, we show how an entire city can build a culture of service. Launched in 2016, the program gives residents year-round ways to volunteer where they live and support the nonprofits around them. Its signature Parks Clean-Up Weekend brings neighbors, businesses, and community leaders together each year to beautify local parks and strengthen civic pride. It's a model for what's possible when a municipality and its residents commit to service together, and a blueprint we're proud to help other communities follow.
PUBLIC SECTOR PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
We’re grateful for this collaboration and the positive impact it continues to create for our employees and the communities we serve.
NY Power Authority Our project management reaches well beyond Westchester. Over three days, we led projects for the New York Power Authority in Queens, Syracuse, Buffalo, and Yonkers, bringing volunteers together for service focused on the environment and food insecurity. Volunteers removed more than 2,000 pounds of trash, debris, and
- Matthew Caruso Enviromental Justice Manager New York Power Authority
invasive species, planted 230 flowers, and packed over 2,500 pounds of food. It shows how a partner can count on Volunteer New York! to deliver meaningful impact across the state.
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 12
NERSHIPS CORPORATE PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Regeneron Regeneron shows how far a partnership can reach when it runs all year. During a week of service in October 2025, we managed 146 projects, mobilizing more than 2,650 employees and engaging 114 community partners for over 7,000 hours of service. The work continues well beyond that week, from employee engagement during National Volunteer Month in April to our management of the Regeneron Volunteer of the Year Awards and Social Impact Fair, keeping service woven into the company's culture.
CORPORATE PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Mastercard Corporate social responsibility comes in many forms. VNY! expertly guides Mastercard to achieve their unique goals. From its global headquarters in Purchase, NY, Mastercard completed 22 volunteer projects in the past year alone, mobilizing employees across Westchester in support of local causes. It is a partnership built on shared belief: that a strong community and a strong workforce go hand in hand. For Mastercard's teams, service has become something they look forward to year after year.
2025/26 STATISTICS
12 corporations | 4,100 volunteers
Volunteer New York! helps Regeneron turn our commitment to ‘Doing Well by Doing Good’ into meaningful action. By connecting our colleagues with opportunities to support STEM education and address local needs, they help us build resilient communities and put our people’s passion and expertise to work. Their partnership has helped a local commitment grow into a global culture of service - Potoula Stavropoulos Senior Director, Social Impact | Corporate Affairs Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
192 projects | 9,800 hours of service
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 13
A CLOSER LOOK AT OUR IMPACT TOP ISSUES WE ADDRESS (ranked by most served)
Hunger & Homelessness Environment Health & Wellness Youth Education People with Disabilities Senior Services Animal Welfare Veterans & Military Families
PROGRAMS BUILT TO LAST RSVP has been in operation for .... 50 years Leadership Westchester ................. 30 years Nonprofit Training ............................ 20 years
LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT BENEFIT FROM OUR EFFORTS (partial list)
Meals on Wheels of Scarsdale Thomas H. Slater Community Center of White Plains D.I.G. Farm in North Salem HOPE Community Services in New Rochelle
9/11 Days of Service ........................ 16 years RISE ..................................................... 10 years Nonprofit Board Bootcamp ............. 9 years
White Plains Hospital The Sharing Shelf in Port Chester Burke Rehabilitation in White Plains Westchester Parks Foundation WestHELP of Mt. Vernon
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 14
LOOKING AHEAD Volunteerism has never mattered more. As our communities face new challenges, Volunteer New York! is ready to meet them, and to show what's possible when people come together.
MEETING THE NEED: SNAP AND MEDICAID A major shift in federal policy is making volunteering more essential than ever. An increasing number of adults in our community receiving SNAP benefits must perform required amounts of work, training, or community service to retain benefits, with even more strigent requirements phasing in for Medicaid. Volunteer New York! is built for this moment. Our free opportunity calendar connects residents to hundreds of local opportunities that meet a real community need and fit their schedules, interests, and abilities.
VOLUNTEERISM AS CONNECTION In an era of rising isolation, volunteerism does something few things can: it brings people together. Serving side by side builds trust, friendship, and belonging across generations and backgrounds. Every opportunity we create is also a chance to connect, turning strangers into neighbors, fostering genuine community.
INVESTING IN YOUTH The antidote to isolation starts young. That's why we are expanding service opportunities for the next generation, giving students meaningful ways to engage, lead, and connect with their communities early. When young people discover that their actions matter, they carry that belief forward, becoming the volunteers, leaders, and neighbors our community will depend on.
VOLUNTEERISM AS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT Service builds more than community, it builds valuable skills. Volunteering develops leadership, teamwork, and confidence, giving people real experience they can carry into the workforce. For employers, team-based service strengthens culture and reconnects colleagues in an era of dispersed work. As the nature of work keeps changing, volunteerism is emerging as one of the most practical ways to grow both people and teams.
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 15
FINANCIALS The mission of Volunteer New York! is supported by a number of corporations and businesses, both local and global, that see the value of championing volunteer power in their community and as part of their core philanthropic values. We are thankful to the following corporate champions in the 2025/26 fiscal year:
TRANSFORMING SPONSORS
MOBILIZING SPONSORS
INSPIRING SPONSORS
FACILITATING SPONSORS
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 16
Fiscal Year 2025/26: July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026
INCOME: $1,637,640 Other $35,667
2% 10%
Special Events $162,704 Individual Donations $249,245
37%
15%
Fee for Service $597,621 Grants $592,403
36%
EXPENSES: $1,760,223 Management & Administrative $203,466 Fundraising $325,067
12% 18% 70%
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 17
Program Services $1,231,689
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Lydia Kris Board Vice-Chair, Committees of the Corporation Owner, The Pamplemousse Project
Executive Committee Amy Seiden Board Chair Director of Philanthropy, Mark Seiden Real Estate Team Tara C. Fappiano Board Vice-Chair, Committees of the Board Attorney at Law Advocate/Mediator/Litigator
Christina Nash Board Treasurer Senior Vice President, Regions & Markets Audit, Mastercard Carla Rojas Board Secretary Owner, Choose Your Mindset, LLC
Directors
Carmen L. Martínez-López, PhD Dean, School of Business & Professional Careers, SUNY Westchester Community College
Carlos Andrade Senior Relationship Manager, M&T Bank
Grant Mitchell Chair, Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai Beth Israel
Joseph Farrenkopf Partner, PKF O'Connor Davies LLP
Sean Nossel Managing Director, Apollo Global Management
Ed Forbes Director of Local Opinion, USA TODAY Network
Daniel Patrick Associate Attorney, Cuddy & Feder LLP
Joshua Gaccione Veterans Program Administrator, SUNY Westchester Community College
Abbe P. Stein Community Supporter
Phillip Ham Executive Director, Sovereign Research & Macro, J.P. Morgan Asset Management Ilene Levy Co-Founder, Two Nomads LLC
Felix Tapia Director of Marketing, Robison Oil Deborah Z. Thomas Community Supporter
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 18
GET INVOLVED For over 75 years, Volunteer New York! has connected people to purpose and communities to the help they need. That work only continues with you. Whether you give, partner, or serve, here's how you can strengthen our community, starting today.
DONATE Making it “easy to volunteer” is actually hard. Your gift keeps our programs free and low-cost, so anyone who wants to serve can. Every dollar you give turns into volunteers mobilized, nonprofits strengthened, and real impact returned to the community. Support the work that makes volunteering possible for all.
PARTNER Companies, organizations, and municipalities partner with us to build volunteerism into their mission and carry it out in the community. We turn your goals into meaningful, hands-on impact, strengthen your team, and connect you to the causes your people care about. Let's build something together.
VOLUNTEER Ready to make a difference? Use our resources to find the opportunity that fits you. With hundreds of ways to serve, matched to your schedule, skills, and interests, there's a place for everyone. Find yours and take the first step.
Volunteer New York! | 2025/26 Annual Report | Page 19
CONTACT US Volunteer New York! 220 White Plains Road, Suite 220 Tarrytown, NY 10591 914-948-4452 volunteernewyork.org