Albany County Correctional Facility for Children's Benefit Albany NY

ACCFCB Gives Thanks......

Albany County just wrapped up a month long opportunity for it's employees to make weekly charitable donations from their paychecks in 2010. We sincerely THANK everyone who pledged to donate in the coming year as well as those who previously donated. We are very grateful for this strong vote of confidence and for your continued support, we couldn't do this without you! We would also like to thank a few people from the Albany County Correctional Facility who spoke to staff about contributing to ACCFCB-

The coordinator of the Correctional Facility's extraordinary effort was Correction Officer Jeff Dinuzzo! Working along side Jeff was: Correction Officer Tim Burke; ACCFCB's Secretary, Correction Officer Tammy Criscone and Flo Paquette from ACCF business office among others.  

According to Jeff, ACCF employees pledged over $13,000 for 2010 beating ALL county employee donations made in 2009- Fantastic! Complete totals will be published here in December.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Sincerely,

John Smith, President  

"Knowing you were there gave us comfort and support"- Rose Menneto (A mom's message to ACCFCB)

Connor Menneto Update 

From:	Rosemary Menneto Connor's Mom ([email protected])
Sent:	Tue 11/17/09 3:57 PM
To:	John Smith ([email protected]) ([email protected])

Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009

Hi John,

Connor is doing great. He has had a few problems.  He got the flu after the first week of school, he had problems with an irritated spinal nerve, and the last was pneumonia.  He just finished the antibiotics from the pneumonia.  The stress his body has been under seems to make him susceptible to everything but he is getting stronger.  He has missed school for these problems but not because of the CRPS.

Hillary Clinton wrote "It takes a village to raise a Child".  In Connor's case it took a community to make him well.  There is no comparison between Connor when I first talked with you and Connor now.  He is able to live with the pain he has and live the life he wants to live.  He goes to school, plays video games, lifts weights, runs, drives, and is planning for the future.  All things that were impossible for him to do when I first talked with you.  He got to this point because of the aggressive treatment he received from Dr. Appicella and Dr. Argoff.  They got Connor to the best place he could be medically before we went to Cleveland.  Our friends who worked so hard to raise money for Cleveland.  The people that donated money after they read his story in the paper.  Your organization stepping up to help.  Your offer meant that we could take Connor to Cleveland and he could stay as long as needed.  Connor worried as his stay kept prolonging about the cost.  I would tell him not to worry the Correction Officers were there if we needed them.  That safety net let Connor relax and work on his rehab. The staff at the Cleveland Clinic are amazed at how well Connor has progressed. They gave him a lot of credit for pushing forward even after he left the Clinic.  His determination to get his life back was key to him fighting through the pain. 

We still do not have the final bill from the Cleveland Clinic.  Our insurance is now paying for some of the last days of his stay.  The portion that remains may be within our families means to pay.  We will not be sure until we see the final bill.  We have been able to pay the other bills as they have come.  Our family can not thank all of you for being there for our family.   Knowing you were there gave us comfort and support.  It would be great if our insurance paid and you were able to help another family.  Even if we do not need any financial help, your organization has been an enormous help to our family.  You helped to relieve some of the stress our family was experiencing.  Please let everyone know how grateful we are to all of you. I will know soon where we stand with Cleveland.  We will keep you updated on Connor.  Thanks for all your help.

All the best,

Rose

_____________________________________________________________________________

From:	John Smith ([email protected]) ([email protected])
Sent:	11/18/09
To:	Rosemary Menneto ([email protected])
Bcc:

Hi Rose,
 
It appears based on your e-mail that the current medical issues Connor is coping with pales in comparison to the pain he previously suffered from CRPS. We are most pleased with your latest update. Thank you very much for the uplifting e-mail regarding Connor.
 
We are very thankful for your feedback regarding the "safety net" that our children's foundation gave to your family during your critical time. Your kind words go a long way with our volunteer group and shows us that we are making a small difference along the way. Your words gave me goose bumps, thank you so much for that on so many levels. It is obvious that you are a strong mom with a deep love for your son and family!
 
We are honored to be a been of your family and we will await future updates on Connor's progress.
 
Please let us know when you receive the Cleveland Children's Hospital invoice and we'll be more than happy to assist you.
 
Sincerely,
John

John R Smith, President

"Albany County Correctional Facility for Children's Benefit, Inc."

806 Huntingdon Drive

Niskayuna, NY 12309

H 518 280-4055

C 518 588-5055

www.accfcb.org 

Albany County Employees To Make a Difference in 2010....

From October 25 - November 20, 2009 was open enrollment for charitable donations from employee paychecks for 2010. Thank you to all who will make a tax deductible contribution each pay period for next year to help seriously ill children in our community. Every donation adds up so we can continue assisting families of very sick children. Thank you for your continued support, we couldn't do this without YOU! We will put our 2010 total Albany County donations on our web site around mid December when we receive the total amount. 

This is ACCFCB's 4th year participating in this effort. 

The following are 3 previous employee contribution levels:

• 2009  $13,300
• 2008  $10,000
• 2007  $4,000 

-Thank you from your ALL VOLUNTEER staff at Albany County Correctional Facility for Children's Benefit, Where nobody receives a paycheck for their effort! 

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ACCFCB members & supporters involved in recapture of escaped prisoner 11-06-2009

On Line Newspaper Article- Times Union

To C.O.'s Brian Eccles, Butch Brothers, Moses Dinkins, Phil Fargnoli, 1st Sergeant Ralph Peltier & Sergeant Tim Francis- Job WELL DONE for finding and capturing this individual! You made us @ ACCF proud. The ACCF C.E.R.T. (Correctional Emergency Response Team) is to be congratulated along with all law enforcement involved in the recapture of this scared 18 year old boy who escaped during a court appearance in the town of Watervliet on 11-06-2009! I saw ACCFCB's own 2nd Vice President, Albany County Sheriff's Deputy Barb McMullen searching vehicles on the WTEN Channel 10 broadcast during this high profile incident. Wonderful job by all! John

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