May 2026

Franklin Community Center hosted 8 corporate volunteer groups during the month of May, and each provided support across a variety of our programs and services.

30 representatives from ESI – Employee Assistance Group completed a volunteer project while visiting Saratoga Springs for a staff conference. They purchased and donated needed items and assembled them into 200 Hygiene Kits to benefit the Food Pantry.
For the second year in a row, 20 volunteers from GlobalFoundries assisted with the Project Lift year-end picnics at each of the 6 Saratoga Springs elementary schools. They helped run activities and stations, passed out food and drinks, and celebrated the end of the school year with the Lift staff, kids, and their families.

Between May 17th and May 21st FCC carried out the Free Store “Makeover” Project, which provided some much needed TLC to the Free Store facility, as well as created a more efficient layout and implemented improvemed storage and shelving solutions to benefit our shoppers, donors, and volunteers. 6 corporate groups participated in the project, and made it all possible:

10 members of the IT Department at BSNB launched the project – they relocated all of the Free Store inventory and shelving from the Free Store at 101 Washington Street to the conference room in the Arpey building at 95 Washington Street. They also deep cleaned the space, spackled holes in the walls, and painted the ceilings
As part of United Way of the Greater Capital Region’s 518 Day volunteer initiative, 23 community members from Sherwin Williams and UPS completed the majority of the painting, including all interior walls, doors, and moldings
4 representatives from Saratoga Hilton finished the painting process by giving final coats and touches to walls and moldings
For the final step of the project, 7 Walmart and 3 Athleta employees helped transport everything back in to the Free Store and set the inventory up in a more efficient and updated manner
In addition to the corporate volunteers, 17 FCC programmatic volunteers assisted throughout the process – including sorting and purging items, reorganizing shelves, cleaning fixtures, running errands, and painting. Matt Geleta, a jack of all trades, completed many renovation tasks in the Free Store, including a full renovation of the volunteer bathroom

Thank you to all of our corporate and community volunteer groups this month! We could not complete this hard work and carry out our essential programs and services without you! If you’re interested in launching a corporate volunteer project with FCC, email [email protected] for more information.