Central New York Humanist Association

Syracuse, New York, United States

Team Since 04/15/2014

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Hours Donated This Year

617

Lifetime Hours Donated

Support this Team

The Central New York Humanist Association is a non-profit organization in Syracuse, NY that aims to:

create a supportive community and personal connection for humanists in Central New York
educate people about humanism and other non-theistic worldviews
put our values into action by helping the local community through volunteering and community service

Awards

2021

April Team of the Month

Events

Upcoming Events

Earth Day Clean Up at Onondaga Creek Walk

04/22/2023 9:00am - 11:00am

Join us to participate in OCRRA’s Earth Day Clean Up 2023 on Saturday, April 22nd. Wear your CNYHA or GoHumanity t-shirt. If you don't have one, we'll give you one! We will have bags for litter. Feel free to bring work gloves or litter grabbers if you have them. We’ll meet in the northwest corner…

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Past Events

Sack Lunches for the Unhoused

03/18/2023 9:45am See Details

Sack Lunches for the Unhoused

March 18, 2023

Let's do some good for goodness' sake at Sandwich Saturday on the 18th of March! We'll meet at Lincoln Middle School between 9:30 and 9:45 am to make sandwiches with other volunteers. Then, around 11 we'll go to Billings Park in Syracuse to hand out sack lunches, toiletries, clothing, and other necessities to community members who could use a hand, whether they are unhoused or just having a hard time making ends meet. If you have a CNYHA or GoHumanity t-shirt, wear it! If you don't--we'll give you one! Look for us between 9:30 and 9:45 in the parking lot of Lincoln Middle School--if you arrive later than that and don't see us in the parking lot with our CNYHA t-shirts on, just come in and find us. Everyone at Sandwich Saturday is very friendly!

Sack Lunches for the Unhoused

01/21/2023 9:45am See Photos

Sack Lunches for the Unhoused

January 21, 2023

Let's do some good for goodness' sake at Sandwich Saturday on the 21st of January! We'll meet at Lincoln Middle School at 9:45 to make sandwiches with other volunteers. Then, around 10 we'll go to Billings Park in Syracuse to hand out sack lunches, toiletries, clothing, and other necessities to community members who could use a hand, whether they are unhoused or just having a hard time making ends meet. If you have a CNYHA or GoHumanity t-shirt, wear it! If you don't--we'll give you one! We'll meet between 9:30 and 9:45 in the parking lot of Lincoln Middle School--if you arrive later than that and don't see us in the parking lot with our CNYHA t-shirts on, just come in and find us.

Collecting Thanksgiving items for Clear Path for Veterans

10/30/2022 1:00pm See Details

Collecting Thanksgiving items for Clear Path for Veterans

October 30, 2022

We will be collecting food for Clear Path for Veterans. If you are able, please bring in one or more non-perishable items from their Thanksgiving Wishlist to our meeting on October 30. If you would like us to pick up donations between then and November 10, please contact us at cnyhumanists@gmail.com. Clear Path for Veterans will be providing Thanksgiving meals for both active duty members of the armed forces as well as veterans.

Colors of the World Crayon Fundraiser

05/01/2022 - 05/09/2022 See Details

Colors of the World Crayon Fundraiser

May 1, 2022 - May 9, 2022

Let's help the PTA at Van Buren Elementary School in Baldwinsville, NY, provide a pack of Colors of the World crayons (with an array of skin tones) to each student at the school. Our group has continuing concerns about pressures being applied to libraries and teachers in the region by by groups that are against providing students with diverse information and a factual view of life in this country. Although we cannot directly involve ourselves politically with any school board, it has come to our attention that teachers in the Baldwinsville schools would like to provide students with "multicultural crayons" that would allow the kids to color faces in a variety of skin tones to better reflect themselves, their families, and their communities. These packs are about $2.00 each, and they would love to have one for each of the 500 students. We are raising money at our website, cnyhumanists.org to purchase these crayons for the PTA.

Sack Lunches for the Unhoused

04/30/2022 9:45am See Photos

Sack Lunches for the Unhoused

April 30, 2022

The CNY Humanists are taking #Action4Unhoused on Saturday, April 30. We’ll join in with Sandwich Saturday, to make bagged lunches and distribute them, along with toiletries, clothing, groceries, and other necessities, to folks in the area who could use a hand. Meet us at Lincoln Middle School at 9:45. Wear your CNYHA T-shirt—if you don’t have one, we’ll give you one! We’ll make sandwiches and bagged lunches, and Al-Amin Muhammad, who runs We Rise Above the Streets, always gives an inspiring talk about connecting with the people we’re serving. After that, we’ll head over the Billings park to share sack lunches and smiles with the people there.

Native Tree Planting in Onondaga County

04/24/2022 See Photos

Native Tree Planting in Onondaga County

April 24, 2022

On the weekend after Earth Day, members of our group planted trees in 5 locations around Onondaga County. The 30 hazelnut shrubs, 10 Redbud trees, and 30 Sweet Juniper trees were obtained from the Cortland Division of Soil and Conservation, as well as the Department of Environmental Conservation. Our goal was habitat enrichment and future carbon sequestration. We look forward to getting a lot more members involved next year!

Earth Day Clean Up at Onondaga Creek Walk

04/23/2022 9:00am - 11:00am See Photos

Earth Day Clean Up at Onondaga Creek Walk

April 23, 2022

Join us to participate in OCRRA’s Earth Day Clean Up 2022 on Saturday, April 23rd. Everyone who joins us will get a CNYHA t-shirt! (sizes subject to availability) We will have bags for litter. Feel free to bring work gloves or litter grabbers if you have them. We’ll meet in the northwest corner of the Destiny USA parking lot on Solar Street at 9, near the Creekwalk. Map of where to meet: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1sR8xxTj5_tDHIDKQ5VtAs8tiFGWuv4pa&ll=43.065682291344274%2C-76.17038801706526&z=17

Food Security in CNY Speaker: Lynn Hy of Food Bank of CNY

03/24/2022 7:00pm See Details

Food Security in CNY Speaker: Lynn Hy of Food Bank of CNY

March 24, 2022

In Spring of 2022, we will be doing a deep dive into food insecurity in Central New York. We will meet 6 times to learn about the problem and to volunteer in the community. Our second event will be a Zoom with Lynn Hy of the Food Bank of Central New York on the subject of Food Insecurity in CNY. Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7630427646 Contact us at cnyhumanists@gmail.com to get involved!

Serving Chili at Sandwich Saturday

03/19/2022 10:00am - 11:30am See Photos

Serving Chili at Sandwich Saturday

March 19, 2022

In Spring of 2022, we will be doing a deep dive into food insecurity in Central New York. We'll meet 6 times to learn about the problem and to volunteer in the community. Our first event will be making chili and cornbread and serving them at Sandwich Saturday* on March 19th. If you’re interested in joining us, please RSVP here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZZRJWNS Or contact us at cnyhumanists@gmail.com to get involved! *Sandwich Saturday is organized by We Rise Above the Streets, a non-profit that serves Syracuse's homeless population, and, increasingly, the working poor as well. Three of us baked a total of 7 lbs of cornbread; 3 of us made a total of 43 lbs of chili; 5 of us packed it all up; and 5 of us served it to 53 of the people who came to Sandwich Saturday. People could choose between turkey chili or beef chili, and we had optional toppings of green onions and shredded cheese. A lot of people seemed excited about hot chili, and many seemed to appreciate the extra toppings and having a choice between 2 kinds of chili. Folks thanked us and one man told us we should open a chili restaurant because it was so good! Al-Amin Muhammad, who runs Sandwich Saturday, always talks to the volunteers beforehand and encourages everyone to smile, greet people, talk to them, see what they need, and help them find what they need. I think it's uplifting for everyone.

Hygiene Kits for the Unhoused

12/05/2021 See Photos

Hygiene Kits for the Unhoused

December 5, 2021

During our Winter Potluck we spent some time assembling toiletry bags from donated items. We created over 100 kits to be handed out by a local organization that helps the homeless and working poor in the area.

Earth Day Creekwalk Cleanup

04/24/2021 8:00am - 10:00am See Details

Earth Day Creekwalk Cleanup

April 24, 2021

We had about 22 folks meet to clean up a recreational trail in Syracuse. Everything year, the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency encourages individuals and groups to pick an area and clean up litter for Earth Day. We chose an area between a mall and a lake along a recreational trail and picked up over 30 bags of garbage! We had some new faces who had never heard of our group before, but were just looking for an Earth Day event to attend. We gave out t-shirts to everyone who came, so that we could all look and feel like a team.

Virtual Food Drive

01/01/2021 - 01/31/2021 See Photos

Virtual Food Drive

January 1, 2021 - January 31, 2021

We worked with the Food Bank of Central New York by hosting a year-long virtual food drive, since the pandemic was keeping us from meeting in person. We had worked with them in the past, and were able to get our virtual food drive up and running. The food bank is able to buy in bulk, getting more food per dollar than donors can get buying food at the supermarket. We promoted the drive on our website and in our monthly newsletter. We raised $825 for the food bank.

Virtual Blood Drive

01/01/2021 - 01/31/2021 See Photos

Virtual Blood Drive

January 1, 2021 - January 31, 2021

We worked with the American Red Cross by hosting a year-long virtual blood drive, since the pandemic was keeping us from meeting in person and we wanted to help our neighbors. They created a virtual "Sleeves Up!" blood drive for us, which we promoted in our monthly newsletter and on our website. Folks could "pledge" to give blood and be taken to a page to make an appointment, and were encouraged to post to social media using #cnyhablooddrive. We had 6 people pledge.