Please think about helping your neighbors in these difficult times. American Red Cross in the Finger Lakes has an urgent need for volunteers. People are needed to drliver hot meals to shut-ins, and to teach class in First Aid, CPR, babsitting and other health and safety courses. People also are needed to respond to local fires, floods and other disasters. All training to become a certified Red Cross instructor or disaster responder is provided free of charge. Your service can be scheduled to fit your availability. You can choose to deliver Meals on Wheels daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly. WE NEED YOU! Please help.
Also see HERE for other needs.
Call 607-535-7105 for more information.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Attention Veterans
Please join us for
Bath VA Medical Center
Community Flu Shot Clinics
Thursday, November 12
9:00 a.m. - Noon
Human Services Complex
323 Owego Street, Montour Falls
Human Services Complex
323 Owego Street, Montour Falls
Vaccinations are available for eligible Veterans currently enrolled for care at VA. If not enrolled, this is a great opportunity to determine eligibility for care and, if eligible, receive a free flu vaccination. Veterans not currently enrolled should bring their DD214 and 2008 income information.
Monday, October 26, 2009
It's Time To Change The Clocks!
Don't forget, this is also a good time to change the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors!
CASA of the Southern Tier Christmas of Hope Brunch
Castel Grisch Winery and Restaurant Hosts Holiday Brunch for CASA of the Southern Tier
The annual Christmas of Hope Brunch will be held on Sunday, December 13, 2009, at Castel Grisch Winery and Restaurant in Watkins Glen, NY, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. All proceeds benefit CASA of the Southern Tier. Tickets are $20 per person, $10 per child, and may be purchased by calling (607) 936-CASA. Table and time reservations must be made in advance by calling(607)535-9614.
“The holiday brunch is one of our most popular events,” said Amy Miller-Plumley, Executive Director of CASA of the Southern Tier. “People relax for an hour. They enjoy great food, friends and family, a bit of wine, and have fun. Our CASA kids deal with tough, sometimes life or death, situations on a daily basis. We are grateful to be able to provide a consistent volunteer to help these children. The brunch is a terrific way to support children who are abused and neglected in our tri-county area.”
For more information, call Amy Miller-Plumley at (607)936-CASA.
CASA is a nonprofit organization founded on the belief that the health, safety, and spirit of a child should be the primary concern when families are in crisis. To that end, it is dedicated to providing every abused and neglected child in the court system with a consistent and caring advocate - a court appointed special advocate. For more information on CASA, visit www.casasoutherntier.org.
The annual Christmas of Hope Brunch will be held on Sunday, December 13, 2009, at Castel Grisch Winery and Restaurant in Watkins Glen, NY, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. All proceeds benefit CASA of the Southern Tier. Tickets are $20 per person, $10 per child, and may be purchased by calling (607) 936-CASA. Table and time reservations must be made in advance by calling(607)535-9614.
“The holiday brunch is one of our most popular events,” said Amy Miller-Plumley, Executive Director of CASA of the Southern Tier. “People relax for an hour. They enjoy great food, friends and family, a bit of wine, and have fun. Our CASA kids deal with tough, sometimes life or death, situations on a daily basis. We are grateful to be able to provide a consistent volunteer to help these children. The brunch is a terrific way to support children who are abused and neglected in our tri-county area.”
For more information, call Amy Miller-Plumley at (607)936-CASA.
CASA is a nonprofit organization founded on the belief that the health, safety, and spirit of a child should be the primary concern when families are in crisis. To that end, it is dedicated to providing every abused and neglected child in the court system with a consistent and caring advocate - a court appointed special advocate. For more information on CASA, visit www.casasoutherntier.org.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Pack Your Bag
Thursday, October 29, 12:30pm
Schuyler County Human Services
Complex, Room 120
323 Owego Street
Montour Falls, NY
Call (607) 535-7108 to register
Schuyler County Human Services
Complex, Room 120
323 Owego Street
Montour Falls, NY
Call (607) 535-7108 to register
Ask questions about prescription and non-prescription medications; receive tips and tools on compliance and savings; learn about potential interactions between medications; identify expired and duplicate medications.
Sponsored by CVS Pharmacy and the National Council on Aging, and hosted by the Schuyler County Office for the Aging.
Fradulent H1N1 Products
The U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has provided information to alert consumers about websites that are illegally marketing unapproved, uncleared or unauthorized products related to the 2009 H1N1 Flu. I wanted to make you aware that this link will be added to the NY EDEN website, but you may also wish to place it on your website.
The link to the FDA site is: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/h1n1flu/
The link to the FDA site is: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/h1n1flu/
Seven Daily Routines That Can Cost You Big
1. Tossing out the "junk mail" from your credit card company.
The Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights Act goes into full effect in February. Ahead of that deadline, companies are changing the terms of customer agreements. For example, the new law prohibits raising the interest rate on existing balances unless a customer pays more than 60 days late. To skirt that provision, firms are notifying customers that their cards are now "variable rate." (Translation: We can jack up your rate whenever we please.)
So watch those benign notices, and be ready to call and demand a fixed-rate card or take your business elsewhere. Amid these tactics, a new bill calls for moving up the deadline on the credit card law to Dec. 1.
2. Using a debit card without writing down the transactions in your account register.
Debit cards are expected to account for 60 percent of transactions this year, but debit-card users tend to lose track of their money: Swiping plastic triggers 44 percent of overdraft fees, while paper checks account for just 27 percent.
A new report finds 50 million Americans overdrew their accounts at least once in a 12-month period, and 27 million incurred five or more overdraft fees. At an average of $34 a pop, that's a lot of beans -- literally. By one account, Americans spend about the same amount on overdraft fees as they do on fresh vegetables.
Why write down debit spending? Because swiping a card doesn't feel the same as laying out cash. The discipline of recording the transaction may reduce mindless spending and makes money easier to track. Simplify your money trail by using online bill pay for all your regular monthly bills, rather than having money withdrawn from your account by outside companies. Then take 30 seconds a day to log on to your account, add the pending transactions in bill pay to the outstanding checks and debits listed in your register that haven't cleared yet. Subtract from the current balance. If the result is nearing zero, add money to the account. Voila -- no overdrafts, no fees.
3. Ignoring new bank charges.
You may have noticed banks are a bit desperate these days to make a buck. One of the more recent innovations is dinging customers who make electronic transfers to an external account.
Example: In the last year, Wachovia started charging customers $3 per transfer to an outside bank. Let's say you automatically stash $100 a week into a savings account at an online bank offering 1.8 percent interest (the current top rate). Smart move. Except Wachovia will now ding you for 3 percent of that weekly deposit. Annual cost? $156.
Meanwhile, Wachovia doesn't offer any savings accounts that compete with a 1.8 percent rate (except Way to Save, which severely restricts the amount you can deposit). Solution: Find a local bank or credit union with no transfer fees, so you're free to access higher returns.
4. Investing time in the wrong things.
Maybe you're someone who will drive 20 minutes to a store on your lunch hour to get $5 off a $20 sweater. Or you'll spend 45 minutes on the phone protesting a $3 error on the cable bill. But when you start a new job, you procrastinate for two years before joining the 401(k) plan or leave your contribution languishing in a money-market account.
Make a weekly to-do list of your financial decisions (savings and spending) and then prioritize them in terms of bang-for-the-buck over time. When you do the math, you'll see why paying off credit cards in full and contributing to a retirement plan that offers a match should be at the top of the list.
5. Spending with no goals to guide you.
One definition of insanity, attributed to Albert Einstein, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Yet that's how some people approach their finances. They earn and spend and earn and spend, and wonder why they aren't making any progress.
Break the mindless cycle by figuring out what you value most, whether it's world travel, returning to school to change careers, home ownership, a peaceful retirement or a debt-free college education for the kids. Then set specific goals, with real time frames, and track your advancement on a monthly basis. Make this a daily discipline by putting a list of those goals in your face -- the fridge, your desk at work, your wallet.
6. Failing to track spending.
You can't succeed at No. 5 if you don't know precisely where your money is going. When I first started working, I carried a pencil and paper around and wrote everything down. Today, there are numerous desktop software applications and Web sites that will aggregate your finances and track your spending and savings.
You can pay upfront for software. Choose an online program that's free, but supported by sponsored ads and offers you'll see when you log in (and the service may sell your data). Or you can pay a monthly fee for a site with no outside ads or offers. Check out this recent list of budgeting tools at the blog Get Rich Slowly.
7. Failing to exercise.
How can this hurt your finances? Daily physical activity lowers the risk of a multitude of ailments, from heart disease to diabetes to certain kinds of cancer, which are obviously expensive to treat, even for people who have health insurance.
A Harvard study found medical bills are behind 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies, and more than 75 percent of bankrupt families had health insurance at the onset of the illness. Meanwhile, a regular work-out might get you a raise. Studies have found exercise can improve your performance at work by boosting cognitive skills and productivity, and reducing stress and absenteeism.
For information on Financial Management or other topics, please contact your EAP coordinator or visit the work life NYBalance web site. There is a free book from Suze Orman as well as a CD for creating a budget and managing your personal finances.
The Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights Act goes into full effect in February. Ahead of that deadline, companies are changing the terms of customer agreements. For example, the new law prohibits raising the interest rate on existing balances unless a customer pays more than 60 days late. To skirt that provision, firms are notifying customers that their cards are now "variable rate." (Translation: We can jack up your rate whenever we please.)
So watch those benign notices, and be ready to call and demand a fixed-rate card or take your business elsewhere. Amid these tactics, a new bill calls for moving up the deadline on the credit card law to Dec. 1.
2. Using a debit card without writing down the transactions in your account register.
Debit cards are expected to account for 60 percent of transactions this year, but debit-card users tend to lose track of their money: Swiping plastic triggers 44 percent of overdraft fees, while paper checks account for just 27 percent.
A new report finds 50 million Americans overdrew their accounts at least once in a 12-month period, and 27 million incurred five or more overdraft fees. At an average of $34 a pop, that's a lot of beans -- literally. By one account, Americans spend about the same amount on overdraft fees as they do on fresh vegetables.
Why write down debit spending? Because swiping a card doesn't feel the same as laying out cash. The discipline of recording the transaction may reduce mindless spending and makes money easier to track. Simplify your money trail by using online bill pay for all your regular monthly bills, rather than having money withdrawn from your account by outside companies. Then take 30 seconds a day to log on to your account, add the pending transactions in bill pay to the outstanding checks and debits listed in your register that haven't cleared yet. Subtract from the current balance. If the result is nearing zero, add money to the account. Voila -- no overdrafts, no fees.
3. Ignoring new bank charges.
You may have noticed banks are a bit desperate these days to make a buck. One of the more recent innovations is dinging customers who make electronic transfers to an external account.
Example: In the last year, Wachovia started charging customers $3 per transfer to an outside bank. Let's say you automatically stash $100 a week into a savings account at an online bank offering 1.8 percent interest (the current top rate). Smart move. Except Wachovia will now ding you for 3 percent of that weekly deposit. Annual cost? $156.
Meanwhile, Wachovia doesn't offer any savings accounts that compete with a 1.8 percent rate (except Way to Save, which severely restricts the amount you can deposit). Solution: Find a local bank or credit union with no transfer fees, so you're free to access higher returns.
4. Investing time in the wrong things.
Maybe you're someone who will drive 20 minutes to a store on your lunch hour to get $5 off a $20 sweater. Or you'll spend 45 minutes on the phone protesting a $3 error on the cable bill. But when you start a new job, you procrastinate for two years before joining the 401(k) plan or leave your contribution languishing in a money-market account.
Make a weekly to-do list of your financial decisions (savings and spending) and then prioritize them in terms of bang-for-the-buck over time. When you do the math, you'll see why paying off credit cards in full and contributing to a retirement plan that offers a match should be at the top of the list.
5. Spending with no goals to guide you.
One definition of insanity, attributed to Albert Einstein, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Yet that's how some people approach their finances. They earn and spend and earn and spend, and wonder why they aren't making any progress.
Break the mindless cycle by figuring out what you value most, whether it's world travel, returning to school to change careers, home ownership, a peaceful retirement or a debt-free college education for the kids. Then set specific goals, with real time frames, and track your advancement on a monthly basis. Make this a daily discipline by putting a list of those goals in your face -- the fridge, your desk at work, your wallet.
6. Failing to track spending.
You can't succeed at No. 5 if you don't know precisely where your money is going. When I first started working, I carried a pencil and paper around and wrote everything down. Today, there are numerous desktop software applications and Web sites that will aggregate your finances and track your spending and savings.
You can pay upfront for software. Choose an online program that's free, but supported by sponsored ads and offers you'll see when you log in (and the service may sell your data). Or you can pay a monthly fee for a site with no outside ads or offers. Check out this recent list of budgeting tools at the blog Get Rich Slowly.
7. Failing to exercise.
How can this hurt your finances? Daily physical activity lowers the risk of a multitude of ailments, from heart disease to diabetes to certain kinds of cancer, which are obviously expensive to treat, even for people who have health insurance.
A Harvard study found medical bills are behind 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies, and more than 75 percent of bankrupt families had health insurance at the onset of the illness. Meanwhile, a regular work-out might get you a raise. Studies have found exercise can improve your performance at work by boosting cognitive skills and productivity, and reducing stress and absenteeism.
For information on Financial Management or other topics, please contact your EAP coordinator or visit the work life NYBalance web site. There is a free book from Suze Orman as well as a CD for creating a budget and managing your personal finances.
Intro to Aqua Aerobics for Seniors
Friday, October 30th, 5:00-6:00pm
Watkins Glen High School Community Pool
There is no fee for this class.
Watkins Glen High School Community Pool
There is no fee for this class.
Experience the benefits of aqua aerobics in this one-hour, fun, non-competitive program! Aqua aerobics tones and strengthens while the natural buoyancy of water reduces weight-bearing stress allowing greater ease of movement and less strain on bones, joints and muscles.
This class is designed as a one-session introduction to aqua aerobics and is suitable for both men and women.
A series will be scheduled if there is enough interest.
To register, please call the Schuyler County Office for the Aging at (607) 535-7108. Water shoes are encouraged.
Friday, October 9, 2009
2-1-1 Helpline
In addition to the health services directories I recently posted, there is the 2-1-1 Helpline. 2-1-1 Helpline, a member of the 2-1-1 Finger Lakes Collaborative, provides comprehensive information and referral to the services and support you need in Steuben, Chemung, Allegany, Schuyler, and Yates Counties.
Dial 2-1-1 or 1-800-346-2211 to speak with a call specialist. Toll Free. Confidential.
In an emergency, dial 9-1-1.
Dial 2-1-1 or 1-800-346-2211 to speak with a call specialist. Toll Free. Confidential.
In an emergency, dial 9-1-1.
Health Services Directory - Yates County
I recently posted a health directory for Schuyler County. A comment was left showing interest in such a directory for Yates County. I was able to find out that the ProAction website www.proactioninc.com links to the NY Connects site which offers a comprehensive directory right online. See here for a list of resources.
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