Moment of Movement to raise funds for childcare

On Saturday, Sept. 26, the Ithaca Tompkins International Airport will host “Moment of Movement: Giving Our Youth a Flying Start,” a virtual workout meant to raise funds for childcare resources in the county.

The fundraiser is sponsored by the airport and Ithaca Marriott Downtown on the Commons, with media sponsor Ithaca Voice. It will benefit the United Way of Tompkins County — which supports several other nonprofits in the area including the Child Development Council (CDC) — and the Ithaca Youth Bureau.

The virtual workout will be held on the airport’s tarmac and led by Chantelle Farmer and other trainers from FLX Fitclub in Ithaca from 9 to 10 a.m.

Thirty community leaders will participate in the workout on the tarmac — adhering to social distancing requirements — while community members are encouraged to participate in the livestream workout at home.

The goal of the fundraiser is to raise $100,000 to be donated to the two not-for-profits, which will benefit local families who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent press release.

“The funds that we would receive would support parents’ ability to purchase childcare,” CDC CEO Sue Dale-Hall said. “Most parents of school-aged children are now facing new challenges that they hadn’t had to face before. … If we don’t help them have access to childcare during the day while they’re working, or the nights while they’re working, we won’t be able to return to a more healthy economy and community.”

The United Way of Tompkins County supports program funding for various childcare needs, as well as the CDC’s Emergency Scholarship fund. United Way Executive Director James Brown shared Dale-Hall’s sentiment on the importance of this fundraiser, adding that he’s glad for the chance to further support the CDC, a longstanding funding partner.

“We would like to give more funds to them through our normal investment process, but there are limits to the funds that we have,” Brown said. “So, the ability to be able to access additional funds for their programs is something that we value.”

Airport Manager Mike Hall said the event came about after the airport’s annual Runway 5K — a fundraiser held on the airport’s runway — had to be canceled due to COVID-19.

“We decided to switch to the Moment of Movement and emphasize the fundraising part and do a virtual feed so that we didn’t have a crowd of people together, exercising and breathing on each other,” Hall said. “We kept the location, which is on the ramp at the airport, so that people could feel like it was the airport rather than just some ubiquitous studio someplace.”

Planning for the event started at around the same time gyms and fitness centers were beginning to get guidance from the state on how to safely reopen. Hall and other organizers decided that the outside workout model — with participants 6 feet apart and at their own station at all times — was the best format for the circumstances.

For event sponsors, getting involved was an easy decision, as Cathy Hart, general manager at Ithaca Marriott Downtown, can attest.

“Every meeting I am on lately, we talk about childcare and the lack of childcare resources and the help that people in our workforce need to be able to return to work,” Hart said. “Childcare just is something that was a struggle with my life as a single mom when my kids were younger, and so, when the airport decided they were going to do this, we just jumped on board saying, ‘We want to go in this with you.’”

Farmer at FLX expressed similar support for the fundraiser.

“It has to be so difficult for families to deal with just the stresses of trying to find childcare and manage virtual school and just this whole uncharted territory that we’re in right now,” she said. “So, anything that we can do to help pull people out of that, give the community organizations the resources they need to help people, we’re excited to be a part of that.”

Recipients of the funds also were on board right from the start.

“Laurie Linn from Communique contacted me, and Laurie is a former United Way board member,” Brown said. “She explained it to me, and I was excited. I just said, ‘Yes, sign me up. How can United Way be involved? Is there a way we can be supportive?’ And she said, ‘Yes,’ that was the reason she called.”

Liz Klohmann, director of the Ithaca Youth Bureau, said she was happy to hear that the Youth Bureau would be receiving some much-needed funds to continue programming through the pandemic.

“I got a phone call from Laurie Linn, who said, ‘Hey, we’re thinking of doing this event that would raise money for kids and families in our community. And what do you think?’” Klohmann said. “And I said, ‘That sounds amazing.’ And I know that the Youth Bureau could use the financial support to give kids access to programming. So, we’ve jumped right on board and … we’re very, very excited to be involved in the event.”

While pivoting from the 5K required a lot of creative thinking, Hall said that it wasn’t much of a challenge to plan everything, especially compared to the coordination involved in the Runway 5K.

“Unlike the 5K, where there are a lot of people and you got a security implication, shutting down the runway, bringing people into the secure part of the airport, … for a small group like this, people can be escorted, 3-to-1 ratio into the secure area,” Hall said. “So, it’s very easy.”

Madalene “Maddie” Ulrich, communications manager at Communique Design and Marketing, shared that sentiment.

“Our biggest concern was just how guidelines were changing pretty frequently, but they seem to have stabilized at this point,” she said. “I don’t think there were a lot of challenges. I think I’m more just really proud and happy with how everyone in the community has come together to really support this event and promote this event.”

So far, residents have welcomed the fundraiser, Hall and Ulrich said.

“Everybody is really grateful that we’re doing something safely to support the community and the families in our community,” Ulrich said. “So, I really think there’s going to be an awesome turnout. There’s been a lot of interest in the event, and it’s all been very positive so far.”

Moving forward, sources expressed that efforts like this will need to continue to help the county recover.

“It doesn’t stop here,” Klohmann said. “We will continue to need funds, and I think most of all, families in our community who may have lost jobs or may have had to juggle schedules are in need for more childcare or more activities because of schools not being fully open yet or there being a lot of hybrid schooling and opportunities.”

Hall said the Moment of Movement, if successful, may continue well past the pandemic.

“I’d like to say we would have done this anyway, but I don’t think we would have thought of it, and I don’t think that Maddie and others would have pulled it together the way they did,” Hall said. “So, if it persists beyond now and helps focus on the needs of young people in our community, childcare and the like, those are a couple positive things coming out of a very dark time.”

Those who wish to make a contribution to the fundraiser may choose which not-for-profit to support or may donate to both. For more information about the fundraiser and virtual workout, please visit flyithaca.com/momentofmovement. If you are interested in contributing to the fundraiser, please visit www.uwtc.org/momentofmovement-GIVE or call 607-500-GIVE.