For the second time in two years, the Upstate New York Empowerment Fund is distributing close to a quarter of a million dollars to nearly 100 regional organizations whose ticket sales to the Oneida Nation’s Turning Stone Resort Championship is helping to fund their charitable missions.

At a celebration luncheon today attended by 220 charity representatives and dignitaries, Ray Halbritter, Empowerment Fund chair and Oneida Nation Representative and CEO , announced that 99 organizations from eight counties had earned $228,885 this year from their ticket sales efforts. Checks for those earnings were then distributed to all attending charity representatives at the end of the lunch.

Last year, the Empowerment Fund, together with the Oneida Nation, gave back $241,804, the amount charities earned for selling tickets the first year of the Championship. In two years, almost half a million dollars ($470,689) has been raised for regional charitable groups through the PGA TOUR event. The Oneida Nation give-back program returns 100% of the face value of each ticket sold by organizations back into the charity’s pocketbook.

This year, the scope and reach of the program widened, since the 99 participating charities derived from eight Upstate New York counties: Cayuga, Cortland, Herkimer, Madison, Monroe, Oneida, Onondaga and Oswego.

Among the highlights of this year’s sales efforts:

A total of 59 organizations earned $1,000 and above by participating in ticket sales.

- The top three groups together earned $73,640, almost one-third of 2008’s total earnings.

- Ten groups all earned more $5,000 and above for their work this year.

- Fourteen more groups earned between $2,000 and $4,635.

- The top-place finisher, Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of Central New York, Inc., was able to improve ticket sales efforts in 2008 by about 60% over 2007.

- The third place group, Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Club, more than doubled their first-year efforts by teaming with the Chittenango Rotary Club to spearhead sales.

- Friends of the ARC in Oneida County posted $9,845 in ticket sales in 2008, nearly doubling its earnings of $5,210 from 2007.

- Two organizations new to the charity ticket sales program in 2008, First Tee of Syracuse and the Everest Foundation, were able to earn $7,200 and $7,325 respectively.

Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of Central New York Inc., $40,315;

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central New York, $22,070;

Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum (teamed with Chittenango Rotary) (Madison County), $11,255;

Friends of the ARC (Oneida County), $9,845;

Everest Foundation (Syracuse), $7,325;

First Tee of Syracuse, $7,200;

St. Lucy’s Catholic Church, Syracuse, $ 6,210;

Kids Oneida (Oneida County), $5,250;

KARE Foundation, (Onondga County), $5,040

St. Louis Gonzaga Church (Oneida County), $5,040

Beth Baldwin, of Camillus;

J. Patrick Barrett, of Manlius;

Jim Boeheim, of Fayetteville;

Juli Boeheim, of Fayetteville;

Maurice Bordell, of Chittenango;

Charlie Constantino, of New Hartford;

Patrick Costello, of Whitesboro;

Christopher Destito, of Rome;

RoAnn Destito, of Rome;

Michael J. Falcone, of Syracuse;

William Fitzpatrick, of Tully;

Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani, Jr. (USN-Ret.), a native of Canastota;

Maureen Green, of Manlius;

Darlene Kerr, of Syracuse;

John Kinsella, of Fayetteville;

Joanne (Joanie) Mahoney, of Syracuse;

John F.X. Mannion, of Syracuse;

Dr. Cornelius B. Murphy, of Syracuse;

Nicholas Pirro, of Syracuse;

Greg Robinson, of Syracuse;

Dr. James E. Sartori, of Syracuse;

Kenneth Shaw, of Skaneateles;

David R. Smith, M.D., of Syacuse.

Dr. Melvin T. Stith