In the past three years, the Upstate New York Empowerment Fund has raised more than $650,000 for regional charities through ticket sales to the Oneida Nation’s Turning Stone Resort Championship.

At a celebration luncheon today attended by 115 charity leaders and dignitaries, Empowerment Fund Chairman and Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter announced that 65 organizations from eight counties earned $181,025 by selling tickets to this year’s PGA TOUR event.  Checks were distributed at the end of the luncheon.

The 65 charities hailed from Cortland, Herkimer, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego and Rensselaer counties.

The Oneida Nation initiative returns 100 percent of the face value of tickets sold to the participating organizations.

Among the highlights of this year’s sales efforts:

• The highest earning fund-raiser for the third year in a row was the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of CNY
• The top five charities collected nearly $90,000 or almost half the total
• Forty-two organizations raised $1,000 or more
• The top ticket sellers were:

Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of CNY, $41,000

Ronald McDonald House Charities of CNY, $20,775

Chittenango Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., $11,150

Eastwood Rotary Foundation, Inc., $9,250

Kids Oneida, Inc., $7,750

Friends of the ARC Foundation, $6,200

KARE Foundation, $5,875

The First Tee of Syracuse, Inc., $5,300

Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, $4,275

Baldwinsville Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., $4,000

Members of the 2009 Upstate New York Empowerment Fund Honorary Host Committee

• 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

• Joanie Mahoney of Syracuse

• John F.X. Mannion of Syracuse

• Cornelius B. Murphy, Ph.D. of Syracuse

• Nicholas Pirro of Syracuse

• James E. Sartori, M.D. of Syracuse

• Kenneth Shaw, Ph.D. of Skaneateles

• David R. Smith, M.D. of Syracuse

• Melvin T. Stith Ph.D. of Syracuse

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