News

UpMobility Foundation partner Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts (MVCA) came out big in the inaugural Mohawk Valley Gives campaign. By the end of the 24-hour campaign, MVCA raised the third highest amount out of more than 150 participating nonprofit organizations. UpMobility Foundation provided a match for the funds MVCA raised during Mohawk Valley Gives. 

MVCA Executive Director Mary Ellen McGillan called Mohawk Valley Gives as well as the UpMobility Foundation match “game changers” for her organization. UpMobility Foundation looks forward to how we can continue to impact our partner organizations through programs like Mohawk Valley Gives.

On September 20, UpMobility Foundation participated in the inaugural Mohawk Valley Gives, a day of giving sponsored by the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties. The campaign, which was designed to encourage financial support for partner nonprofit organizations in the Mohawk Valley, raised over $600,000 for 137 organizations. UpMobility Foundation matched money raised by some of our local nonprofit partners, including Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts and On Point for College. We were pleased to learn that the  Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts raised the third largest amount in the campaign.  

UpMobility Foundation recognizes the incredible work that our nonprofit partner organizations have done and we look forward to being part of an effort to harness the community’s energy for the greatest possible impact.

The Bluegrass, Brews & BBQ Festival was held on September 17 in Little Falls, New York, drawing  a crowd of more than 1,600 people.  UpMobility Foundation is proud to be a supporter of the festival, which included noted bluegrass band Dirty Blanket as the headliner.  Several local craft  breweries and distilleries were represented at the event, including the Rock Valley Brewing Company, the DikinDurt Distillery, and the Erie Canal Distillers of Fort Plain. Performer Fran Piccininni of The Delaney Brothers described the Bluegrass, Brews & BBQ Festival as “Just a tremendous crowd of people with amazing energy…I doubt anyone will forget it anytime soon..”

UpMobility Foundation is committed to lifting up Central New York through community development and tourism. We look forward to the continued evolution of  The Bluegrass, Brews & BBQ Festival and the ways  it will continue to enrich our community. 

UpMobility Foundation is pleased to announce our collaboration with the Little Falls Pop Warner program in helping to provide their participants with new uniforms. The Pop Warner program, which was founded in 1929, provides four levels of tackle football, flag football and spirit squads for boys and girls aged 5 to 13.  It is unique among youth sports programs in that it requires its members to maintain academic standards to participate.

 UpMobility Foundation recognizes the positive impact of programs like Pop Warner on the youth in our community. We are committed to continuing to lift up our youth in Central New York.

Since 1993, the Young Scholars Liberty Partnerships Program has helped thousands of talented students in Utica, New York graduate from high school and attend college. With support from the UpMobility Foundation, the Young Scholars were recently able to launch the Young Scholars Alumni Society, an online platform designed to connect their many alumni. Within two months of its launch, the Young Scholars were able to bring on nearly three quarters of their graduated classes to the platform. 

UpMobility Foundation recognizes the importance that building a network plays in achieving success. We look forward to seeing how the Young Scholars Alumni Society will impact its users. In the words of Asia Rosa, a 2014 alumnus of the Young Scholars program, “This Alumni Society platform is the perfect networking opportunity for all Young Scholars at different stages in our careers to support, reconnect and meet others.”

UpMobility Foundation has partnered with nonprofit organization Water Mission to help restore  safe drinking water to Ukraine, as Russian forces continue to decimate the country’s infrastructure. At this time, more than 6 million people in Ukraine are without safe drinking water, a life-threatening situation that is especially dangerous for children. According to a 2019 UNICEF report, polluted water and unsanitary living conditions kill children more than 20 times more frequently than violence in countries experiencing an extended conflict. Continuing our focus on supporting long-term solutions, UpMobility Foundation has committed to help Water Mission install four reverse osmosis water treatment systems in one of Ukraine’s major cities.

Founded in North Charleston, South Carolina in 2001, Water Mission has served more than 7 million people in 57 countries. Using a comprehensive approach that includes a focus on water, sanitation, and hygiene and is customized for each community they serve, Water Mission has created 2,800 safe water and sanitation solutions. UpMobility Foundation is proud to help Water Mission restore some of Ukraine’s infrastructure. 

LupWay Doh has a passion for helping others. A refugee from Myanmar now living in Utica, New York, Mr. Doh works for On Point for College, an education nonprofit that has helped thousands of first generation  students get into and graduate from college. Mr. Doh and On Point for College were mentioned in a recent article in the New York Times which detailed the  role that refugees have played in revitalizing a once-declining Utica, including renovating run-down houses and starting businesses. UpMobility Foundation is proud to support On Point for College, an organization that empowers first-generation college students, ultimately helping them to give back to their own community.  

As a College Access/Success Advisor at On Point for College, Mr. Doh helps prospective college students, including refugees, navigate the admissions and financial aid processes. Additionally, Mr. Doh checks in regularly with the students once they have started college, helping them find part-time jobs and advising them with  financial aid issues. Although the challenges facing first-generation college students can be daunting, Mr. Doh says, “I love working with people and I love to see them succeeding.”

 When the COVID-19 pandemic made remote learning a necessity, funding from the UpMobility Foundation allowed On Point for College to provide underprivileged students with the technology needed to complete their classes. When Tat Aye, a student at SUNY Poly’s laptop broke the day she was supposed to take an exam, Ms. Aye contacted Mr. Doh, who was able to replace it. The laptop program has also been a lifeline for students who had previously relied on their school’s computer lab or shared a single device with their entire household.  

According to Mr. Doh, refugee students frequently remain in the Utica area  after graduating from college. Many give back to the community through their work as social workers, nurses and leaders in local organizations. UpMobility Foundation looks forward to continuing to see the cascading effects of refugees helping refugees–and the community at large– in Utica.

In May 2022, representatives from UpMobility Foundation participated in a conference sponsored by Focus on the Family in Washington D.C. The multi-day gathering included speeches by leading figures in government as well as remarks by a panel of distinguished journalists. The conference’s theme of honoring and protecting our rights and history as Americans was supplemented with expert-led tours of our nation’s most important landmarks. 

Focus on the Family’s emphasis on the family  as the backbone of society aligns with the values of William Babinec, who was the father of our founder Martin Babinec. Much of the philosophy behind UpMobility Foundation was developed with William in mind, who worked tirelessly to advocate for his community and values. As a longtime supporter of Focus on the Family, we are pleased to become more deeply involved with an organization that champions one of our most important charitable aims–supporting healthy families.

On April 26, UpMobility Foundation’s Andrea Babinec participated in the annual selection committee at Utica University to find the next cohort of Young Scholars. Chosen from leaders in the local community, members of the selection committee are divided into groups and tasked with selecting middle school students who will be part of the Young Scholars program until they graduate from high school. Started in 1993, the Young Scholars Liberty Partnerships Program was designed to motivate diverse and talented students to stay in school and attain a post-secondary education.

UpMobility Foundation was honored to be asked to be a part of the selection of the next cohort of Young Scholars, as one of our key priorities is advancing education in our community and elsewhere. 

UpMobility Foundation's commitment to promoting a free society has led to our support of the Unite America Institute's democracy reform movement. Unite America Institute is a nonprofit organization that seeks to encourage broad-based, nonpartisan civic engagement and political participation. 

Within the scope of the democracy reform movement, the Unite America Institute seeks to increase voter participation and accountability by implementing and expanding nonpartisan primaries, ranked choice voting, and independent redistricting. To achieve these aims, Unite America also plans to work with young people to create long-term sustainable change as well as build a cross-partisan community of individual donors to support  democracy over the long-term. UpMobility Foundation looks forward to continuing our collaboration with United America Institute as they work towards a more functional and representative government.