Operation Southern Comfort

Generally, OSC trips are funded by traveler contributions. Not only do our volunteers give up a week of their lives to help others, they also pay a fee to cover their transportation expenses. As our work changed from mucking out to rebuilding, we began to incur substantial expenses for building materials. To cover these costs we began to raise additional funds within the Central New York community.

Our first fund-raiser was the Mardi Gras event, held at Barbagallo’s Restaurant in East Syracuse in November, 2007. Members of the Chalmette High School Chorus sang and performed at the event. The 2nd Mardi Gras was held at the Museum of Science & Technology (MOST), in Armory Square, Syracuse in November 2008.

April, 2008 saw our 1st Crawfish Festival, held in Hanover Square in Syracuse. Members of the Chalmette K of C came and oversaw the cooking of the crawfish. They repeated the efforts in April 2009 at the 2nd festival , which was held at the Inner Harbor. The four fund-raisers have garnered over $100,000 to support our efforts. Almost all of this money was used to purchase building materials needed for different projects, and helped to fund the two houses we built from the ground up.

In addition, OSC has benefited from the generous support of many concerned individuals and community organizations. An initial grant of $40,000 came from Catholic Charities USA through the Syracuse Diocese to support activities for the balance of 2006 – 3 trips in April, July and October. Syracuse Catholic Charities has been a strong supporter ever since, and has provided advice and contributions of funds on a regular basis. OSC’s major contributors clearly understand the value of our efforts for people in need and the meaningful experience we offer students. We receive substantial support from a variety of individuals, groups and organizations in Central New York and elsewhere.