Grants

The Binghamton Arts & Athletics Fund helped the Broome County Arts Council extend and enhance the culture of the greater Binghamton community. Below are excerpts from BCAC’s acknowledgment of the BAACF’s grant.

On behalf of the artists and arts organizations in Broome County funded by UCF grants, BCAC thanks you for your gift of $1,000.00 to the Broome County Arts Council’s 2023 United Cultural Fund Campaign. By choosing to donate through the United Cultural Fund, you are ensuring that the arts in Broome County will continue to thrive!

Your generous contribution makes a tremendous difference in the culture of our community. Your gift also helps make possible the services of the Broome County Arts Council, including monthly exhibitions, free community programming, advocacy, seminars, workshops, and members’ services.

With the support of the Binghamton Arts & Athletics Community Fund, Patriot indoor track and field athletes participated in not one, but two national championships on March 10.  The girls’ 4×200 meter relay team travelled to Boston to take part in the New Balance Indoor Nationals on Friday.  Competing on the brand-new track at New Balance World Headquarters, the team of Cormari Wachuku, Khala Gray-Motto, Audrey Dure and Amiah Brissett placed thirty-first out of seventy-nine teams from across the United States in the Rising Stars division with a time of 1 minute 46.99 seconds, their second fastest clocking of the season.  The team was undefeated in Section Four during the 2022-23 season, breaking the school record in the event three times and setting a Section Four record of 1 minute 45.99 seconds in the New York State Championships in New York City on March 4.

Also on March 10, but in Manhattan, Binghamton’s boys took to the track in the Nike Indoor Nationals at the historic Armory Track and Field Center, home of the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.  Running in the Emerging Elite class of the sprint medley relay, the foursome of Jacy Wilson, Kaleb Lawrence, Josiah Sierra and Joseph Chermak placed fourteenth out of thirty teams with a school record of 3 minutes 45.24 seconds.  The team qualified for nationals with their previous school record of 3 minutes 46.47 seconds, set at the Armory on February 17.

The Patriot indoor track and field team and coaches extend their sincere thanks to the BAAF for helping make this a memorable season for our athletes.

The beginning of 2023 signaled the return of an indoor Binghamton Boys lacrosse team, something the program has not had in the past decade. We were able to field a team in large part to the increase in interest in the game of lacrosse over the past two years. Last year we were fortunate enough to have USA Lacrosse and Sankofa host two separate clinics for first time lacrosse players in and around the city of Binghamton. All who attended these clinics received top notch coaching, a USAL membership, and a lacrosse stick.

To keep increasing interest in lacrosse in Binghamton, I have made two trips to Leveling the Playing Field in Baltimore and Philadelphia, to pick up lacrosse sticks, helmets, and athletic wear to be able to make the game more accessible to the student-athletes and youth in Binghamton. However, the cost of lacrosse tournaments and leagues has made it difficult to field teams for tournaments and leagues. We are grateful that The Binghamton Arts & Athletics Community Fund covered the cost of Binghamton’s first indoor boys’ lacrosse team in over a decade!

The adventure started in August of 2022 when the Binghamton High School cheerleading team started their journey to attend Nationals in Orlando, FL.  Many months of preparation and competitions as well as  fundraising paid off; 16 athletes and 2 coaches were on their way to Orlando Feb 8-13, 2023.   The team became the first cheer team in school history to make it to the National High School Cheerleading Championship. These althletes worked so hard to be able to reach the goal of just being able to attend.  They held over 20 fundraisers towards the cost of the trip which was about $1,500 each. 120 teams competed at the Nationals.  While they did not advance, the team still finished strong by earning their highest ever score – 87.2 out of 100.

We are incredibly thankful for the contribution that the Binghamton Arts & Athletics Community Fund provided for the team.   The district could not be prouder of the BHS cheerleading team and Coach Anna-Marie Conley!