Uncommon Goods Uncommon Goods Press Packet Page 3
CRAFT EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND (CERF)
Artisans and their works are a key part of UncommonGoods' mission to celebrate individuality and
creativity. Through Better to Give, we are supporting CERF, a non-profi t organization that helps
craftspeople throughout the United States sustain craftsmaking as a livelihood by providing immediate
support to professional craftspeople suffering career-threatening emergencies such as natural disasters,
diseases and other crises.
CERF was founded in 1985, when Carol Sedestrom Ross, then president of American Craft Enterprises,
ceramicist Marilyn Dintenfass, and glassblower Josh Simpson decided they wanted to tap into the
inherent generosity that they had observed within the craft community. It is common practice at
craft fairs for exhibitors to "pass the hat" for fellow craftspeople who were dealing with emergency
situations. CERF was founded in an effort to formalize and build upon this simple grassroots gesture.
Since its founding, CERF has helped hundreds of craftspeople from across the country.
COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT, INC. (CDI)
As a New York-based company, we also donate to a smaller, local non-profi t organization
Comprehensive Development, Inc., which supports underserved New York City public high school
students. CDI works in partnership with Manhattan Comprehensive Night and Day High School
(MCNDHS) in New York City. CDI's mission is to help the MCNDHS student population graduate
through a variety of programs including tutoring, mentoring, legal and medical advice, job placement,
and homelessness prevention.
Most MCNDHS students have already dropped out of high school at least once. By choice, they
are returning to school as older students, still struggling to create a life. As such, CDI's approach is
passionately personal. Students are guided from the start with lots of individual attention, and often
develop deep bonds with CDI counselors and volunteer tutors. These students are motivated,
but have real adult needs. CDI responds in kind by easing life burdens. And because students feel
supported, they can then focus on the business of learning.
Among other services, CDI runs the largest school-based tutoring site in New York with 150 volunteers
tutor over 240 students in core academic subjects, ESL and SAT prep. UncommonGoods CEO David
Bolotsky has served as a volunteer tutor at MCNDHS since 1990 and UncommonGoods employs
students from MCNDHS.
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