different ways we assist The WNY community.
Conor’s Christmas!
In December of 2021, The Conor J. Long Foundation launched “Conor’s Christmas” (formally known as small business Christmas). This program was designed to provide gifts to recipients in our community who have gone the extra mile this past year. Through the help of the local community, we collected over 200 gifts from Main Street Ice Cream. Our foundation also spent $9,000 on gifts to provide to local families. The week before Christmas, our foundation went out around WNY with Santa and his helpers to deliver gifts to our recipients!
December, 2021
12 Days of Small Businesses!
In December of 2021, The Conor J. Long Foundation launched this new initiative targeting local, small businesses who have assisted our foundation in some capacity. This initiative includes 12 businesses that receive a sit-down interview from a CJL representative to discuss their business and their relationship with our foundation. All interviews are then posted on our social media pages!
December, 2021
Youth Yoga! (2021)
In November of 2021, The Conor J. Long Foundation was able to get Youth Yoga back in session at Boston Valley Elementary School! After having to move the program outdoors in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The CJL Foundation provided students at Boston Valley with a program in the school gym before the school day starts. This program was created to promote mindfulness and kindness to each other!
November, 2021
The HSA Bulldog Dash in Celebration of Conor Long! (2021)
In October of 2021, The Conor J. Long Foundation sponsored and assisted with the annual Bulldog Dash in Celebration of Conor Long. This event was created and founded by Conor when he as a student at Hamburg High School. The Bulldog Dash uses the funds it raises to provide students in the Health Science Academy with “hands-on” learning experiences in local healthcare facilities. A portion of the proceeds also goes to ConnectLife of Western New York.
October, 2021
Annual Spring Cleanup! (2021)
On a weekend in May of 2021, The Conor J. Long Foundation conducted our annual Spring cleanup. The Spring cleanup program was created to assist those in our community who are full-time care takers, elderly, and/or disabled with some cleaning around their property as the weather begins to break! In 2021, our foundation had over 200 volunteers assist us with providing cleanups to over 40 homes around the local community!
May, 2021
The CJL Foundation presents Mercy Hospital with a “Calming Room” for all hospital doctors, nurses, & staff!
In May of 2021, The Conor J. Long Foundation presented Mercy Hospital of South Buffalo with a room designed to promote mindfulness & mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot stress and burnout among frontline workers. The calming room was designed and built by our foundation to provide a location in the hospital for frontline workers to relax and unwind before, during, or after their shift!
May, 2021
The CJL Foundation teams up with FeedMore WNY!
Board members and volunteers from The Conor J. Long Foundation helped out our friends over at FeedMore of WNY. Volunteers and board members from our foundation assisted with organizing and packing food for members of the Western New York community!
February, 2021
Small Business Christmas!
The 2020 holiday season was a year like no other due to COVID-19. The Conor J. Long Foundation got creative though and managed to find a unique way to support local businesses while giving back to families in need. The Conor J. Long Foundation worked with local business to encourage people to “shop local” and then donate those purchases to families in need for the Christmas season. Our foundation spent $5,000 with local businesses to help provide gifts for those in need this holiday season around the Hamburg area. When it came time to delivering these gifts to families around the area, we managed to call a jolly old friend of ours from the North Pole to help assist us!
December, 2020
Youth Yoga In The Park!
Our foundation provided a program to promote mindfulness for children in the Hamburg and Western New York community. Once a week during the month of October, we would meet at a local park in Hamburg to encourage students to decompress and relieve some stress from their busy day!
October, 2020
Saturday Morning Pilates with Britt!
Our foundation is excited to partner with Pilates Instructor Brittany Williams to provide a program for all ages that practices mindfulness. Over the fall of 2020, this program was constructed to relax the body and mind while lowering stress levels through pilates!
October, 2020
Elderwood PenPal Program!
In Spring of 2020, The CJL Foundation initiated a new PenPal Program with Elderwood Assisted Living to provide a communication system for our friends at their Hamburg location. This program allowed people to write letters to residents at Elderwood to show that they were not alone during the COVID-19 pandemic!
June, 2021
Mental Health Mondays!
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, people experienced a lot of stress and anxiety with so much unknown in the world. Our foundation began a program called “Mental Health Mondays” which was designed to address a diverse range of health concerns from local Medical experts around the Western New York community. This program gave people an outlet to receive tips on how to address these health concerns either for themselves or for friends and family.
June, 2020
Our 2020 Scholarship Winners!
Every year The Conor J. Long Foundation provides scholarships for students in the Hamburg School District. In 2020, we were unable to present our scholarship winners in the usual fashion due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we had to get creative when it came to presenting these scholarships. That's when The Conor J. Long Foundation CEO, Brian Long & Vice President, Tyler Ahearn went on a surprise Zoom call to let our recipients know they won one of our 2020 scholarships!
June, 2020
Jill McGarry Teams Up With The CJL Foundation!
During the COVID-19 pandemic, masks were extremely difficult to find. That’s when Jillian McGarry, a Hamburg Graduate with Conor, reached out to our foundation and said she was going to start making protective masks for our local frontline workers! Jillian was able to make a line of safe, stylish, and effective masks for Western New York healthcare providers to wear during the pandemic!
May, 2020
Meals For Healthcare Heroes!
When COVID-19 hit the Western New York community, The Conor J. Long Foundation sprung into action! Our Foundation was proud to announce “Meals for Healthcare Heroes”. This program raised $15,000 within 30 days to provide meals for local doctors, nurses, EMT’s, and nursing home workers. Our foundation was also able to help the local restaurant industry by having these restaurants provide the meals to our “Healthcare Heroes”!
April, 2020
The CJL Foundation Wheelchair Donation!
The Conor J. Long Foundation was proud to provide a beautiful young girl the gift of a running wheelchair. Conor truly loved many things about life, one of which was running. After Conor graduated from Hamburg, he helped coach the track team at Hamburg High School and planned to run cross country at St. Bonaventure University. Running brought Conor a great sense of peace, happiness, and satisfaction to his life. We hope this gift will provide the same to this wonderful family!
March, 2020
Wednesday Morning Yoga!
The Conor J. Long Foundation hosted yoga every Wednesday morning for students K-5 in the Hamburg School District to help promote a healthy lifestyle along with how to cope with stress everyday! This program included a time for the students to dance and get some of their energy out before they started their school day!
March, 2020
The CJL Christmas Caroling!
The Conor J. Long Foundation had some of our youngest volunteers spreading Christmas cheer to elderly and disabled members of the Boston, New York community! We always encourage everyone to spread joy, happiness, and carry out acts of kindness, but especially during the holiday season!
December, 2019
The CJL Spring Cleanup!
The Conor J. Long Foundation Spring Cleanup is one of our Staple events. Every Spring, our foundation goes around Western New York to help elderly individuals clean around the exterior of their home as the weather gets warmer! This event requires around 100 volunteers every year and we couldn’t do it without each of our volunteers!
May, 2019