Cuba/Community Orgs
County Grant Round Backs Cuba Food Pantry and ACCORD Corporation
The Allegany County Area Foundation awarded a round of emergency grants through its Carter-Windus Family Fund to six food pantries facing rising demand, including $750 for the Cuba Council of Churches Food Pantry and $1,250 for the ACCORD Corporation food pantry in Belmont. ACCORD, formally the Allegany County Community Opportunities and Rural Development Corporation, is the county's federally designated community action agency, providing food, housing, child care and other anti-poverty services; its Director of Community Operations, Belinda Knight, said the funding would help the pantry serve more than 250 families a month. Grant committee chair Leslie Haggstrom cited cuts to benefits and kids being home for the summer as drivers of increased food insecurity. The Carter-Windus fund itself was established by Friendship native V. Perry Carter and his sister in honor of their Allegany County upbringing.
Little Valley/Community Orgs
Former Little Valley School Gym Reopens for Public Fitness Use
The gymnasium in the former Little Valley school building has reopened to the public for fitness activities through a collaboration between the Little Valley Alumni Association, the Cattaraugus-Little Valley Central School District, and a local community group. Alumni association members Brad Lockwood, Ray Johnson and Kevin Andrew helped lead the effort to bring the space back into community use. Organizers say they hope to expand programming and hours at the site over time, giving village residents another local option for exercise and recreation in a building with deep ties to the community's history.
Franklinville/Community Orgs
Ischua Valley Historical Society Opens for 2026 Summer Season
The Ischua Valley Historical Society opened its Miner's Cabin museum on Pine Street in Franklinville for its 2026 summer season, with Sunday hours running from June 3 through August 26 and added Wednesday hours from July 11 through August 29. The volunteer-run nonprofit preserves local history for the Franklinville and Ischua Valley area through its collection of artifacts and archives. The extended summer schedule gives residents and visitors more opportunities to explore the museum during the warmer months before the society returns to a reduced off-season schedule in the fall.
Ellicottville/Community Orgs
Ellicottville Rotary Expands Mental Health Partnership With TICCAT
The Rotary Club of Ellicottville is deepening its partnership with the Trauma Informed Coalition of Cattaraugus County (TICCAT) to expand mental health and trauma-support programming through 2026. Club leaders say the effort grew out of tragic events in the community that highlighted the need for stronger local crisis and addiction-support resources. Building on a 2025 slate that included wellness workshops for the Department of Aging and the launch of the Firekeepers peer-wellness program at Ellicottville Central School, the partnership plans further community mental-health education events and continued support for students and staff. TICCAT itself is a coalition of faith groups, local government, schools, nonprofits, law enforcement, the Seneca Nation and health providers, fiscally managed by Connecting Communities in Action.
Friendship/Community Orgs
Literacy West NY Offers Free Adult Education, Runs Youth Programs in Friendship Schools
Literacy West NY, Inc., a nonprofit that has served rural Western New York since 1986, held a free public workshop at its CORE The Learning Center site in Belmont to showcase its no-cost adult education, GED prep, OSHA safety training, digital literacy and job-search support. Separately from its adult programming, the organization directly partners with Friendship Central School to run Extended School Day enrichment activities, such as theatre, art, dance and STEM, for students in grades 6-12, alongside a School Violence Prevention program offering crisis counseling and support groups for K-12 students. Literacy West also partners with Belfast and Fillmore school districts on similar programming. The group's leaders describe the effort as part of nearly four decades of community-based work across Allegany and Cattaraugus counties.
Belmont/Community Orgs
New Allegany County Development Corporation Launches From Belmont
The Allegany County Industrial Development Agency announced the formation of the Allegany County Local Development Corporation, a new nonprofit headquartered at the Crossroads Commerce & Conference Center in Belmont. The ACLDC will offer low-interest gap financing, generally between $30,000 and $100,000, to complement traditional bank loans for local businesses looking to expand or retain jobs. ACIDA Executive Director Craig Clark and Board Chairman Judith Hopkins framed the corporation as a step toward strengthening the county's business-financing toolkit. The nonprofit operates under New York's Not-for-Profit Corporation Law and is intended to fill financing gaps that conventional lenders often won't cover.