Jamestown Board of Public Utilities employees, sponsors, and St. Susan Center representatives celebrate the conclusion of the “Cents For St. Susan’s” campaign (July 17, 2026)
The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities’ “Cents for St. Susan’s” campaign has raised a record $42,386 to help St. Susan Center.
In 2025, $36,330.22 was raised during a similar period.
The annual fund drive has raised more that $474,000 since 2000 for the local soup kitchen and its guests. Contributions in 2026 included money collected in 50 canisters placed around the community, checks mailed to the utility, and major donors who contributed $500 or more.
BPU employee volunteers donated their lunch breaks to hold a June hot dog sale that raised $1,748 for the drive. Local residents donated redeemable cans and bottles at Don’s Car Wash in the amount of $353.55.
St. Susan Center Executive Director Cherie Rowland said she is amazed by the donations, “This will take care of two staff members. And, I can’t tell you (enough) from the bottom of my heart how amazing it is that the BPU and the sponsors that sponsor this, and then the community that has been working towards us for almost 30 years.”
Rowland also thanked BPU Communications Coordinator Becky Robbins, who has assisted with the campaign for the last 20 years. Robbins was honored in May by the Center with the inaugural Rebecca Robbins Award for her dedication, leadership, and service to the mission of St. Susan Center. She is retiring from the BPU later this year.
Rowland said the Center’s Capital Campaign is still continuing, with the funds needed to put new refrigeration units in nearly to its goal, “We were so blessed to get two grants from DEC (NYS Department of Environmental Conservation) and ESD (Empire State Development) for refrigeration, and then along with Cummins. This has been a two-year project with these three grants that we received. And, we’re very close to start working on purchasing those refrigerators and getting them placed over at the Gateway Center.”
Rowland said another capital project they’re working on raising funds for is to make the center’s kitchen a little bigger and more efficient when it comes to accepting the 2,000 to 3,000 pounds of food that’s donated per week. She said this will include a reconfigure of the kitchen to include more prep islands.
Rowland said those who want to help donate to St. Susan Center’s capital campaign can do so online at https://stsusancenter.org/donate/.
For more information about St. Susan Center, including hours of operations, visit https://stsusancenter.org.
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