NOTICE: Transparency matters to Lake Placid Insider. LPI owner Margaret Dear is a co-founder of 33852 Connect and helped organize Paint the Town Green.
A new Lake Placid nonprofit is working to connect community ideas with the people and resources needed to make them happen. 33852 Connect, Inc. a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, was founded by Ross Robertson and Margaret Dear with help from several local supporters. Its mission is to bring residents, nonprofits, businesses, civic groups, volunteers and public agencies together around projects that benefit the Lake Placid community.
“We saw a need for something that could connect the people who have ideas with the people and resources that can help make them happen,” Robertson said. “In one way or another, we’ve both been doing this kind of work in the community for years. Creating 33852 Connect gives that work a structure and a way to involve more people.”
The organization is not intended to replace groups already serving the area or to operate every project it helps develop. Its role is to connect the pieces. That could mean helping someone find an organization capable of pursuing an idea, bringing groups together around a shared need or connecting a project with volunteers, sponsors, expertise or other resources.
First partnership will Paint the Town Green
33852 Connect and the Town of Lake Placid are co-sponsoring Paint the Town Green, a Homecoming window-decorating contest for downtown businesses. Businesses are invited to decorate their windows in green and white to support Lake Placid High School and its students. The display will carry added meaning this year following the loss of Mrs. Peeples, a beloved teacher and supporter whose Dragon spirit had become part of the Homecoming festivities. Judging will be done by Lake Placid Mayor Colleen Charles.
Homecoming week begins Sept. 28. Judging will take place Thursday, Oct. 1, beginning at 3 p.m., followed by the Homecoming parade Friday, Oct. 2, at 10 a.m. Prizes will be awarded, and every participating business will receive recognition.
Businesses can register at 33852connect.org/paint-the-town-green.
Paint the Town Green provides the first public example of what 33852 Connect was created to do: recognize an opportunity, bring the appropriate partners together and help move an idea into action. For more information, visit www.33852connect.org or call 863-225-2125
