A 501(C)(3) BUILT IN THE 518
Two local guys, one area code, and a community that shows up. 518 Great funds real things for real families, from Glens Falls to Albany to every town in between. It starts with a color run on August 15.
What We Do
We raise it here and we spend it here. No overhead in another state, no committee three time zones away.
Backpacks, supplies, clothes, sneakers, haircuts. Everything a kid needs to start the year even.
600 families last year. Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pies, the whole box. We are not capping it this year.
Groceries, clothes, whatever it is. Most families who need a hand need it on an ordinary Tuesday.
Local businesses have the power to change things when they work together.
Not just Albany. Every town from the Capital Region to the Adirondacks.
Every dollar raised is invested straight back into this area code.
Last Thanksgiving
A gym floor in Queensbury, a rented trailer outside, and an assembly line of neighbors.
In Their Own Words
Chris and Ryan sat down with Mike Nelson on Buying Local to talk about how a Thanksgiving meal drive turned into a nonprofit.
They planned for 100 families. Fifty signed up in the first 45 minutes. By the end they had served more than 600 households, roughly 3,000 people, from Albany to well north of here.
They ran it out of Ryan's gym with a rented tractor trailer parked outside and an assembly line of volunteers inside. Then they went looking for stuffing store by store the night before.
518 Great exists so the next one is not run that way.
Read the full interview →Why 518 Great
You will meet the founders. You already know the towns. You can see where the money went.
Chris and Ryan built their businesses in the 518. This is their home, not their market.
Raised in the 518, spent in the 518. You can trace it.
Local owners are the fastest way to move real money to real families.
No call center. Email a founder and a founder emails back.
Our Story
Chris Mastantuono came up from Long Island twelve years ago to build a business and a life for his family. The 518 showed up for him. 518 Great is what he owes the place back.
Ryan Holderman was born and raised in Glens Falls and runs THE GYM in Queensbury. Together they fed 600 families last Thanksgiving out of his gym floor, with no plan and a rented tractor trailer.
They started 518 Great so the next one has a plan.
Back to School 5K & Color Run · Sat, Aug 15 · Moreau Recreation Park
Register for the Color RunOur Sponsors
Local businesses putting their name on the best school year yet. Want yours here? Email hello@518great.org.