

“We’re hoping the support will come from the community so we can continue to do the work that we do.” This year’s festival is critical for us,” Flanagan said. “All of that has really depleted our cash reserves that we had from festivals past. While ONC is happy to help people in need, building materials are not cheap, especially because of supply chain issues and inflation. “We had three requests last week for ramps.” “The publicity we received for the desk initiative really raised the profile of Operation Northern Comfort,” Flanagan said. Media coverage of the desk project boosted awareness of Operation Northern Comfort’s services. Volunteers have built more than 1,200 desks for Syracuse-area students, and they have been building bookshelves to match. “It shone a spotlight on how kids didn’t have at-home learning spaces,” Flanagan said. ONC focused more of its attention on smaller projects such as building ramps, fixing railings and landings, installing grab bars and building desks for kids who had to learn remotely in the first leg of the pandemic. COVID forced the organization to shelve its service trips to North Carolina, Louisiana and other places hit by hurricanes. Operation Northern Comfort is no stranger to pivoting. And then a week later they lifted the mandate so the other festivals didn’t have to ,” she said. “Last year we had masks and we had social distancing and we had hand sanitizer pump bottles everywhere. As for COVID protocols, Flanagan is optimistic but prepared.
