by Mel Rubenstein

Over the years one of my sources of seeking people to be featured in this column has been fellow Dewitt Rotarians. This column is an example of that because when I asked Darnell Hayes, he immediately recommended Ed Kelley. Hayes is eastern district vice president for the YMCA of CNY. He said, “One that has been very instrumental for us at the Y would be Ed Kelley. Ed is a local guy who has been volunteering for the Y for decades. Ed has continued to propel us forward as a true volunteer.”

Kelly is a Syracuse native, completed his undergraduate studies at St. Lawrence University and received his JD/MS in accounting at Syracuse University.

Kelley then worked for Bond, Schoeneck & King from 1981 – 2017, and became a partner in 1988.

In addition to volunteering at the YMCA, Kelly has served on many boards in the area, such as St. Joseph’s College of Nursing, Cazenovia College, Syracuse Stage, and Hospice of CNY. He is currently an advisory board member of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University. This organization advances the civic, economic, and social participation of persons with disabilities. In addition to Syracuse, it has offices in Atlanta, New York City, Lexington, and Los Angeles.

“As a child I used to go to the Downtown Y on Saturday mornings and each summer I would attend Camp Tousey, the Y’s residential camp located in Redwood, NY, for one two-week session,” Kelley said. “In 1970 I applied to be a counselor in training at Camp Tousey. That was the beginning of my working at Camp Tousey for eight summers during high school and college as a counselor, water ski instructor, lifeguard, and unit leader.”

Soon after starting at the Bond law firm Kelley was contacted by Chuck Mitchell, one of the leaders of the Y’s Camping Branch and a union representative of a local school district. Mitchell knew Kelley from Camp Tousey and told him that he had a lot of favorable experiences in labor negotiations with Bond attorneys. He wanted him to join the volunteer board that oversaw the Y’s camping programs and when possible, help with Y legal issues from time to time.

In 1986 Kelley was asked to join the Y’s board of directors and served on the board until December 2017. He was the president of the board for three years.

“During that time I lead a search committee that hired Hal Welsh at a time when the Y was struggling financially,” Kelley said. “As Hal began to turn around the Y’s operations, I became part of a small volunteer group that began working on raising money and building a Y facility in the eastern suburbs. This project took over 10 years as we looked for potential sites, developed building plans, construction cost estimates, and raised money. Our small group, led by Eddie Green, met weekly for several years to develop our plans and track our fundraising efforts. Eventually, after raising several million dollars we decided to move forward and purchase the former movie theatre at the site of the former Fayetteville Mall.”

The new Y opened in May of 2004, and was an immediate success. In less than six months it had twice the number of members than were projected in a membership marketing study. The largest membership groups were families and seniors – all new to the Y and showing how the new Y would serve the community. Kelley’s greatest joy was to sit in the lobby of the new Y and see the volume and variety of members come into the building throughout the day: “It showed the impact of our new Y,” he said.

“In July of last year, I was asked to act as the interim CEO of the CNY Y while the board of directors searched for a new permanent CEO,” Kelley said. “I agreed to do it as an unpaid volunteer. With the closing of the pools due to the pandemic I had time to help and knew that the Y’s staff faced big changes in guiding the Y during uncertain times. I completed my stint as the Interim CEO in early February, gladly turning that responsibility over to Bertram Lawson II, our new permanent CEO.”

For this and many other reasons, Kelley was awarded the CNY Business Journals Volunteer of the Year.

Kelley’s story of volunteering and helping the community was not over. The following story is in his own words.

“Lwala, Kenya is the home of three children my wife, Susan, and I brought to the US to live with us and get their education. Milton and Fred were classmates of our oldest daughter, Alison, at Dartmouth. They actually received scholarships to attend Dartmouth with a goal of becoming doctors and bring their knowledge of medicine to Lwala. Alison brought Milton and Fred to our home on vacations, which was when we learned their story and their ability to achieve their goals.

After the death of the boys’ parents from AIDS, Alison approached Susan and me about hosting Milton and Fred’s sister, Florence, as an exchange student for a year where she could attend FM. That did not work out because it was discovered that she was six weeks too old to be an exchange student at FM.

But, knowing the ultimate goal of Flo was to become a nurse, I called Marianne Markowitz, the Dean of St. Joseph’s College of Nursing. After briefing Markowitz about Florence’s background, it was agreed to take a chance and admit her to the college. Flo worked exceptionally hard and thrived at the college.

Towards the end of Flo’s second year, we raised the idea of bringing her little brother, Solomon, to live with us and attend school. Solomon was effectively an orphan, then being raised by relatives in Lwala. Solomon came when he was 13 and attended MPH starting in the seventh grade.

After Solomon graduated from MPH, Susan traveled to Lwala with Milton and Fred to see the medical clinic that they had funded and built there. It was there she met a cousin of Milton and Fred, Tobias Okong’o, who was pursuing a scholarship to attend a boarding school in the US.

When Susan returned from Lwala we talked about Toby and agreed to host another student. I began talking with CBA about whether Toby could attend the school. Eventually, Brother Joe agreed. Toby arrived from Lwala the night before school started, and the next morning he started in the 10th grade at CBA. Toby had a wonderful experience at CBA with teachers that worked tirelessly to help him prepare for college. Upon graduation Toby was awarded a scholarship from St. Lawrence University, where he will graduate this spring.”

To recommend someone with a stellar record of volunteering to be featured in this column contact Mel Rubenstein: [email protected] or call 315-682-7162.

Ed Kelley