SYRACUSE — Operation Northern Comfort kicks off festival season in Syracuse with the return of the Crawfish Festival on May 7.
“We’re back in Clinton Square, which is really exciting,” said Laurel Flanagan, CEO of the Liverpool-based nonprofit, which focuses on building projects for people in need.
Last year’s Crawfish Festival was a takeout-only operation in Syracuse’s Inner Harbor. The return to downtown Syracuse means greater visibility for Operation Northern Comfort’s major fundraiser. Flanagan said the organization is expecting as many as 7,000 attendees.
Flanagan is hoping the weather works in the festival’s favor.
“We’re always the first festival of the season, so it’s a little hit or miss,” she said.
Festivalgoers will be able to feast on seafood, pizza, wine slushies and more from the event’s nearly 20 food trucks and stands. More than 50 crafters and other vendors have signed on as well. Families can enjoy magic shows, face painting and carnival games at the kids’ zone, and the mascot dance-off returns. ONC has also booked musical acts, including a tent for acoustic performers.
As for COVID protocols, Flanagan is optimistic but prepared.
“Last year we had masks and we had social distancing and we had hand sanitizer pump bottles everywhere. And then a week later they lifted the mandate so the other festivals didn’t have to [do all those preparations],” she said. “We can pivot on a dime now. We know how to do it.”
Operation Northern Comfort is no stranger to pivoting. COVID forced the organization to shelve its service trips to North Carolina, Louisiana and other places hit by hurricanes. 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.
“It shone a spotlight on how kids didn’t have at-home learning spaces,” Flanagan said.
Volunteers have built more than 1,200 desks for Syracuse-area students, and they have been building bookshelves to match. Media coverage of the desk project boosted awareness of Operation Northern Comfort’s services.
“The publicity we received for the desk initiative really raised the profile of Operation Northern Comfort,” Flanagan said. “We had three requests last week for ramps.”
While ONC is happy to help people in need, building materials are not cheap, especially because of supply chain issues and inflation.
“All of that has really depleted our cash reserves that we had from festivals past. This year’s festival is critical for us,” Flanagan said. “We’re hoping the support will come from the community so we can continue to do the work that we do.”
In addition to the desks and small home improvement projects, Operation Northern Comfort has built sandboxes and ramps for the puppy play yard at HumaneCNY, built shelving for InterFaith Works’ refugee resettlement warehouse, and worked with other nonprofits such as the Brady Faith Center and Tillie’s Touch.
“We like to partner with other small, grassroots CNY nonprofits that we know have the same mission we do,” Flanagan said.
The 2022 Crawfish Festival takes place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at Clinton Square in Syracuse. For more information about the festival, volunteering opportunities or to donate to Operation Northern Comfort, visit operationnc.org.
