DUTCHESS OUTREACH NAMES OWEN T. CLARKE, JR. DIRECTOR EMERITUS

January 4, 2021

October 30, 2020                   

Poughkeepsie, NY – The Board of Directors of Dutchess Outreach has elected Owen T. Clarke Director Emeritus.  Mr. Clarke, who is a financial consultant and a former bank trust officer, served multiple terms as a board member between 1987 and 2014, with two stints as Chairman of the Board of Directors and one as Treasurer.  During his tenure, he secured a number of valuable bequests for Dutchess Outreach and also established four endowment funds which today provide funds to support direct assistance to people, Lunch Box operations, and the annual coat drive.
“Since retiring from the Board, Owen has given us his professional financial management and investment skills as our volunteer investment advisor,” said Executive Director Brian Riddell. “Owen also continues to drive donors to invest in Dutchess Outreach and he and his wife Linda Bartles Clarke have always been and continue to be generous supporters.”
“Owen has been involved in helping Dutchess Outreach reach its mission for many years. We are delighted to recognize him for his considerable contributions to the advancement of the organization,” Chairman of the Board Ann St. Germain said.  Previously, he received the organization’s highest honor, the Mary Keeley Award, which is given to an individual or group not only for their extraordinary support but for reflecting the spirit of Dutchess Outreach founder Mary Keely, whose philosophy was caring first for people.
A tireless community advocate, Mr. Clarke has served on the boards of numerous not-for-profit organizations, including the Dutchess Community College Foundation, St. Francis Hospital (now Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital) and its Healthcare Foundation, Benedictine Hospital Foundation, the Community Foundation, and Vassar-Warner Home Foundation.  He and Mrs. Clarke are long-time Staatsburg residents.
Dutchess Outreach is a Poughkeepsie-based nonprofit that provides a variety of food and emergency assistance services to thousands of people in need in Dutchess County. Programs include lunch and dinner service at the Lunch Box, a food pantry, a mobile fresh market, a farm stand with free produce, a children’s clothes closet and a coat drive, as well as advocacy and referral, and emergency grants for prescriptions and to prevent utility shut-off and eviction.