While charitable donations help keep critically important community resources in operation year-round, you have until Dec. 31 to contribute to your favorite nonprofits and receive a deduction on your 2018 taxes.

Because the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that took effect earlier this year nearly doubled the standard deduction for individuals to $12,000 and for married couples filing jointly to $24,000, many charities are concerned that giving will drop. With the new limits, charitable deductions will only benefit the relatively few Americans who itemize.

The impact won’t be known until Dec. 31, as many people wait until the last minute to give — by one estimate, 30 percent of donations in the U.S. are made in December, and 10 percent in the last 48 hours of the year. The deadline for 2018 is 5 p.m. on Monday if you are mailing a check and midnight if you use a credit card. (There is no deadline to give your time — see Deb Lucke’s cartoon.)

Animals

Animal Rescue Foundation
P.O. Box 1129, Beacon, NY 12508
arfbeacon.org

Dutchess County SPCA
636 Violet Ave., Hyde Park, NY 12538
dcspca.org

Friends of the Beacon Dog Park
beacondogpark.org

Guiding Eyes for the Blind
611 Granite Springs Road, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
guidingeyes.org

This resident of Mid Hudson Animal Aid found a warm spot. (Photo by Alison Rooney)

Mid Hudson Animal Aid (Cat Sanctuary)
54 Simmons Lane, Beacon, NY 12508
gofundme.com/have-a-heart-save-our-shelter

Putnam County SPCA
P.O. Box 850, Brewster, NY 10509
spcaputnam.org

Putnam Humane Society
P.O. Box 297, Carmel, NY 10512
puthumane.org

Putnam Service Dogs
P.O. Box 573, Brewster, NY 10509
putnamservicedogs.org

Arts, Music & Theater

American Center for Folk Music
P.O. Box 782, Beacon, NY 12508
facebook.com/americancenterforfolkmusic
Checks: BeaconArts. Memo: ACFM

Beacon Arts Community Association
P.O. Box 727, Beacon, NY 12508
beaconarts.org

Chapel Restoration
P.O. Box 43, Cold Spring, NY 10516
chapelrestoration.org

A Cold Spring Film Society volunteer prepares for a free summer showing of The Thing. (Photo by Ross Corsair)

Cold Spring Film Society
192 Main St., Cold Spring, NY 10516
coldspringfilm.org

Collaborative Concepts at Saunders Farm
collaborativeconcepts.org

Dia:Beacon
3 Beekman St., Beacon, NY 12508
diaart.org

Downing Film Center
19 Front St., Newburgh, NY 12550
downingfilmcenter.com

Garrison Art Center
23 Garrison’s Landing, Garrison, NY 10524
garrisonartcenter.org

Howland Cultural Center
477 Main St., Beacon, NY 12508
howlandculturalcenter.org

Hudson Valley MOCA
1701 Main St., Peekskill, NY 10566
hudsonvalleymoca.org

A chamber music concert at the Howland Cultural Center (Photo provided)

Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival
143 Main St., Cold Spring, NY 10516
hvshakespeare.org

Manitoga / Russel Wright Design Center
P.O. Box 249, Garrison, NY 10524
visitmanitoga.org

Philipstown Depot Theatre
P.O. Box 221, Garrison, NY 10524
philipstowndepottheatre.org

Education

Beacon Advocates for Music
P.O. Box 727, Beacon, NY 12508
beaconartsandeducation.org
Checks: BeaconArts. Memo: BAM

Beacon Arts & Education Foundation
P.O. Box 727, Beacon, NY 12508
beaconartsandeducation.org
Checks: BeaconArts. Memo: BAEF

Beacon High School PTSO
101 Matteawan Road, Beacon, NY 12508

Garrison students at a PTA picnic (Photo by Erin Wik)

Garrison Children’s Education Fund
P.O. Box 262, Garrison, NY 10524
gcef.net

Garrison School PTA
1100 Route 9D, Garrison, NY 10524
gufspta.org

Glenham Elementary PTO
20 Chase Drive, Fishkill, NY 12524

Haldane Arts Alliance
15 Craigside Dr., Cold Spring, NY 10516
facebook.com/haldanearts
Checks: Fractured Atlas. Memo: HAA

Haldane Blue Devil Booster Club
P.O. Box 356, Cold Spring, NY 10516

Haldane Central School District PTA
15 Craigside Dr., Cold Spring, NY 10516
haldanepta.org

Haldane School Foundation
P.O. Box 364, Cold Spring, NY 10516
haldaneschoolfoundation.org

JV Forrestal Elementary PTSO
125 Liberty St., Beacon, NY 12508
jvfptso.com

Rombout Middle School PTO
84 Matteawan Road, Beacon, NY 12508

Sargent Elementary PTO
29 Education Drive, Beacon, NY 12508
sargentpto.org

South Avenue Elementary PTA
60 South Ave., Beacon, NY 12508
southavenuepta.com

Children & Teens

Boy Scouts of America
Hudson Valley Council
6 Jeanne Drive, Newburgh, NY 12550
hudsonvalleyscouting.org
Memo: Specify Pack/Troop 3001; Troop 3041 (Glenham)

Boy Scouts of America
Westchester-Putnam Council
41 Saw Mill River Road, Hawthorne, NY 10532
wpcbsa.org
Memo: Specify Pack 137/Philipstown, Pack 403/Garrison, Troop 437/Philipstown

Denniston International
256 Main St., Cold Spring, NY 10516
dennistoninternational.org

Friends of Philipstown Recreation
P.O. Box 155, Cold Spring, NY 10516
friendsofphilipstownrecreation.org

Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson
2 Great Oak Lane, Pleasantville, NY 10570
girlscoutshh.org

A participant in a Hudson Valley Seed program (Photo by Ellie Lobovits)

Hudson Valley Seed
P.O. Box 223, Beacon, NY 12508
hudsonvalleyseed.org

Philipstown Little League
P.O. Box 347, Cold Spring, NY 10516

Putnam County Children’s Committee
P.O. Box 187, Carmel, NY 10512
pccchildren.org

Saint Basil Academy
79 Saint Basil Road, Garrison, NY 10524
stbasil.goarch.org

SHRED Foundation
94 Prospect St., Beacon, NY 12508
shredfoundation.org

Community

Beacon Community Lions Club
P.O. Box 83, Beacon, NY 12508

Cold Spring Farmers’ Market
P.O. Box 325, Cold Spring, NY 10516
csfarmmarket.org

Cold Spring Lions Club
P.O. Box 308, Cold Spring, NY 10516
coldspringlions.org

Community Foundation of Dutchess County
80 Washington St., Suite 201, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
communityfoundationshv.org

The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Putnam County sponsored its annual youth forum in April. (Photo provided)

Community Foundation of Putnam County
80 Washington St., Suite 201, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
communityfoundationshv.org

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Dutchess County
2715 Route 44, Suite 1, Millbrook, NY 12545
ccedutchess.org

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Putnam County
1 Geneva Road, Brewster, NY 10509
putnam.cce.cornell.edu

Fareground Community Kitchen
P.O. Box 615, Beacon, NY 12508
fareground.org

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh
125 Washington St., Newburgh, NY 12550
habitatnewburgh.org

Highlands Current Inc.
161 Main St., Cold Spring, NY 10516
highlandscurrent.org

I Am Beacon
P.O. Box 265, Beacon, NY 12508
bit.ly/beacon-give

River Pool at Beacon
P.O. Box 173, Beacon, NY 12508
riverpool.org

A Sargent Elementary student practices her wave while marching in the Spirit of Beacon Day. (Photo by Ross Corsair)

Spirit of Beacon Day
P.O. Box 821, Beacon, NY 12508
spiritofbeacon.org

United Way of Dutchess-Orange Region
75 Market St., Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
uwdor.org

United Way of Westchester and Putnam
336 Central Park Ave., White Plains, NY 10606
uwwp.org

Emergency Services

Beacon Volunteer Ambulance Corps
P.O. Box 54, Beacon, NY 12508

Cold Spring Fire Co. No. 1
154 Main St., Cold Spring, NY 10516

Continental Village Volunteer Fire Department
12 Spy Pond Road, Garrison, NY 10524

Garrison Volunteer Ambulance Corp.
P.O. Box 121, Garrison, NY 10524

Garrison Volunteer Fire Company
1616 Route 9, Garrison, NY 10524

North Highlands Engine Co. No. 1
504 Fishkill Road, Cold Spring, NY 10516

Philipstown Volunteer Ambulance Corps
14 Cedar St., Cold Spring, NY 10516

Historical

Bannerman Castle Trust
P.O. Box 843, Glenham, NY 12527
bannermancastle.org

Volunteers from the Beacon Historical Society placed flags on Memorial Day at Old St. Joachim’s Cemetery. (BHS)

Beacon Historical Society
P.O. Box 89, Beacon, NY 12508
beaconhistorical.org

Boscobel Restoration
1601 Route 9D, Garrison, NY 10524
boscobel.org

Constitution Island Association
P.O. Box 126, Cold Spring, NY 10516
constitutionisland.org

Dutchess County Historical Society
P.O. Box 88, Poughkeepsie, NY 12602
dchsny.org

Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot
P.O. Box 311, Fishkill, NY 12524
fishkillsupplydepot.org

Garrison’s Landing Association
P.O. Box 205, Garrison, NY 10524
garrisonslanding.org

Mount Beacon Incline Railway Restoration Society
P.O. Box 1248, Beacon, NY 12508
inclinerailway.org

Looking north in the the waterfront park at Garrison’s Landing (Photo by Mike Enright)

Putnam History Museum
63 Chestnut St., Cold Spring, NY 10516
putnamhistorymuseum.com

Society for the Preservation of Historical Cemeteries
167 Tanglewylde Road, Lake Peekskill, NY 10537

Hunger

Beacon Community Kitchen
c/o Multi-Services, Inc., P.O. Box 1285, Beacon, NY 12508
Check: Multi-Services. Memo: BCK

Philipstown Food Pantry
10 Academy St., Cold Spring, NY 10516
presbychurchcoldspring.org

St. Andrew’s & St. Luke’s Food Pantry
17 South Ave., Beacon, NY 12508

Libraries

Butterfield Library
10 Morris Ave., Cold Spring, NY 10516
butterfieldlibrary.org

Desmond-Fish Library
P.O. Box 265, Garrison, NY 10524
desmondfishlibrary.org

Howland Public Library
313 Main St., Beacon, NY 12508
beaconlibrary.org

Natural Resources

Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries
199 Main St., Beacon, NY 12508
bire.org

Beacon Sloop Club
P.O. Box 527, Beacon, NY 12508
beaconsloop.org

Common Ground Farm apprentices Alexis O’Brien and Kantu Thole prepare a truckload of lettuce for the Beacon schools. (Photo by Sarah Simon)

Common Ground Farm
P.O. Box 148, Beacon, NY 12508
commongroundfarm.org

Constitution Marsh Audubon Center
P.O. Box 174, Cold Spring, NY 10516
constitutionmarsh.audubon.org

Ecological Citizen’s Project
69 South Mountain Pass, Garrison, NY 10524
ecologicalcitizens.org

Friends of Fahnestock and Hudson Highlands State Parks
P.O. Box 194, Cold Spring, NY 10516

Glynwood Center
P.O. Box 157, Cold Spring, NY 10516
glynwood.org

Hudson Highlands Land Trust
P.O. Box 226, Garrison, NY 10524
hhlt.org

Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
724 Wolcott Ave., Beacon, NY 12508
clearwater.org

Fred Martin, president of the LIttle Stony Point Citizens Association, on the back porch of its new Volunteer Center. (Photo by Michael Turton)

Little Stony Point Citizens Association
P.O. Box 319, Cold Spring, NY 10516
facebook.com/littlestonypoint

Putnam Highlands Audubon Society
P.O. Box 292, Cold Spring, NY 10516
putnamhighlandsaudubon.org

Riverkeeper
20 Secor Road, Ossining, NY 10562
riverkeeper.org

Scenic Hudson
One Civic Center Plaza, Suite 200, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
scenichudson.org

Stonecrop Gardens
81 Stonecrop Lane, Cold Spring, NY 10516
stonecrop.org

Rehabilitation Services

CoveCare Center
1808 Route 6, Carmel, NY 10512
covecarecenter.org

Putnam/Northern Westchester Women’s Resource Center
935 South Lake Blvd., Mahopac, NY 10541
pnwwrc.org

Support Connection
40 Triangle Center, Suite 100, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
supportconnection.org

A member of the Armed Forces works with a horse at the Topfield Equestrian Center. (Photo provided)

Topfield Equestrian Center
P.O. Box 367, Cold Spring, NY 10516
topfieldequestriancenter.com

Veterans

American Legion Post 203
413 Main St., Beacon, NY 12508

American Legion Post 275
275 Cedar St., Cold Spring, NY 10516

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 666
413 Main St., Beacon, NY 12508

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2362
P.O. Box 283, Cold Spring, NY 10516

Behind The Story

Type: News

News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

Articles attributed to "staff" are written by the editor or a senior editor. This is typically because they are brief items based on a single source, such as a press release, or there are multiple contributors, such as a collection of photos.