New CURE chapter aims to get Peekskill’s emissions cut by 100 percent in 16 years

CURE100 founders Jan Melillo, center, and John Sullivan help someone compost their leftover food at the Peekskill Coffee House last Saturday.

By Regina Clarkin

March 21, 2024

Last Saturday, at the Peekskill Coffee House, volunteers from the newest chapter of CURE100 (Communities United to Reduce Emissions 100%) were spreading awareness about their mission while collecting food scraps.

They’ll be at Peekskill Coffeehouse again this Saturday from 12 to 2 p.m.

A tub of composted food. This Saturday at the Coffee House the group will be joined by Anthony Carbone of CRP, the composting facility on Roa Hook Road in Cortlandt.

To launch the formation of their new chapter of CURE100, the group is also hosting Climate Smart BINGO on Sunday, April 14 at from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Division Street Grill, 26 N. Division Street.

The goal of CURE100 is to reduce carbon by 100 percent by 2040 by pursuing important environmental goals including reducing carbon emissions in our city by five percent each year, up to 100 percent by 2040, support citywide environmental initiatives, work with local municipalities and environmental organizations to build communities that prioritize sustainability. And, in addition, make Peekskill a cleaner, healthier, and more resilient and just community.

The Peekskill chapter (Peekskill100) will hold monthly meetings the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m beginning on April 23 on Zoom for updates, discussions, and more.

Visit the group’s website at peekskill100.cure

Members of the chapter’s leadership team are Ingrid Wittmann, John Sullivan, Jan Melillo, Tina Volz-Bongar, and Michael Bongar.

Co-sponsors of the April 14 Bingo event are Peekskill Coffee House, Division Street Grill, Red Door Baking, and CRP Sanitation.

About the Contributor

Regina Clarkin, Editor and Publisher

When the Peekskill Herald weekly newspaper ceased publishing in August 2000 it was the first time in the history of the city that there wasn’t a local newspaper. The award-winning weekly was often referred to as the ‘glue’ of the community. Founded on January 9, 1986 by Regina Clarkin, Kathy Daley and Rich Zahradnik with a $7,000 credit card line, the paper filled the void created when the daily Evening Star was sold to Gannett and moved out of town. Founding publisher Regina Clarkin continued to live in the Peekskill Cortlandt area and turned her attention to other life endeavors. Through the ensuing 19 years, Clarkin was frequently stopped in town and asked when she would start up the Herald again. In January 2019, Clarkin decided it was less labor intensive to deliver a weekly blog than a print newspaper so she began posting one story a week about life in Peekskill. After a successful crowd funding campaign in 2020, the Herald was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in July of 2021. Peekskill Herald is a digital relative of the former print edition, featuring many of the favorite aspects of the beloved Peekskill Herald such as old pictures, personality profiles and well written stories about newsworthy events. Regina Clarkin is the editor and publisher of the site. Photo by Joe Squillante