Five Fall Benefits Worth Supporting in the Capital Region

This fall, a night out in the Capital Region can take you from Rocky Horror at Universal Preservation Hall to a masquerade at Common Roots. There are also invitations to celebrate twenty years of compassionate care, help expand a historic house’s educational reach and dress up for a pet-food pantry’s Fairytail Jubilee.

Choose the evening that sounds like you. Bring friends or colleagues, meet people who care about the same things and get to know an organization you might want to support again. These five benefits offer plenty to celebrate, along with a closer look at work happening across mental-health recovery, education, end-of-life care, animal welfare and the arts.

In fundraising, the evening itself is only part of the opportunity. A guest can become a regular donor. Colleagues can discover a cause they want their business to support. A conversation can lead to a useful introduction. Those relationships take care and follow-through, but an event gives people a place to begin.

For anyone who loves a good party and believes in giving back, here are five reasons to make plans.

RISE: Rocky Horror for a new beginning

RISE Housing and Support Services is bringing costumes, popcorn and prop bags to Universal Preservation Hall for its October 23 Rocky Horror Picture Show benefit. There is a costume contest, too. RISE connects the film’s spirit of acceptance to its work with people who have been made to feel like outsiders.

The evening will help fund Homebase Clubhouse, which is preparing to welcome members in January 2027. Adults living with mental-health issues will work alongside staff to run the program, choosing activities that match their interests. Plans include food service, education, employment support and creative work. Membership does not require a referral and is open regar
Imagedless of income, insurance coverage or housing status.

Members will have a meaningful role in a place that depends on their participation. In a September announcement published by the Saratoga County Chamber, RISE’s Sybil Newell said, “Homebase is built on the belief that every person has strengths to contribute and goals worth pursuing.” The benefit offers a lively way to help that new community take shape.

Go or give: Friday, October 23, Universal Preservation Hall, Saratoga Springs. General-admission doors open at 7:45 p.m.; tickets are $43.13 including the displayed fee. The 6 p.m. VIP reception is $125, with optional additional fee coverage. Donate to RISE.

Ten Broeck Mansion: Raise the Roof for education

The Albany County Historical Association’s Raise the Roof IV gala brings together dinner, wine and cheese tasting, music and a silent auction in support of a planned education center at Ten Broeck Mansion.

The woman whose name the center will carry deserves an introduction. Rosanna Vosburgh, a paid manager of the Olcott household, helped found the Female Lundy Society in 1833 to support Black children’s education and abolition. She also established a trust supporting African American women. Her story, told in the museum’s Through These Doors exhibit, gives visitors a fuller understanding of the people connected to the house.

The proposed center would provide accessible exhibits, classroom space for free family programs and a working greenhouse for historic plant varieties. Executive director Kathryn Kosto explains the need on the project’s website: “As our programming and visitation have expanded, we need space to welcome all.” For guests who care about history and education, the gala is an opportunity to support a project designed to welcome more people into both.

Go or give: Thursday, November 5, 5:30–9 p.m., Wolferts Roost Country Club, 120 Van Rensselaer Boulevard, Albany. Tickets are $125, or $95 for guests under 45, plus fees. The organizer requests reservations by October 30 at 4 p.m. Support the education-center campaign.

Joan Nicole Prince Home: Celebrating twenty years of care

The Joan Nicole Prince Home in Scotia will celebrate twenty years of service at its November gala. The evening supports a home that welcomes two residents at a time and provides end-of-life care without charging them.

Local hospice services work alongside round-the-clock personal care from trained staff and volunteers. That care includes helping someone eat, keeping the house comfortable and offering emotional support to residents and their loved ones. It requires time, patience and people willing to help with the everyday needs of a household.

The volunteer program offers several ways to contribute. Resident-care volunteers receive orientation and supervised training; others cook, shop for groceries, garden or help maintain the house. The home says it relies on donations, grants and community support, without Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement or government funding. Attending the anniversary celebration is one way to help sustain that care and get to know the community behind it.

Go or give: Saturday, November 7, 6–10 p.m., Iron & Ale at Town of Colonie Golf Course, 418 Consaul Road. Tickets are $60 per person, with appetizers, music and one raffle ticket; cash bar. RSVP by October 23; walk-ins are welcome. Donate to the home.

No Empty Bowls: A fairytale evening for pet lovers

The Fairytail Jubilee invites animal lovers to an evening of fantasy costumes, dinner and dancing in support of No Empty Bowls, a Granville-based pet-food pantry serving Washington and Warren counties.

The organization grew from an experience its founders had never forgotten. Its founding story recounts Matt and JoAnn Reardon’s financial strain after leaving military life in 1994. Unable to afford dog food while feeding their young family, they arranged for their dog to stay with Matt’s parents.

Years later, their kitten-rescue work brought repeated encounters with people surrendering pets because of financial hardship. In 2024, they founded No Empty Bowls to help prevent those separations. Donated supplies are stored and packed at the family home, then distributed at scheduled pickup locations in Granville and Fort Edward. The pantry offers both emergency help and longer-term assistance. As its FAQ states, “Our aid is always free.”

The need is straightforward, and so is one way to help: the organization says a $15 monthly gift can buy a family a bag of pet food. The Jubilee brings supporters together around that shared purpose of keeping pets fed and at home.

Go or give: Saturday, November 14, 6–11 p.m., the Queensbury Hotel’s Adirondack Ballroom, Glens Falls. Tickets are advertised at $90 plus fees, for ages 21 and older; sales end November 5, with no door sales. Fairytale costume or cocktail attire. Donate to No Empty Bowls.

Albany Center Gallery: An invitation to the Mystery Masquerade

Albany Center Gallery’s Mystery Masquerade promises dinner, entertainment and an evening celebrating the region’s creative community. It supports the gallery’s broader work promoting local and regional artists through exhibitions, programs and public art.

To understand some of that work, look at Art.Work.Space, the gallery’s free monthly workshops for teens. On September 12, artist Nasir Villegas taught storyboarding fundamentals and helped participants create their own drawn stories. In August, Helen Martin, Roxanne Storms and Molly Suwara helped participants make two movable murals entirely from recycled materials.

Those opportunities bring young people together with working artists, materials and time to develop an idea. The gallery’s LOOK youth program identifies artist stipends and supplies among the costs of making that possible. For people and businesses who value the Capital Region’s arts community, the masquerade is a chance to celebrate it while supporting the work that helps it grow.

Go or give: Saturday, November 21, 6–10 p.m., Common Roots Brewing Albany Outpost, 19 Quackenbush Square; ages 21 and older. Published admission is $100, or $125 with a raffle ticket; prices rise October 23. Sales end November 18, with no door sales. Donate to Albany Center Gallery.

Make an evening of it

A benefit can be a welcoming place to meet an organization for the first time. Invite friends, bring colleagues or choose a cause you have been meaning to learn more about. Ask what the organization hopes to accomplish next and where help is needed. If you are considering a larger gift or business sponsorship, that conversation is a good place to begin.

If the dates do not work, each organization offers a way to give directly. There is room to participate at different levels, and a good evening can be the beginning of a much longer connection. Pick a cause that matters to you and enjoy the company of people helping it succeed.

Event details and published prices were checked October 13, 2026. Confirm availability, fees and current prices with each organizer before booking.