Students go back 'Into the Streets' for the annual community service day

By Annie Litvak '02

This past Saturday, Sept. 29, hundreds of Cornell students took part in the 9th annual Into the Streets day of community service in the Ithaca community. For almost a decade, Into the Streets has been giving students the opportunity to acquaint themselves with service organizations in the Ithaca area and with the value of public service.

The Ithaca-based program, sponsored by the Cornell Public Service Center, is part of the national Into the Streets effort, which is active on more than 120 college campuses.

At the Ithaca Youth Bureau, from left, Alice Green, acting director of the agency, works on making decorations with Into the Streets volunteer Chantal Spencer '04 and DeWitt Middle School student Jalisa Lovett, 11. Charles Harrington/University Photography

Participating students from Cornell began their day with breakfast at Goldwin Smith Hall and then proceeded to Uris Hall auditorium for motivational speeches in support of their service efforts. Ithaca Common Council member Ed Hershey told the students: "The ties between Ithaca and Cornell are extraordinary. We value your presence here in Ithaca, we thank you for your involvement, and we hope that long after you leave, you'll still be life-long Ithacans."

Jeffrey Haugaard, a Cornell professor of human development, spoke about the role of volunteer service in bringing people together, as exemplified by the response to the recent tragedy of the World Trade Center attack.

"There is no time when I feel more pride in being a member of the Cornell community than when I see a group of folks like you doing something like this," Haugaard said.

At noon, the students, organized into groups with team leaders, left for their community work sites. The 23 participating agencies being served -- which ranged from organizations such as the Sciencenter and Lakeside Nursing Home to the Louis Gosset Jr. Residential Center and the Salvation Army -- received help in areas such as gardening, housework, painting, trash removal, carpentry and administrative support.

Armando Gutierrez, a senior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, was recruited for the program through the Latino Living Center, which also has a long tradition of community service, on and off campus. "It feels so good to give some of your time to something that is worth it and so valued by others," said Gutierrez, commenting on his first experience with Into the Streets, which involved spending the day working at 4H Acres for Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Ashley Coles, a freshman in atmospheric sciences, also was a novice to the program and to community service in the Ithaca area. Along with her neighbors from the second floor of Balch Hall, Coles worked at the Paleontological Research Institution preparing artifacts for public viewing.

"I really learned a lot about the efforts of the Paleontological Research Institution to educate the public about the amazing discoveries they've been involved in," said Coles. Energized by her experience, she said she would recommend Into the Streets to anyone in the Cornell student community who is looking to meet new and interesting people and extend a helping hand to agencies in need.

That kind of enthusiasm is music to the ears of Sarah Jensen, the director of this year's Into the Streets effort. A two-year veteran of the program, Jensen is a junior majoring in psychology. She has spent over a month with fellow students on the Into the Streets executive board preparing for this day, setting up and assigning volunteers to certain agencies, promoting the event and getting donations from dozens of Ithaca businesses for breakfast and lunch for the hundreds of volunteers.

The other members of the Into the Streets board are: Farah Meghji '04, Frolich Lim '04, Kerri Novoshielski '03, Rachel Ruggirello '03, Brian Kim '02, Miranda Pugh '04, Leah Strugatz '04 and Aaron Tracy '02.

"I decided to be on the executive board for Into the Streets because I have a profound commitment to community service," said Jensen.

"The most valuable aspect of my experience has been knowing that I helped organize a campuswide effort to get students off the hill and down into the community to do what we can to help," Jensen concluded.