This weekend's assignment: paint fire hydrants, garden and read to the elderly. More than 400 student volunteers will participate in these and other projects in the Ithaca community during the Into the Streets Day, Saturday, Sept. 26, sponsored by the Cornell Public Service Center.
More than 120 college campuses across the country participate in Into the Streets, which was created to introduce students to thoughtful community service and to provide a learning experience that challenges them to volunteer on a regular basis. And for the seventh year in a row at Cornell, the Public Service Center (PSC) and about 27 non-profit community agencies are teaming up for the national program's local effort. Forty-six student team leaders from Cornell will help direct the volunteers' work at the agencies.
The Cornell Into the Streets student board includes: director Suzanne Guziec, a junior; sophomore Fatima Gunja; juniors Stephanie Hsu, Carolina Maharabiz, Eileen Martin-Yeboah, Angela Ronzio and Armando Rosquette; and senior Jenn Ho.
Sarah Brown, assistant director of student programs and external relations for the PSC, said, "Part of what we train the team leaders to do is to show the volunteers where to go to continue giving service after Saturday. People are going to walk away having had a service experience and knowing where they can go back."
The PSC has been recruiting students from fraternities, sororities and other campus groups to get as many people as possible out into the community. All the volunteers will be assigned to teams of 10 to 15 and will travel to sites where organizations like the Cayuga Nature Center, Finger Lakes Land Trust, the Waldorf School of the Finger Lakes and the Ithaca YMCA have requested their help. For four hours, students will work on special projects before returning to campus to discuss the lessons of the day and to evaluate the program.
Last year, junior Salumeh Ramsay mowed lawns at a local nursing home during the Into the Streets service day. Since then she has returned to work at the nursing home, and this year she is participating in Into the Streets as a team leader.
The day will begin with a motivational speech by Ithaca Common Council member Diann Sams in Uris Hall auditorium at 11 a.m. Food will be provided for volunteers by local organizations, and the PSC is negotiating to have TCAT buses provide transportation. The center also has been selling T-shirts to cover costs.
For more information, students and community agencies can contact the Public Service Center at 255-3836.
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