Students and alumni collaborate to serve their communities
By Susan S. Lang
Side by side, more than 350 students and alumni, many with their spouses and children, in 20 U.S. cities tackled such community service projects as stocking food banks, working with children at schools, cleaning up zoos and volunteering with retirement communities for Cornell Cares Day Jan. 7.
The Cornell Public Service Center (PSC) piloted the event in 2001 in New York and Boston. The PSC works with Cornell regional alumni clubs to find agencies at which alumni may volunteer and connects them with student volunteers who will be in their hometowns during winter break.
This year the Cornell Club of Washington, D.C., organized volunteers to work at the Arlington Food Assistance Center; Martha's Table, which helps at-risk youth and families through education programs, food and clothing donations; Loaves and Fishes, providing meals to the homeless; and the Lost Dog and Cat Foundation, which helps with adoptions.
The Cornell Club of New York City organized volunteers for the Ronald McDonald House, the Yorkville Community School and the Central Park Conservancy. The Cornell University Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Alumni Association organized an event in New York City at Sylvia's Place, an emergency night shelter for homeless LGBT youth. Cornell Clubs in Austin, Texas, and Orange County and northern California hosted many volunteer activities with food banks.
Most Cornell Cares Day events take place during the first weekend in January but others are hosted throughout the year. This year the Cornell Club of Los Angeles hosted a Cornell Cares Day Sept. 11, 2011, to celebrate the Public Service Center's 20th anniversary, at which 20 alumni volunteers helped to serve dinner at the Midnight Mission.
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