This section was last modified on Friday, February 9, 1996.
The Open Reading Frame is an open forum to bring up issues. This section was written by Annie Fortunato. All comments should be directed to the e-mail form.

Giving Back to the Community

atg...Most of the GSAS students are paid from a motley collection of federal and private training grants while we study here at Columbia University. In addition, many of us got through our undergraduate careers with grants and/or loans from a similar collection of sources. Yet very few of us seem to feel a need or a responsibility to give back to the community for all that it has done for us.

Perhaps this is a simple thing to fix. As graduate students, we are all busy folk with many lab hours to put in, classes to attend, and eventually, hopefully, theses to write. Also, we do not have the money to spare to give financially. But there is a lot we can do. Perhaps all we need is a small push in the right direction to convince ourselves of our community's need for our help. So I am pushing. I directly challenge each and every one of us to take up a cause. The following report, also available on the Web through the GSO homepage is just a short list of community volunteer groups in our area. There are many more which I haven't mentioned here and volunteer work can be as simple as helping an elderly person carry his/her groceries home from Sloan's one night to a real time commitment working at a soup kitchen each week. Most of the groups listed below would be grateful for just an hour or two a week. Try to find some time each week, to do something for your community. The reward may be more than you can imagine.

  1. St. Rosa of Lima Church (510 W165th Street) - operates a soup kitchen every weekday, except holidays, from 10AM to 10:30 AM. Volunteers are needed to help package and give out food. Call 568-0091 for information.

  2. The Community League of W159th Street, Inc.(500 W159th Street) - distributes surplus prepared food to community residents. If you have leftover food from a party or catered event, please call 795-4779 during business hours to arrange for a drop-off. Volunteers are also needed to walk 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders with their homework after school. Call Dorothy McGowan at 795-4779.

  3. Manhattan Bible Church Food Program (204th Street and 9th Avenue) - operates a soup kitchen M-F 4:30PM to 6:30PM and on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month between 2 and 4 PM. Volunteers are needed to help prepare and serve food, clean tables, and assemble pantry packages. Call Jules Jones at 567-2276.

  4. Adopt a Street Tree - The NYC Street Tree Consortium offers a street tree pruning and maintanance course and technical advice. Call 830-7992 for information

I would appreciate suggestions to be added to this list, which will be constantly updated on the Web. Please send any suggestions to Annie Fortunato. ...tga

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