Print this Page

Navigation

Content

SUNY Delhi's Center for Community Service Awarded $50,000 From O'Connor Foundation

DELHI, NY … The O’Connor Foundation has awarded SUNY Delhi $50,000 in matching grants for the college’s O’Connor Center for Community Service. The funds will be awarded over a two-year period for 2007 and 2008.

“We are very excited about the new grant,” said Martha E. Vink, O’Connor Center coordinator. “It sends a clear message that the O’Connor Foundation supports our operation and that they are impressed with our results.” According to Vink, Delhi students completed over 8,000 hours in community service last year alone with a total of 500 students participating. This is a 25 percent increase over the Center’s volunteer hours in 2004.

The O’Connor Center sponsors major initiatives such as a fundraising effort that raised over $12,000 for Katrina hurricane relief, a campus-wide dance marathon that raised over $1,300 for the new Children’s Hospital being built at Syracuse University, and a “Campus and Community Service Day” that is held each spring semester with an average of 200 Delhi students, faculty and staff volunteering for this single-day event. Students also participate in the local CROP Walk, host the American Red Cross Blood drives, assist with the Heart of the Catskills Humane Society’s annual rummage sale, and participate in Delaware County’s Relay for Life on an annual basis.

The O’Connor Center for Community Service matches individual students, clubs, classes, and faculty and staff volunteers with non-profit agencies and organizations within the greater Delhi community that need a helping hand. The Center serves as a clearinghouse for these community organizations, and facilitates volunteerism by arranging for transportation, orientation and training, and feedback on completed community service projects.

Organizations looking for volunteers to assist with community projects may contact the O’Connor Center for Community Service at (607) 746-4781.

-30-

03L0306/KMM