**UPDATED** #CYcommMTG: Fab5

And the winners are (drum roll please…):

 

(L-R) Jill Leahy, David Mendler, Sarah Shutt, David Attridge (Vince Wong is not pictured because his team was supporting an event in the South Bronx. He could probably still hear the cheers from East Harlem!)

We’re excited to announce something new to City Year New York! Every quarter, one of our four “zones” is responsible for hosting a Community Meeting; an opportunity for the whole site to come together to share joys and highlights from service. A new addition to our Community Meetings, being announced today, is the FAB 5.

Fab 5 is a corps appreciation initiative led by senior corps. Corps members will nominate fellow corps members who deserve to be recognized for their hard work and commitment to service. Once all the nominations have been collected, the City Year New York community will vote on that quarter’s “Fab 5 Corps Members.”

We will be announcing our first Fab 5 winners today at the East Harlem #CYcommMTG via Twitter and check out the blog on Monday to read about these amazing corps members!

Not So Trivial

Today’s guest blogger is our Individual Giving Manager, Kim Gillman, who helps recruit and manage the City Year New York Associate Board.

The City Year New York Associate Board held its first ever Trivia Night last night at Pour George. The Associate Board is a group of 24 young professionals, who are lending their time and energy to support our mission to keep New York City students in school and on track to high school graduation. The Board engaged over 130 of their friends and colleagues to socialize, compete and learn more about CYNY.

A special thanks to Associate Board members Jason Spitalnick and Matt Cunha, who imagined and executed the event flawlessly. Congratulations to the winning team, “Not So Trivial,” who very generously donated their winnings back to City Year New York.

Below is a quick look at the event “By The Numbers.”

-6 riveting rounds of trivia, wherein the questions were “tough, but gettable,” according to one contestant

-26 teams entered (some notable team names include Qaddafi Ducks, Occupy Sesame Street, and the 1%)

-130 people engaged – 100 of whom are new to CY

-$1,110 collected

-$400 awarded to the first place team which was donated back to city year… after they paid their bar tab

-1 former jeopardy contestant present

-0 trivia questions that I knew the answer to

Thank you everyone who joined us last night and please check back on the blog for other Associate Board events.

To learn more about the Associate Board please email me at KGillman@cityyear.org

Wordless Wednesday: Alcoa Service Day

Today’s guest blogger is our Executive Director, Itai Dinour. In support of Alcoa’s Global Month of Service, Itai joined our corps members and Alcoa volunteers on Monday in the South Bronx and wanted to share what today’s Wordless Wednesday picture means to him.

Alcoa Chairman and CEO, Klaus Kleinfeld, with students from MS 424 and City Year corps members. Photo Credit: Michael Simon

Sometimes a photo just perfectly captures the collective essence of what City Year is all about. This week, straight from our Alcoa Service Day in the South Bronx, is this week’s (almost) Wordless Wednesday photo. Why do I love this photo so much? It captures the unique, contagious energy when you combine:

1. Klaus Kleinfeld, the CEO & Chairman of Alcoa, whose support enables City Year to partner with MS 424 and PS 48.
2. Students from the schools who in their afterschool hours joined us in service. These are many of the same students with which we focus our attendance behavior and course performance work.
3. City Year corps members.
4. An additional investment from Alcoa to the Hunts Point community in the form of a $10,000 donation to help MHANY, the local housing provider, purchase a new playground for youth of the community.

We often quote the African proverb that it takes a village to raise a child. We are proud to partner both with the local Hunts Point community, the dedicated faculty and staff at the schools, community leaders, and to welcome our dear friends from Alcoa to this village.

To follow where Alcoa is heading next for their Worldwide Month of Service, follow them on Twitter and check out their Facebook.

Civic Engagement Spotlight: Alcoa Serves Powerfully in Hunts Point

Today’s guest bloggers are Simone Sampson and Charles Dannett of the City Year New York Civic Engagement (NYCE) Team. They are current service leaders and alumni of the City Year New York corps. The NYCE Team supports our corps members’ work with students in schools by planning and implementing physical service events for corporate and community groups.

It’s October, the leaves are changing, and the weather has started to become more brisk. People are ready to dress up for Halloween and the holiday season is just around the corner. Another exciting aspect of October is Alcoa’s Worldwide Month of Service! It’s an exciting time, where thousands of Alcoa employees give their time to make a difference in communities all over the world. Alcoa, a mining, manufacturing and innovation company, has supported City Year’s mission for 8 years and sponsors two teams, PS 48 and MS 424 in the Hunts Point community of the South Bronx.

In the spirit of Alcoa’s month of service, Alcoa employees joined City Year for an impactful day of volunteerism. Yesterday, Alcoa partnered with City Year and the students from MS 424. Together they provided over 54 hours of service to transform a local park.

Civic Engagement Service Leader, Daniel Cruz and a volunteer build a planter box to protect the new plants and flowers.

The service event took place at the Bedrock Park which is a recreational area and garden that is owned by the Mutual Housing Association of New York (MHANY). MHANY is an organization committed to increasing affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate income families. The organization not only assists families to obtain housing but also works with current residents of their buildings to improve community conditions and increase neighborhood participation.

Bedrock Park was unkempt and housed a deteriorating playground that was deemed too dangerous for children to play on. Alcoa provided the people power necessary to transform the park by constructing planter boxes, tree guards, painting chess boards on community tables, landscaping, and installing two barbeque pits. After their hard work, the park was much improved and ready for use. However, there still remained the issue of the deteriorating playground.

Alcoa Chairman and CEO, Klaus Kleinfeld and some students from MS 424 take a moment from service to chat over a newly painted chess board in the park.

During his closing remarks, Klaus Kleinfeld, Chairman and CEO, Alcoa announced a surprise donation from Alcoa Foundation to MHANY, providing them with the opportunity to purchase a new playground. “Partnering with City Year is a source of great pride for Alcoa, and we are excited to contribute our time and dollars to create a fun and safe place to play for the children of MS 424,” said Klaus Kleinfeld, who presented the $10,000 generous gift to MHANY. Alcoa was able to not only transform a park but also assist MHANY in one of its organizational goals to unite residents and improve a community. The BBQ pit, chess boards and playground will provide a place for residents to join together as a community. The planter boxes provide extra gardening space for the residents of the MHANY housing development.

Senior Corps Member, Jordan Halane, served his first corps year at MS 424. He was able to catch up with a student from the school at this service event.