Corps 18 VISTA's

A Library to Sustain a Future
Millie Symns

           

A month into being a VISTA: so much to learn, so much to do. First day on site, it was time to do more training and to learn my role specifically for New York Cares. I got to learn the ins-and-outs about the organization, including the culture of the office, and understanding the complicated systems of communication and data tracking that I was not expecting (Salesforce is definitely a force to be reckoned with!). Although I was unsure about many things, there was still work I needed to get started on in the coming weeks that was passed down to me from the previous VISTA.

            I am one of three VISTAs (there will be four in November) in the School Success Initiative Program at New York Cares. Public elementary and middle schools apply to be in the program to be provided supplemental volunteer programs to go along with their school curriculum or community enrichment. I have three assigned schools to me that are all located in Brooklyn, NY.

            While in the works of gaining an understanding on the neighborhood that I will be working in for the year, my supervisor forwarded an email about an on-going program that was happening in one of my assigned schools. The program is called “Revitalize the School Library at PS 636 K.” This program started because the after-school teacher (staff member for a year from another nonprofit) noticed that the school’s library was very rundown, not in use, and very much outdated. She took it upon herself to get the school library back into functioning order. With the help of the previous VISTA, at the end of VISTA’s term of service, they created a program to happen during the summer and into the beginning of the next school year.

            When I was still doing my on-site training, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the school on that particular project. A group of over 10 volunteers were cleaning bookshelves, dusting off books, and sorting/organizing thousands of books into various categories. It was amazing to see such work and dedication to do something. When I got to meet the after school teacher, she explained to me that she would be doing a Kick-starter campaign to raise $4,500 to buy the supplies such as new books and paint for the walls and bookshelves. When she forwarded me the campaign, I wondered if there was anything that New York Cares could do to help. I forwarded the Kickstarter campaign to our Community Partners Relations department and that started an email chain all the way to Corporate Relations. I ended up getting news that a corporate sponsor of New York Cares wants to help sponsor the project. Due to me using the resources I had available, I was able to get help get the Kickstarter campaign fully-funded! The organization, HealthCor, will be presenting the check to the school (over $3,000) and will have various things dedicated to them in the school’s library because of their generous donation. Without New York Cares to be a connection and partner to the school, they probably would have never been able to achieve their goal in time. Hopefully by next year the school will be able to have a library again.