The 51st Columbia Community Service (CCS) Appeal will begin next month in an effort to raise money to support local community organizations. The Appeal is chaired by Columbia University President George Rupp along with co-chairs Barnard President Judith Shapiro, TC President Arthur Levine, Professor Donald Hood of Columbia's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Columbia's Vice-President for Human Resources Colleen Crooker.

"We are currently asking vice presidents, deans and department chairs to select a volunteer to assist in the campaign," said Larry Dais of Columbia's Office of Public Affairs. "Volunteers make sure colleagues understand what the campaign is all about and can follow up with material."

The 50th Appeal raised more than $220,000 for numerous community organizations such as St. Mary's Soup Kitchen, Harlem YMCA, St. Luke's Hospital Social Work, Harlem School of the Arts, and Citizen Care Committee, among others. The small human service organizations come from a thirty-block radius of the University. The final decisions are based on need, worthiness, and the number of people assisted by each grant. A volunteer board composed of faculty, officers and spouses reviews grant applications at the end of the campaign.

"Every dollar is donated to the community organizations, and the University underwrites the expenses pertaining to the campaign," Dais noted. "We are not concerned with how much is given, but that everyone has an opportunity to give. If every employee gave just five or ten dollars, we could raise over half a million dollars."

The campaign will culminate with a Grant Reception and Raffle Drawing in May, where the recipient organizations will be given their grant checks and raffle prizes will be awarded. Some of the prizes in this year's raffle include round trip airfare to anywhere in the United States, dinner for two at Butler Penthouse, gift certificates from the bookstores, lunch with each of the presidents, a videocassette recorder, and a portable telephone.

Published Tuesday, Apr. 9, 2002