(Brooklyn, NY) March 28, 2015-Brooklyn Community Services (BCS) has launched ONE Brooklyn Campus a platform to mobilize students through volunteer service, to effect change for Brooklyn residents living in underserved communities. ONE Brooklyn Campus aims to connect area students in a collective effort to make a difference in the lives of the 25% of Brooklynites living in poverty. New York University (NYU) students will help launch ONE Brooklyn Campus with a 10-block street cleanup in East New York, Saturday, March 28, 2015. The cleanup is one of eighteen service projects during Spring into Action, BCS’s signature volunteer initiative. ONE Brooklyn Campus is an initiative of BCS’s ONE Brooklyn Community campaign.
“With over 60,000 students now enrolled in Brooklyn’s growing colleges and universities, we’re seeing more and more students reaching out to connect and learn how they can make an impact in the world, starting right here in Brooklyn,” said Marla Simpson, Executive Director of BCS. “ONE Brooklyn Campus will bring together committed young community advocates, people who are emerging leaders and already passionate about volunteerism, to join with us in building ONE Brooklyn Community.”
Hundreds of students have already made an impact through volunteering in the communities BCS serves. The goal of ONE Brooklyn Campus is to both connect students to the challenge of empowering Brooklyn’s underserved communities, and to help students design their own volunteer service projects, fundraisers and conduct community outreach to accomplish the goals they care about. Students from NYU, Brooklyn College and New York City College of Technology (City Tech) of CUNY, have agreed to participate in ONE Brooklyn Campus, forming student groups that will be trained in community organizing, advocacy, fundraising as well as outreach and project management. BCS is connecting with additional universities and colleges to start-up more ONE Brooklyn Campus student groups to engage their academic communities around the vision of ONE Brooklyn Community.
Volunteers will meet at BCS’s East New York Clubhouse (2897 Atlantic Avenue). Cleanup will run from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Contact Nish Suvarnakar (nsuvarnakar@wearebcs.org) for more information.