Student volunteers go Into the Streets

By Jake Palmateer
Staff Writer

May 05, 2008 04:00 am

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Several hundred SUCO students went Into the Streets this weekend to volunteer for community groups.

Into the Streets is an annual day of volunteering coordinated by the Center for Social Responsibility and Community at the State University College at Oneonta.

The idea is to get students off the campus and into the community to help nonprofit groups and others, said center director Linda Drake.

"Certainly the community absolutely loves it," Drake said.

With the day occurring in the spring when nice weather allows for outdoor work, Into the Streets participants often find themselves outside.

"Primarily most of it is cleaning work," Drake said.

Students were scheduled to do outside work at Pathfinder Village in Edmeston, Hanford Mills in East Meredith and The Farmers' Museum in Cooperstown.

Closer to home, students were scheduled to assist the Oneonta

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Family YMCA, Foothills Performing Arts Center, Family Service Association, St. James' Church, Center Street School and the Upper Catskill Community Council of the Arts among others.

Frank Russo, executive director of the YMCA, said the students have been welcome help for several years. But he said it's not just the YMCA that benefits _ it's also good for the students.

"It gives them a chance to interact with the community in a positive manner," Russo said.

Not all the students worked outside. Some, like those who visited the Greater Oneonta Historical Society, worked indoors.

Bob Brzozowski, of the GOHS, said more than a dozen student-volunteers helped clean the basement of the society's home at the corner of Dietz Street and Main Street.

About 500 students were to visit 35 sites, mostly in Otsego County.

"That's a lot of service in one day," Drake said.

The students kicked off the day with a quick breakfast before heading out in matching T-shirts.

"The students get real excited about it," Drake said.

Although Into the Streets represents one large event, Drake said the Center for Social Responsibility and Community helps link up students with volunteer opportunities throughout the academic year.

This is a benefit, especially for nonprofit organizations, she said.

But it also helps the students assimilate into the greater Oneonta community and build up a resume that can include references to volunteer work, Drake said.

It also allows some students to get real-world experience in settings where they might one day find themselves working in a career, Drake said.

"It gives them an opportunity to go out and volunteer in a field in which they might be interested in," Drake said.