A student at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry is holding a fund-raising event for the Westcott Community Center Kids’ Club tonight to help alleviate consistent budget decreases for the after-school program.

Laura DiCarlo, a senior environmental biology major, volunteers at the WCC as part of her environmental professionals course at SUNY-ESF. For her final class project, she has organized a basket raffle fundraising event tonight at 5:30 p.m. at the center to help raise money.

WCC is an after school program for city children that allows time for homework and educational activities, such as learning place settings for the dinner table, how to operate a radio show, create digital photography, edit video footage, learn computers and Web page design.

Andre Hernandez, Kids’ Club coordinator of six years, said the center is currently operating on less than $18,000 and stretches the money as far as it can.

‘We don’t cut corners when it comes to quality programs,’ he said. ‘This is a worthwhile program.’

Due to budget constraints, Hernandez said the center does not have many paid employees and relies heavily on the volunteers.

WCC is funded through the community development block grant that the federal government gives to the city of Syracuse.

Commissioner of the Department of Community Development Fernando Ortiz said it is highly competitive for agencies to acquire a piece of this grant.

‘There is so much more need than there is funding available,’ Ortiz said.

Ortiz said the advisory committee had $7 million this year to divvy up among the various city agencies this year. They have seen about a $1 million decrease over the past three years and are preparing for a 30 percent decrease for next year, which he says would be dismal for the city.

Ortiz said this decrease is representative of federal budget reductions due the current economic state of the nation.

The criteria used to determine how much money each agency will receive from the grant include whether the agency fulfills a community need, its ability to deliver the services and its ability to comply with a host of regulations.

‘Westcott is a beacon of hope for the needy youth that participate,’ Ortiz said. ‘It’s heartbreaking for us to not be able to provide the level of funding they need.’

Hernandez said the center has 52 students enrolled throughout the year and currently has 33 actively participating. He also said every year families are put on a waiting list to get into the center.

‘Our program should be the model,’ said Hernandez.

Both DiCarlo and Hernandez said what makes the center unique is that it sets aside a specific time for the children to do their homework.

‘We cater to a lot of kids with single families,’ Hernandez said. ‘Now when they go home, they’re not doing homework and their time can be spent together.’

DiCarlo said she works at the center with about 30 other students, including those with work study jobs and others volunteering for class or through the SU Literacy Corps. She said what they do at the center is a great thing and the students do benefit from the center.

‘A lot of these kids wouldn’t be where they are today without the program,’ DiCarlo said.

Jessica Fox, a junior environmental policy major, also volunteers at the center for a service learning class.

‘I was a little skeptical about it because of the time, but it turned out to be a great experience,’ Fox said.

Elizabeth Occhino, assistant director for the Center for Public and Community Service, said she deals with over 30 service learning courses each semester between SUNY-ESF and Syracuse University.

‘The purpose of these courses is to get students connected to the community,’ Occhino said. ‘Here at Syracuse, this is also their community.’

She also said, while the program had grown in the four years she has worked with the center, it is possible to see a push for more service learning course under the leadership of Chancellor Nancy Cantor, due to her desire to connect SU more with downtown.

‘It shows you a different perspective than what you are learning in class,’ Occhino said. ‘(Students) are learning about something tangible.’

Benette Whitmore, instructor of the writing for environmental professionals course, said service learning courses are beneficial to college students because they are working on something that actually happens. She said the service learning course entails 20 mandatory hours of community service, but the students in the class cater their writing assignments around their experience with projects such as lesson plans, recruitment information and grant proposals.

‘It gives students an opportunity to experience a real-life setting while doing really important work for an agency,’ she said.

Whitmore also said her students are doing hands-on work to make the connection between their campus and the community.

‘I think a lot of colleges live in isolation,’ Whitmore said. ‘This is one way of bridging that.’

Published on April 27, 2005 at 12:00 pm