On Saturday, April 8, over 1,000 volunteers from Columbia's student body, faculty, and staff will unite with members of the surrounding community for the third annual Columbia Community Outreach (CCO), a student-organized event.

Volunteers will clean parks, renovate buildings, repaint school classrooms and work at other projects in Upper Manhattan. The day's events kick off with an opening ceremony at 10:00 a.m. at the steps of Low Library. Dennis Walcott of the New York Urban League will deliver the keynote address.

This year marks the first year of IVY CORPS (Community OutReach ProgramS), inspired by Columbia Community Outreach's annual community service day. While CCO volunteers serve in the Morningside Heights, Harlem and Washington Heights communities, other Ivy League institutions will be staging their own service initiatives in their respective communities on April 8th.

In each of the past two years, CCO has rallied together over 1,000 volunteers. President George Rupp, other Columbia administrators and professors have volunteered side-by-side with students from campus groups such as the Korean Students Association, the Black Student Organization, the Coalition of Latino Organizations, the Columbia Student Councils, fraternities and sororities, and Community Impact, the umbrella organization for Columbia service groups. Community members or groups from Morningside Heights and Harlem interested in joining the volunteer effort can register on-line at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/outreach/.

This year participants will volunteer at over 30 sites, including Riverside Park, Bellevue Hospital Center, SHOUT for Children, the Broadway Presbyterian Church, Partnership for Parks, Cathedral Community Cares (a subsidiary of St. John the Divine), Cherry Tree Association, Columbia Greenhouse Nursery School, Community League of West 159th St. Inc., Housing Conservation Coordinators and SPROUT. In addition to providing the opportunity for individuals to perform service in the community, CCO hopes to achieve the following goals: to unite Columbia's campus in a cooperative effort; to promote awareness for service programs and initiatives in the hope that students will continue their commitment to service throughout the year; and to raise funds for Community Impact, Columbia's umbrella organization for community service groups, and the Double Discovery Center, Columbia's not-for-profit youth service agency for low-income, talented New York City high school students.

Participants will receive a free tee-shirt and food courtesy of Columbia Community Outreach.