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Contact:  Anne Canty					FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE




Columbia Community Service Marks 50 Years
 With Record $212,000 in Contributions


	Columbia University faculty members and staff contributed a record
 $212,000 dollars this year to community-based programs through Columbia 
Community Service--which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary--and a 
similar campaign on the Washington Heights campus.  CCS is a voluntary 
community service effort which collects and disburses grants to local groups, 
such as Harlem Hospital's renowned injury-prevention programs for young 
people and the Broadway Community Inc. Work Readiness training program for 
recovering addicts and homeless people.		
	Close to 90 community-based groups in Harlem, Morningside Heights, 
Washington Heights and Inwood will benefit from donations made this year by 
Columbia employees.   All of the money raised by CCS goes to provide direct 
services or to purchase essential equipment for agencies that serve neighborhood 
residents.  No donations can be used for salaries or administrative expenses for 
CCS or the agencies receiving grants.
	On Monday, November 11th, Columbia will mark the 50th anniversary of 
CCS with a reception in the rotunda of Low Memorial Library.  Guest speakers 
will be Congressman Charles B. Rangel and Manhattan Borough President Ruth 
Messinger.
	Columbia Community Service was founded as the Columbia Committee for 
Community Service in 1946, out of the spirit of generosity and mutual assistance 
that lead Columbians to give to diverse refugee efforts during World War II.  "The 
experience of the Columbia University Committee for War Relief, which made an 
outstanding contribution in the name of the University to all types of war work, 
has lead to the formation of Columbia Committee for Community Service," said
Acting President Frank Diehl Fackenthal 50 years ago. 
	"CCS is one of the important ways that Columbia manifests its commitment 
to New York City, and to our surrounding community," said President George 
Rupp.  "Today, the need experienced by small community-based organizations is 
particularly great.  So I have been extremely pleased by the growth of CCS  in the 
past couple of years, particularly with the addition of Barnard College and 
Teachers College under the presidencies of Judith Schapiro and Arthur Levine.  
The addition of more people and increased  contributions only strengthens the 
positive impact of the CCS campaign."
	"For 50 years, Columbia Community Service, has been an important 
presence in the Morningside Heights and Harlem communities," said Rosalind S. 
Miller, President of Columbia Community Service and Retired Associate 
Professor.  "Given recent legislation and further possible cutbacks, social 
agencies and hospitals depend increasingly on voluntary donations from 
non-governmental sources to provide services to the homeless, the ill, children 
and the elderly.  I encourage all Columbians to maintain and strengthen our 50 
year tradition."
	Columbia Community Service is administered by an entirely volunteer,    
14-member board, which disburses grants ranging in size from $500 to $10,000.  
Seemingly modest, these grants have a tremendous impact on neighborhood 
agencies.
	According to Moira Ojeda, Associate Pastor of Broadway Presbyterian 
Church and Director of Broadway Community Inc., continued support from CCS 
has played an important role in the development and growth of their program.  
Broadway Community Inc. grew out of the soup kitchen operated by Broadway 
Presbyterian since the early 80's.  Staffers at the soup kitchen and members of 
Broadway Presbyterian began to look for ways to address the root problems that 
led people to become regular visitors to the soup kitchen.  In response to this 
search, Broadway Community initiated substance abuse counseling and the Work 
Readiness Program, created to help people make the transition to employment.
	CCS funds are used to provide stipends for the Work Readiness Program.
 According to Ojeda, Broadway Community has found that "even modest jobs are 
a bridge to help people stay clean and move on to full-time work or education."  
	In part, as a result of Work Readiness, Ojeda says, the rate of substance 
abuse among Broadway Community participants has declined significantly. CCS 
also funds projects for children and seniors, including the following:
---  Harlem Hosptial Horizon Art Studio, which uses art as a medium to help 
children heal serious physical or psychological wounds;
--- Urban Youth Bike Core, which operates a shop where children and
 adolescents learn bike safety and repair as part of Harlem Hospital's Injury 
Prevention Program;
--- Morningside Heights Retirement and Health Services, which provides support 
services, such as escorts for shopping and medical appointments, social work 
services, and social activities for elderly residents of Morningside Gardens;
--- CAVA (Columbia Area Volunteer Ambulance), which provides volunteer 
ambulance services to the community surrounding Columbia;
--- St. Luke's Hospital Social Work fund, which covers the cost of prescriptions
 and home health care workers for uninsured patients.


(Note to Editors:  A complete list of neighborhood grant recipients is available.) 

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