Office of the President, Lee C. Bollinger

Columbia Community Service Campaign

November 8, 2010

Dear fellow member of the Columbia community:

For years, the Columbia Community Service (CCS) campaign has helped improve the quality of life beyond our campus and has expressed the core value of social responsibility essential to our identity as Columbia University in the City of New York.  Today, the support provided by CCS to our Upper Manhattan community is more significant than ever.  Several local community-based organizations have been forced to close their doors because of financial shortfalls, and many others are making do with shrunken budgets, while the number of people relying upon these programs and partnerships continues to grow.

Please join us on Tuesday, November 9, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., when we will kick off this year’s Columbia Community Service (CCS) campaign with an open house and lunch in the Low Library Rotunda.  By stopping by, you can learn more about the Community Service Campaign, have your questions answered by board members and the staff of CCS, and meet the people and organizations making a difference every day in our Upper Manhattan community.

The many organizations you support through CCS offer health care, educational, and legal services to local individuals and families.  They also provide an extraordinary breadth of services that advance the cultural life, physical fitness, and emotional well-being of community members--from afterschool programs and elder care to public school art programs and the beautification of local parks.

Last year, more than 1,400 faculty and staff members of Columbia University, Barnard College, and Teachers College donated $300,000 to this campaign, allowing CCS to meet a longstanding funding goal and to provide grants to more than 50 organizations.  We are proud of this level of participation and the fact that 100 percent of all donations go directly to our community partners.  But, given the breadth and depth of the needs we know exist, we must strive to do more.  Please visit http://communityservice.columbia.edu/ to learn more about the agencies it serves and to donate to CCS.

As chair of the Columbia Community Service campaign, and on behalf of those who benefit from your generosity, I want to thank everyone who has contributed in the past, and urge you to attend the open house and continue supporting this year’s campaign.

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger