Feature
GIVING BACK
Community fundraising campaign raises college
funds for Long Island City students
BY BILL PARRY
Long Island City residents
and businesses raised nearly
$60,000 that will go towards
neighborhood students’ NYC
Scholarship Accounts for college and
career training.
The non-profit NYC Kids RISE
launched the campaign and as a
result of the community effort, 942
kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade
students from five LIC schools
— PS 76, PS 111, PS 112, Growing
Up Green Charter School and VOICE
Charter School — will each receive
and additional $60 dollars in their
NYC Scholarship Accounts, which are
universal 529 plan college savings
accounts automatically opened for every
student at a participating participating
school starting in kindergarten.
The five schools were selected
based on the economic need of their
student body. Research shows that a
child with a college savings account
of just $1-$500 is three times more
likely to go to college and more than
four times more likely to graduate than
a child without an account.
“When communities come together
for students early on, we can make a
real impact,” NYC Kids RISE Executive
Director Debra-Ellen Glickstein said.
“The Long Island City community has not
only raised money that will benefit local
students, but has also demonstrated
to students and our neighborhood
families that the entire community is
behind them. Through this and other
Community Scholarships across District
30, communities are investing in their
future.”
Among the local businesses that
contributed to the campaign include
Kaufman Astoria Studios, Manducatis
Rustica, Matted LIC Gallery, Boyce
Technologies, Modern Spaces and
Floresta. Community organizations
such as Gantry Parent Association,
Mathis Pfohl Foundation and Jacob
Riis Settlement were among the
contributors.
“As a life-long Long Island City
resident, I am thrilled to see this entire
community come together to support
our kids’ futures,” Queensbridge Houses
Tenant Association President April
Simpson said. “By providing real funding
for our children’s future and raising
expectations that they not only complete
high school, but go on to college, we are
uplifting a whole generation of Long
Island City students.”
Bishop Mitchell Taylor, the Senior
Pastor of Center of Hope International
and co-founder of Urban Upbound
— an organization that is dedicated
42 JANUARY 2020 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
Young students at VOICE Charter School are among the recipients of
a community fundraiser to add to their college savings accounts.
to breaking cycles of poverty in New
York City public housing and other
low-income neighborhoods — was
equally inspired by the NYC Kids RISE
campaign.
“Throughout my life working day-in
and day-out here with the people of
Long Island City, I have been motivated
by the singular desire to provide our
young people with the opportunities and
support to fulfill their potential,” Taylor
said. “All too often, I am confronted
with deeply-rooted disparities in income
and opportunity that limit our residents.
Where you are born should not dictate
what you do or how much money you
make. With this campaign, and other
Community Scholarships, we are
working to close the achievement gap
in our communities by providing early
college savings that will impact children’s
future success.”
Courtesy VOICE Charter School
NYC Kids RISE manages the Save
for College Program in partnership
with the city and its Department of
Education, with founding support
from the Gray Foundation. Each NYC
Scholarship Account was opened with
a $100 seed investment from NYC
Kids RISE, with additional opportunities
for matching funds and contributions
from organizations, businesses, and
community members.
“The power of expectations-setting
when it comes to students’ success
cannot be underestimated,” VOICE
Charter School Founder and Principal
Franklin Headley said. “Having the
community join together to contribute to
our students’ college savings accounts
lets them know that they have people
all around them from their teachers to
their parents to their neighborhood, who
are actively supporting their dreams.”
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