President's Public Service Fund Announces Grant Awards

The President's Public Service Fund Committee has awarded grants totaling $50,000 to 30 Harvard-Radcliffe student groups for 1996-97 programs.

The President's Public Service Fund was created in 1985 to support a broad range of undergraduate public service activities designed to benefit individuals or groups in the larger community outside of the campus. It is the Administration's hope that this fund will encourage undergraduates to consider seriously the opportunities for public service, and to make such service a part of their lives.

The Committee includes Judith Kidd (Chair), Faith Adiele, Archie C. Epps, Gail Epstein, Mary Ann Jarvis, Greg Johnson, Harry R. Lewis, and Theda Skocpol.

Programs receiving 1996-97 grants from the Fund include:

CityStep, $4,000 for 175 Harvard-Radcliffe students to enrich the educational experience of 120 Cambridge fifth- and sixth-graders through a multicultural dance and arts curriculum. Twice a week starting in October until the final show in April, a team of CityStep teachers travels to each of the 14 participating classrooms to teach a curriculum of dance-theater through games and improvisations.

Education for Action (E4A), $3,500 for 10 to 15 Harvard-Radcliffe student board members to work with 20 to 25 grant recipients and to cosponsor 10 to 15 activities, with the purpose of acting as a resource for people interested in working collectively for social justice, racial harmony, and cultural empowerment by providing training, guidance, and financial support.

First-Year Urban Program (FUP), $1,200 for 122 Harvard-Radcliffe students to participate with 14 community organizations in Greater Boston. FUP brings together selected incoming first-year students prior to their orientation weeks and provides them the opportunity to work with community organizations providing services to underserved populations. FUP provides four days of intensive manual labor followed by evening reflection sessions.

Phillips Brooks House Association Boston-Based Summer Programs, $2,200 each to the following Boston-summer programs: Academy Homes Summer Youth Enrichment Program, Roxbury; Boston Refugee Youth Enrichment, Dorchester; Chinatown Adventure, Chinatown; Inner-City Outreach, Dorchester; Keylatch Summer, South End; Mission Hill Summer Program, Mission Hill; Native American Youth Enrichment Program, Jamaica Plain; and South Boston Outreach, South Boston.

Phillips Brooks House Association Cambridge-Based Summer Programs, $2,300 each to the Cambridge Youth Enrichment Program, Jefferson Park; Cambridge Youth Enrichment Program, Newtowne Court/Washington Elms; and the Cambridge Youth Enrichment Program, Roosevelt Towers. $2,600 to the Refugee Youth Summer Enrichment, based at the Kennedy School of Government; and $2,200 to the Summer Homeless Program, located at St. James's Episcopal Church.

Phillips Brooks House Association In-School, After-School, and Saturday Programs, $800 to Experimentors operating in six Cambridge public school classrooms; $2,000 to International Peace Games, a conflict resolution and violence prevention program in up to 25 Greater Boston schools; $800 to the Academy Homes Afterschool Program (AHEAD) in Roxbury; $800 to CHANCE serving Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School; $800 to Franklin After-School Enrichment Program; and $500 to the Franklin Teen Mentoring Program serving the Franklin Hill and Franklin Field Housing Developments in Dorchester; $800 each to the Keylatch After-School Program in Boston's South End and the Mission Hill After School Program in Mission Hill; $500 to the Refugee Youth Term Enrichment at Brighton High School; and $500 to the Childrens Outdoor Experience, taking children from PBHA's Mission Hill, Native American, Franklin After-School Enrichment and Teen Mentoring, Chinatown, and Dearborn Programs.

Phillips Brooks House Association Advocacy and Multi-Service Programs, $500 to the Small Claims Advisory Service to assist disadvantaged individuals by making them aware of their legal options and providing them with the information and skills for self-advocacy; $1,000 to Alternative Spring Breaks to organize four community service experiences outside urban New England with the long-term goal of promoting broader understanding of the problems of impoverished communities; $500 to the Community Health Program for its Wizard of AIDS community outreach program, Cerebral Palsy Big Sibling Program, and Emergency Services program; and $1,700 to Chinatown Committee which oversees six programs -- the Afterschool, Big Sibling, Elderly Visitation, ESL, Quincy School, and Teen Programs.