On Monday, December 12th, representatives from NYC Kids RISE (NYCKR), the Mayor’s Office of Equity, Department of Education, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative, Brooklyn Community Foundation (BCF) and the Gray Foundation convened at P.S. 276 The Louis Marshall School, located at 1070 East 83rd Street, to announce that 1,200 1st graders from Canarsie and East Flatbush will receive $1,000 in their NYC Scholarship Accounts.
The contribution, which is funded by $1.2 million from the Greenwood Initiative and BCF’s Donor-Advised Funds, is the largest Community Scholarship initiative administered by NYCKR and is expected to be a wealth-building platform for the beneficiaries.
Community leaders, teachers and parents lauded the program and expressed their gratitude to the donors. State Senator Roxanne Persaud said, “This celebration and demonstration of neighborhood-wide support shows just how important the Save for College Program is as a vehicle for ensuring that all our children know they can go to college and break down barriers to economic opportunities.”
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso added, “By coming together to invest early in our children, we can make opportunities that might have once seemed impossible, possible for our students.”
“This program is providing community-wide support for students, who may not otherwise have the opportunity, to attain a good higher education,” Assemblywoman Jaime Williams noted.
Councilwoman Mercedes Narcisse raved, “I am extremely confident that this investment in our young people is one that will return great dividends.”
A smiling Jennifer Troman, principal of P.S. 276 said, “I am so proud and excited that the students of P.S. 276 in Canarsie will have a resource for their college and career training. We are committed to working with our students to support them to achieve their fullest potential and the NYC Kids RISE Save for College Program is now a big part of fulfilling that promise.”
One parent, Jasmine Hartley, told the packed room what $1,000 in college savings would mean to her and her daughter, 1st grader Sephora, who was standing on a chair beside her. “This program will give her the support and push she needs to further her education and become ‘any of those things,’” Hartley stated, referring to little Sephora’s desire to be a teacher one day, a pilot the next or maybe a doctor. “To know that we have the security to allow our children to follow their dreams is a feeling that truly cannot be expressed in any words.”
An ecstatic Paul Curiale, executive director of Millennium Development, told the Canarsie Courier, “Community partners are supporting NYC Kids RISE at P.S. 276 this morning, which will actually affect all of the community and District 18. I’m so happy to be part of the team.”
