FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Barbara Nitzberg (914) 654-5285

CNR COMMUNITY SERVICE DAY SLATED FOR APRIL 15
One-Day Event to benefit communities 
in New York, Texas and Mexico

NEW ROCHELLE, NY, April 7, 2004 – The College of New Rochelle (CNR) today announced that on April 15, hundreds of the College’s faculty, staff and students from its Main Campus and five New York City campuses will be participating in Community Service Day coordinated by Campus Ministry.  Members of the CNR community will be invited to participate in one of three ways: 1) serving at one of 19 specific project sites; 2) collecting specific items requested by organizations; and 3) collecting monetary donations.

“Education for service has been an integral part of the CNR mission since its inception in 1904 when Mother Irene Gill of the Order of St. Ursula founded The College of New Rochelle as the first Catholic college for women in New York State,” said Dr. Stephen J. Sweeny, CNR President.  “Throughout our history, we have recognized the importance of responding to the needs of society through educational programs and service activities.  We feel strongly that hosting Community Service Day is an excellent way to demonstrate our commitment and to thoughtfully respond on this occasion in our Centennial year.”

Created in celebration of The College’s Centennial, CNR’s Community Service Day will benefit 19 organizations in Manhattan, the Bronx, and New Rochelle, as well as Matamoros (Mexico) and Brownsville (Texas).  They include:

Manhattan sites – Harlem Hospital Children’s Ward, City Harvest, Covenant House, Habitat for Humanity, and Midnight Run

Bronx sites – Angela House, Mercy Center, Town and Country Family Services Women and Children’s Shelter, and St. Vincent De Paul Nursing Home

Brooklyn sites – St. Mary’s/St. Mark’s Food and Clothing Pantry

New Rochelle sites – Boys and Girls Club, Hugh Doyle Senior Citizen Center, Marian Residence for retired nuns, Providence House, Salvation Army, Songcatchers, Sound Shore Medical Center, YMCA, and Willow Towers

CNR faculty, staff and students will perform a wide range of services on April 15.  These include building affordable housing; tutoring ESL students; entertaining hospitalized children; packing and moving offices; sorting and storing donated clothing items; conducting canned food, book and toy drives; delivering food, clothing and toiletries to the homeless, as well as performing general painting, gardening and spring cleanup chores. They will even conduct “Casino Day” and Bingo Games for residents in nursing and retirement homes. 

For Community Service Day, members of the CNR community will also have the opportunity to collect specific items and monetary donations for Ursuline Missions in Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Mexico, two impoverished communities located right on the U.S.-Mexico border.  Priorities for these communities include: Potable Water Project (water filters for each family that will provide fresh water and a permanent water solution); Foot-pedal-powered sewing machines to start a Women’s Sewing Collective in Mexico; and money to hire administrative staffing for the two Ursuline missions in Matamoros and Brownsville.

In March 2004, as part of CNR’s annual community service project – the “Plunge” – 12 students and 3 staff from the School of Arts & Sciences (SAS) and School of Nursing (SN) spent their spring break serving in Matamoros and Brownsville.  Under the guidance of Ursuline nuns, Sister Norma Raupple and Sister Maria Teresa De Llano, students helped educate adults on major health issues affecting their community, interacted with children, and helped improve existing housing.  Eight students also participated in the “urban” Plunge at Hale House in New York City helping to care for the young children who reside there. 

To find out how you can support CNR’s Community Service Day, please call Helen Wolf in Campus Ministry at (914) 654-5357 or email at hwolf@cnr.edu.


The first Catholic college for women in New York State, The College of New Rochelle was founded in 1904 by the Ursuline Order. Today, it comprises the all-women School of Arts & Sciences, and three schools which admit women and men: the School of New Resources (for adult learners), the School of Nursing and the Graduate School.  The main campus of the College is located in lower Westchester County, 16 miles north of New York City.  The College maintains six other campus locations in New York City. Visit the College’s website at www.cnr.edu
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