THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR

WPCNR Westchester County Clarion-Ledger. September 25, 2006: The Volunteer Center is offering an information-packed Youth Volunteer Guidebook that describes youth volunteer opportunities and profiles youth volunteers who are donating their time and talent to a wide variety of nonprofit agencies throughout Westchester and Putnam.  It can be downloaded at the Volunteer Center website at http://www.volunteer-center.org.

            The Guide Book, which was published by the Center through a New York Life Foundation grant, lists and describes over 300 volunteer opportunities for young people under the age of 18 with a wide variety of service agencies.  It contains volunteer job descriptions, age parameters, hours and times volunteers are needed, and contact information.

            The many volunteer opportunities that can be found  in the Guidebook range from tutoring a disadvantaged child to teaching computer skills to a senior;  from leading a museum tour to designing a website;  from saving endangered animals to a family project fostering a Guiding Eyes dog and  from serving in a soup kitchen to painting a homeless shelter.

            Copies of the 2006 Youth Volunteer Guide are available at local libraries as well as middle schools and high schools.  Call 914-948-4452 for further information.  The 70-page Youth Guide  may be downloaded from The Volunteer Center’s home page at  www.volunteer-center.org.

            The Volunteer Center, in a strategic alliance with United Way, has served as a clearinghouse for volunteers in Westchester and Putnam since 1949.  It engages more than 4000 volunteers at 550 nonprofit agencies annually. Through a variety of programs and services, the Center encourages people from all walks of life — businesses, nonprofits, schools, families, seniors and youth — to volunteer and help deliver solutions that address community needs.  

WPCNR THE PLANNING NEWS. September 25, 2006: The Citizens Plan Committee, the vigilante planning organization that stimulated the city into executing its long delayed update of the 1997 Comprehensive Plan, is calling for the city to conduct its promised “annual review” of the 1997 Comprehensive Plan in a statement released to the media. Here is the Citizens Plan Committee Statement:

September 25, 2006  

Dear Mayor and Council Members:

We were pleased that, at the Council meeting of July 11^th, the 1997 Comprehensive Plan was updated per the extensive analyses and reports prepared by the Planning Department staff. We respectfully suggest that it would be useful were the Plan actions to be publicized by appropriate mailings to the general public and to all property owners.

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Recognizing that there would be a continuing need to revise its comprehensive strategy in response to inevitable changes in economic, social and physical conditions in the community, the 1997 Plan recommended that (1) the Planning Board annually assess the effectiveness of implementation programs, suggesting revisions and amendments, and that (2) a major update be undertaken every five years, under the auspices of the Common Council and that it include widespread citizen participation. We trust that the Council and staff will be scheduling such a review with the expectation of Council action in 2007.  We are pleased to offer our assistance in the conduct of this review.

We respectfully call to your attention the following major issues facing the City which we believe should be addressed as an essential part of the Plan review:

            • City/School District interdependence

            • Significant demographic changes and implications

            • Previously unanticipated fiscal issues

            • Ramifications of new technological advances

            • Urban Core design concerns

And, finally, we respectfully suggest setting a schedule of public informational meetings, starting this Fall, for purposes of informing citizens of issues to be reviewed and to encourage their participation in the overall planning effort.

As always your assistance will be very much appreciated. We look forward to your positive response.

Respectfully submitted,

The Citizens’ Plan Committee