By Ryan Nichols ’12

Celebrate Service… Celebrate Yates (CSCY), Yates County’s annual community service day, is scheduled April 22, 2012.  It marks the 15th anniversary of the event, where volunteers from around Yates County pitch in to make a positive impact on the community.

Since 1996, volunteers have painted, cleaned, repaired buildings, raked, and cleared trails all over Yates County.  Last year, 280 volunteers turned out to volunteer at locations such as Camp Cory, Branchport/Keuka Park Fire Department, and St. Michael’s Church.

The event is a joint effort by Keuka College and the Yates County Chamber of Commerce and local organizations, businesses, merchants, and citizens can lend support in a variety of ways. Individuals and families can sign up to volunteer on the work day and non-profits across Yates County may sign up in order to have volunteers perform work on site. Local businesses and merchants can get involved by becoming a financial sponsor or supporting the event with tangible goods and services.

As part of the planning for the 2012 event,  members of the CSCY committee will contact representatives from organizations who have previously participated in CSCY to garner feedback Other agencies interested in signing on early to become work sites this year may send an e-mail inquiry to the CSCY team at cscy@keuka.edu.

Sponsorship is key to the success of CSCY and the list from 2011 includes: Fitzgerald Brothers, Graphic Connections, Knapp & Schlappi, Knights of Columbus, Keuka College Student Senate, K-Ventures, Lyons National Bank, Penn Yan Area Council of Churches, Penn Yan Elks Lodge, Penn Yan Kiwanis Club, Roto Salt, Sodexo Food Services, Soldiers & Sailors Hospital, Stork Insurance, Tony Collins – Class of 1977 Celebrity Golf Classic, Yates ARC, and the Yates County Chamber of Commerce.

Sponsorship is $250, and sponsors are listed on the back of the CSCY workday t-shirt as well as in print materials.  If you have any questions about sponsorships, contact Mike Linehan at the Yates County Chamber of Commerce at (315) 536-3111 or e-mail him at mike@yatesny.com.  For information regarding hosting volunteers or the event in general, contact College Chaplain Eric Detar or McKala Accetura at cscy@keuka.edu. You can also reach Detar at (315) 279-5378 or Accetura at (315) 279-5397.