CREW NY volunteers at summer reading program Camp WIN

Manhattan, NY The Emerging Leaders Committee of CREW New York recently completed a reading program for children at the Jennie Clark Women in Need residence on East 100th St.  

Led by Emerging Leaders member Vipasha Dasgupta, CREW New York volunteers read to children for hour-long sessions over a six week period. In the final session, focus switched from literacy to a writing exercise where the children were asked to express their favorite summer activities and complete an “All About Me” worksheet. 

The program, in its fifth year, is designed to offset summer learning loss where young people lose academic skills over the summer. Learning loss is a significant cause of the achievement gap between lower and higher income youth. 

“CREW New York volunteers showed avid interest and diligence in regularly attending the sessions and connecting with the kids,” said  Dasgupta, a valuation associate at BlackRock. “We hope we have made a difference in their lives – even in a small way – by instilling curiosity and knowledge.” 

The volunteers included Joanna Alipandro, Katherine James, Valerie Corbett, Evelyn Sherwood, Karen Schwimmer, Vipasha Dasgupta, Katherine DeMercurio, Melissa Jones and Iva Kravitz.

The Emerging Leaders Committee provides members age 40 and under (or with less than 10 years experience within the CRE industry) opportunities to become engaged and integrated into CREW New York. ELG organizes social and business networking events, professional development and leadership training and opportunities to participate in mentorship programs. For further information: crewny.org. 

WIN families include one or more minor children and nearly all are headed by women. Helping these mothers nurture their children is the primary goal of all of Win’s children’s programs. While children are cared for, their mothers are able to focus on their education, skills training, and job search.