Place Story Proposal
Few people know about the International Youth Fellowship center, which is primarily a small church located one block away from Baruch College. Recently, this Christian-based non-profit organization decided to expand its volunteering work among CUNY campuses. After submitting all the paperwork to create the IYF club at Baruch, they still need the Bearcat students to join the club and participate in changing the global community by teaching English in Mexico and Haiti. IYF strives to advance Christian mission work in developed and developing countries, administer alternative methods of post-secondary education and to facilitate short-term and long-term volunteerism domestically and overseas. And all of this is happening in a small two-room apartment, on third floor on Lexington avenue. The tiny church consists of a small number of pastors and about 40 volunteers from Korea who worship every Sunday in a small room filled with guests. The volunteers live there from Monday to Saturday, eat there and educate themselves in this place. This story is important because the IYF organization is willing to promote goodwill and send college students abroad to volunteer and provide them with many workshops that teach how to become a leader. But since no one is aware of this organization, its work and its kind-hearted people, it seems like the IYF club at Baruch college is going to remain half empty without students getting all of the possible opportunities that IYF wants to provide. I also think that it’s going to be an interesting place story, because this small place is unique in its atmosphere and people. This place is a home for many young people who dedicated themselves to spread the goodwill. It’s a place where people of all ages come to become better.
All my research is based on interviews with the volunteers and workers at IYF. I haven’t found anything on Factiva, but for the article I will ask IYF if they have any press clips about their organization.
Sources:
Ayleen Mota – [email protected], 1917-288-0547
Mykee Baluyut – mykee.iyf @gmail.com
Maria Parra- [email protected], 1718-607-0454
Vignette:
As I have mentioned before, the IYF and its church are located a block away from Baruch, it’s on the third floor, it has two rooms, one big one – with the cross in the middle for the worships on Sundays, and the smaller room is for the workers and the volunteers who live there. It’s packed with office necessities, as projectors, books, notebooks, chairs and tables. On the photos the room has been already cleaned for the next day and all the furniture was gone. When I came for the interviews, there were a few people, mostly young volunteers, who were waiting for their supervisors to come from a new location that is supposed to open soon, because of the excessive amount of volunteers who from South Korea. The room appears to be empty because the interview was conducted in the evening.
