Energy Surge; 40 Below Brings A Burst Of Optimism To The Region
May 31, 2007
The Post Standard/Herald-Journal
40 Below, the group of young people that formed three years ago in hopes of reinvigorating life and work in Central New York, is coming of age.
Friday, the group will bring hundreds of volunteers to the streets of Syracuse to show just how quickly they can make an impact on their community - and to energize them to do more.
For its third annual summit, members of the group will meet in panel sessions at the Oncenter in the morning to discuss such things as developing affordable housing and livable neighborhoods, fostering public art, cleaning up the environment and supporting city schools. It will all be very uplifting and informative, no doubt. But the afternoon "action sessions" will show what makes this group different.
Volunteers will be sent across the city to rebuild a playground, clear the way for a Habitat for Humanity house, mentor city schoolchildren, clean up and install birdhouses along Onondaga Creek and even work on a documentary about the North Side. Most dramatically, perhaps, they will install the Lipe Art Park - a landscaped sculpture garden in the long, narrow green space along West Fayette Street between South West and South Geddes streets. Complementing the sculptures will be mosaic stepping stones created by children from the nearby Spanish Action League.
Since its first summit in November 2004, 40 Below has had some signal successes. It spun off Adapt CNY, which is working to renovate the Wilson Building downtown. It helped place some 100 young people on non-profit boards and held three workshops for young entrepreneurs. This year alone, it jump-started a renaissance of public art in the city, collaborating on the Urban Video Project, which projects experimental videos onto the sides of buildings; creating a "floating gallery" to showcase local art in vacant downtown storefronts; and installing a dozen colorful David Hayes sculptures across downtown.
The group's Web site is a celebration of optimism - grounded in the realization that there is a lot more work to be done.
"We have a highly skilled workforce and a highly educated populous," it reads. "We have more bright, young college students than almost any other part of the country. We have short commute times, a low cost of living and we make no apologies for our winters.
"We have boundless recreational opportunities. We have forests, mountains, lakes and open space. We have a vibrant nightlife. We have high arts and street arts and everything in between. We have a history of inclusiveness, but are neither as diverse nor as tolerant as we would like. We are committed to improving."
If they continue to harness that youthful energy into effective action, who's to say they won't reach their goals? You can join in, whatever your age. Check out the Web site at 40belowsummit.com and sign up, or simply show up at the Oncenter on Friday.
This item was published on 05/31/2007
