A small grant program giving students just $400 to improve their communities is producing outsized results across New York, from helping unhoused young adults in Ithaca to supporting transgender singers in Buffalo and pediatric patients in Plattsburgh.
The SUNY Contribution Project, organized through Cornell University’s Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, provides randomly selected students with $400 to fund projects they believe can make a meaningful impact. Since launching in 2019, the initiative has supported more than 850 student-led projects across Cornell and several SUNY campuses.
One of this year’s featured efforts came from Cornell students Fatima Zeshan and Calyssa Orellana, who lead the Homelessness Action Project. Their “Village Fellowship Project” partnered with the Village at Ithaca transitional housing program to provide residents with necessities including hygiene supplies, first aid kits and moving materials.
According to U.S. Census data cited by the students, roughly 30% of Ithaca residents live below the poverty line, nearly double the statewide average.
“We take the time to meet with residents and staff and ask them questions like, ‘What struggles are you facing?’ or ‘How can we step in to help?’” Zeshan said.
Zeshan said the project also helped students better understand the realities facing unhoused residents.
“Our committee learned about the systemic barriers, the familial struggles and the emotional exhaustion that comes from unstable housing,” she said.
The program has since expanded beyond Cornell to include SUNY schools including Buffalo State University, SUNY Plattsburgh, Stony Brook University, Binghamton University and SUNY Morrisville.
At Buffalo State, senior Noah Zanghi used his grant to launch the Buffalo Trans Choir, a group designed to create a welcoming space for transgender and gender-diverse singers.
“People have come to me so many times and said how my project has gotten them out of bed in the morning,” Zanghi said.
The funding helped pay for rehearsal space and sheet music as the group got started earlier this year.
Meanwhile, SUNY Plattsburgh nursing student Maria Cedeno used her funding to create the “Kindness Keeper Project” for pediatric patients at Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital. Cedeno purchased coloring books, fidget toys and weighted blankets aimed at helping comfort children undergoing medical treatment.
“They’re some of the toughest patients out there,” Cedeno said. “The amount of procedures and things they go through in order to keep their health, and the things their families see, is so unbelievably tough.”
Anthony Burrow, director of Cornell’s Bronfenbrenner Center and founder of the Contribution Project, said the initiative is designed to help students find purpose while creating meaningful community impact.
“On each of these campuses, remarkable students have been pouring their hearts into contributions that have deep meaning for them,” Burrow said.
Organizers say the program has now expanded outside New York as well, with similar efforts underway in cities including Cincinnati and Lincoln, Nebraska.
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