Statement From City Year CEO & Co-Founder On The Passing Of Mayor Ed Koch

BOSTON, Feb. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Michael Brown, CEO and Co-Founder of City Year, a national, education-focused organization that deploys diverse teams of young people to serve a year in high-need schools, issued this statement today recognizing Mayor Ed Koch for his leadership in national service.

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"New York City Mayor Ed Koch was a remarkable leader and public servant who will be remembered for his many achievements, his indomitable spirit, and the stamp he left on the city he loved.  The national service movement has lost a visionary leader who played a pivotal role in building national service in this country.

'National service,' Mayor Koch believed, 'is the vehicle for strengthening the connection between the Nation and its citizenry for providing the social cement among Americans of the same generation and for creating an opportunity for each generation to leave an important legacy to the generations which succeed it.'

Mayor Koch established the Corporation for National Service for the City of New York and the City Volunteer Corps (CVC) to demonstrate the impact and importance of uniting young adults for a year of fulltime service.  In many ways, the CVC was well ahead of its time, and was at the very forefront of what has become a robust service movement in America. I had the opportunity to work for the CVC in its founding year, and many of us who continue to work in the national and community service field today got our start and inspiration from Mayor Koch's vision of service and leadership in launching one of the nation's first urban service corps. The national service movement today mourns a true champion."

About City Year: City Year is an education-focused, nonprofit organization founded in 1988 that partners with public schools to provide full-time targeted intervention for students most at risk of dropping out.  In more than 20 communities across the United States and through two international affiliates, our teams of young AmeriCorps leaders support students by focusing on attendance, behavior, and course performance through in-class tutoring, mentoring, and after school programs that keep kids in school and on track to graduate.

SOURCE City Year