Computer Associates International, Inc. (CA), one of the nation’s fastest growing software providers for eBusiness management, will present a grant of $25,000 to the YMCA of Greater New York on Aug. 31 for their literacy-based after-school program, the Virtual Y. The grant will enable 50 public school children from Bellerose to enroll in this after-school alternative in the 2001-2002 academic year.

Created by the YMCA of Greater New York in conjunction with the New York City Board of Education, the Virtual Y is the city’s largest public/private partnership, having grown from 10 sites in 1997 to over 100 for the 2000-2001 school year. CA has joined the list of 130 corporate sponsors who support the program including the New York Stock Exchange, Paine Webber, Deutsche Bank Americas, Deloitte & Touche, LLP and others.

"The partnership that CA has entered into with the YMCA demonstrates a genuine commitment on their part to the children and to the future of our great city," Paula Gavin, president of the YMCA, stated. "Corporate support along with city, state and private foundation grants allows 7,000 public school children from underserved neighborhoods across New York City to benefit from the much needed academic enhancements of the Virtual Y school-based program."

"Our focus is to help children build the confidence they need to succeed and to positively impact community life," Beverly-Lee Wo, manager of Computer Associates community relations program stated. "We believe strongly in investing in their education."

The Virtual Y helps students move from one grade to the next by lending academic support to children in grades two, three and four. Students are exposed to books daily through a wide variety of activities, including homework help, journal writing, drama and even recreation. The program curriculum is designed to reinforce, not replace, the efforts of classroom teachers during the day.

Rosanna Morales has been raising two daughters on her own since emigrating to New York from Argentina. Morales understands the value of the Virtual Y. She has watched her eldest daughter grow emotionally, academically and physically in the four years that she has attended the Virtual Y at P.S. 130 in Long Island City. "The Virtual Y has been a luxury for me. It gave me a great sense of peace when working every day to know that I was able to leave my daughter with caring adults who not only helped her with school work, but also understood her emotional needs," Morales stated.

Fordham University’s National Center for Schools and Communities evaluated the Virtual Y in its first three years to assess positive changes in student behavior as well as improvement in reading, math and school attendance.

Computer Associates delivers the software that manages eBusiness. CA’s world-class solutions address all aspects of eBusiness process management, information management and infrastructure management in six focus areas: enterprise management, security, storage, eBusiness transformation and integration, portal and knowledge management, and predictive analysis and visualization. Founded in 1976, CA serves organizations in more than 100 counties, including 99 percent of the Fortune 500 companies.

The YMCA of Greater New York--the largest YMCA in the United States--is comprised of 20 branches and more than 150 facility and program sites in all five boroughs, as well as three camps and two conference centers in upstate New York. The 148 year-old non-profit organization serves 163,000 youth and 220,000 adults with a continuum of educational and recreational programs that foster growth in spirit, mind and body. It is part of a World Alliance of YMCAs in 130 countries.