By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — A cash-strapped recreational after-school and summer program is reaching out to the Upper Manhattan community to brainstorm how it might raise funds to keep its programming afloat.
The Armory Police Athletic League (PAL) announced it will hold a public "exploratory meeting" Tuesday evening to discuss "how to raise revenue" from private and public stakeholders.
"It's been a while that the city economy as a whole has been down and so has the agency," said Jennifer Tortora, center director for the Armory PAL, which she says helps more than 400 young adults in Washington Heights each year at the Armory's New Balance Track and Field on 168th Street.
The Armory PAL is one of 16 such program run throughout the five boroughs, which are "strategically placed in the most poverty stricken spaces," said Tartora.
In order to continue "comparable level of community service," the organization must raise between $70,000 and $100,000, according to an e-mail from Martin Collins, assistant legislative and budget director for City Councilman Robert Jackson, who represents the district where PAL is operated.
The Armory PAL will meet with community members and officials Tuesday, March 1, at the PAL office located at 216 Fort Washington Avenue (entrance on West 169th Street, between Ft. Washington Avenue and Broadway) at 5:30 p.m.
