IN DEPTH: Cultures unite in West Side soccer program

          It’s an overcast and muggy Saturday morning at Front Park, quiet but for the sounds of sneakers squeaking on the slick pavement of the parking lot as dozens of children play in the West Side International Soccer program’s first-ever street soccer tournament. Full story by Chris Dierken and Leif Reigstad

Winter is coming

Massachusetts Avenue Project's  mobile market director Tyler Manley and farm and markets assistant Kate Pfohl prepare their farm for cold winter weather. As the fall season comes to a close, MAP turns its focus to winterizing the farm, hoping for another successful season. By Matt Bove and Gabrielle Mediak

Painting the town

Local artists beautify the West Side  though the group Community Canvases. Other community members have involved themselves in the project, including area Boy Scouts who applied anti-graffiti coatings to protect the works. Founders Alex Cornwell and Jim Montour explain the goals of the organization. By Lauren Coppola and Samantha Wulff

Student volunteers better the West Side

      A sea of orange shirts flooded Grant Street Oct. 5 as the students of SUNY Buffalo State could be found picking up trash and cleaning the neighborhood on Community Service Day. 
      The students were from Buffalo State’s Volunteer and Service Learning Center, which sponsors a Monthly Service Corps initiative. The next event will be held on Oct. 26 where Buffalo State students will pair up with West Side high school students to volunteer on projects that will better the West Side community.
     “It’s nice to show that Buff State is involved in the West Side,” said Aurora Schunk, a  service learning center associate. “And it’s part of the reason why we have students participate in this project as well as other projects on the West Side, as well as Riverside and the East Side  of Buffalo.”
   The Westminster Economic Development Initiative, PUSH Buffalo, and the Buffalo State service learning center sponsored the Community Service day event. The event featured a mile-long cleanup along Grant Street starting at the Asarese-Matters Community Center at 50 Rees St. and ending at the West Side Bazaar near West Ferry Street.
     According to volunteer Leslie Sanchez, a senior from Buffalo State, the idea is to clean up the street to help businesses grow, and to promote a friendly and clean environment.
     “It helps with people coming into the community,” Sanchez said. “Once you clean up the community, more people are willing to come in and become a part of it. It brings more business to the street as well.” By Caitlin Kupiec and James McDonald

Labor Department to host job fair at Belle

The New York state Department of Labor is holding a job fair on Oct. 23 at The Belle Center located on 104 Maryland St.
     The event will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will include hundreds of available jobs.
     “I would encourage people looking for serious jobs to come dressed professionally with a resume in hand, as people have been hired on the spot in the past,” said Jack Norton, head of program development at The Belle Center.
     According to the Department of Labor’s website, Buffalo’s unemployment rate was 7.3 percent as of August.
     Representatives from the lodging, accounting, banking and other industries will welcome everyone who is eligible to work in the United States. Other industries will be housekeeping, social work, advertisement, food and beverage, call centers, consulting and transportation.
     “It’s great when I see most of my former students and sometimes their parents, walk out of the fair with hope of a new beginning,” said Dinorah Santos, summer youth program supervisor at The Belle Center.  By Shanice Core and Elias Taveras

Bulbs to beautify

Sharon Danna, left, and Eritrea immigrant Rezenne Asfaha, plant  daffodil bulbs along Grant Street, from Hampshire Street to West Delavan Avenue as part of an eight-week  effort to help beautify the community before winter hits. “People who aren’t from the West Side don’t understand how important this is,” Danna said. Gullo Nursery in Hamburg and A.D.R. Bulbs in the Hudson Valley have collectively donated over 700 bulbs to be planted. Prior to this project, Danna spruced up other gardens along the the Niagara Street thruway entrance, the Waterfront, East Side and South Buffalo. By Marybeth Calabrese and Ally Selva

Eyes on a New Year

 Carpenter Henry Martz works on The Tabernacle, Lafayette Avenue at Grant Street, a future venue for music and theater performances from local talent. The owner of the neighboring Sweetness_7 Café, Prish Moran plans on combining both buildings to enhance the experience of her guests. Moran  expects The Tabernacle to open in time for New Years. By Sean Dwyer and Youleidy Vega