These Girls Are On Fire

CNCS supports AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and volunteering across the nation [] [National Service News]( of the 2019 BLM Montana Conservation Corps Women's Fire Crew are on their first wildfire fighting assignment in Alaska. ]( July 29, 2019 These Girls Are On Fire Sometimes when you join [AmeriCorps]( you never know where the adventure will lead. Just ask these eight ladies from the Montana Conservation Corps (MCC) Women’s Fire Crew. They are headed to the Upper Yukon of eastern Alaska to help battle the Hadweenzic River Fire for their first wildland fire assignment. The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Wyoming and MCC started this crew in 2016 to train team members for this very task and expose them to new career paths. During their service, crew members become qualified chainsaw operators and work with BLM on restoration projects on public lands. After the 2018 season, 11 of the 12 Women's Fire Crew members were still working in wildland fire jobs, the other found a position with the Montana Conservation Corps. That outcome is not that surprising to us: A [study of AmeriCorps alumni]( following their service found that 8 out of 10 said that national service benefited their career path. That same study also found that 42 percent of alumni found a job through a connection made in AmeriCorps. Sounds like AmeriCorps is a great way to start a career. (And more than 600 [Employers of National Service]( agree!) We wish the MCC AmeriCorps crew all the best during their assignment. And we thank them for their service. In service, CNCS Office of External Affairs --------------------------------------------------------------- Editor's note: By clicking the links below, you may be connecting to websites created by parties other than the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). The CNCS Office of External Affairs provides links to these stories because they contain information that may be useful or interesting to the national service and volunteering community. These links are for reference only, and CNCS does not endorse the individuals or organizations associated with these links, and cannot attest to the accuracy of the information provided by websites outside of our control. --------------------------------------------------------------- The Impact of National Service [Senior Corps RSVP shopper poses for a photo with her client Dwayne.]( [Kindness in Real Life: RSVP Program Offers Personal Help (Senior Corps)]( The Day, Connecticut An appreciation for southern cooking, especially grits, is a shared interest between volunteer Jo Carol Wood and Dwayne, the gentleman she shops with each week. Wood is a volunteer with Thames Valley Council for Community Action’s Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, having found her exciting volunteer opportunity through a close friend of hers who mentioned volunteering in her community and how rewarding it is for her. Originally Wood thought she might be interested in volunteering with her husband for the Meals on Wheels program as drivers, but then she decided that a “more personal assignment” like this was perfect for her. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [YouthBuild Lake County AmeriCorps members visit an urban beehive on the roof of WBBM in downtown Chicago.]( [A ‘Truly Magical’ Hive Of Activity In The Loop, Thanks To Urban Beekeepers (AmeriCorps)]( CBS Chicago, Illinois It’s an incredible view of bees like you’ve never seen before, high atop the CBS 2 Broadcast Center in the Loop, and it recently created a buzz for some Chicago teens. The hive on top of 22 W. Washington St. is one of more than 100 maintained in Chicago by Alveole, an urban beekeeping company. Most of those hives are in the Loop area. “Inside of one of these buildings, people have their tasks that are promoting the success of their organization,” Alveole team director Shelby Schulman said. “The bees are doing something really similar to that, just in a contained box that we can put on top of the roof.” Ty McClinton and other teens in the YouthBuild Lake County education and job training program visited the bee hive on top of the CBS 2 Broadcast Center. [Read more and watch video]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Share It: Meet the BLM Women's Fire Crew [Montana Conservation Corps Women's Fire Crew members hike with their gear.]( the message on Facebook]( or like]( Each week, we provide a social media shareable for your networks. We introduced you to Montana Conservation Corps (MCC) Women’s Fire Crew AmeriCorps members.in our introduction today. They made quite a splash and you can learn more about these firefighting ladies from stories by the [BLM Alaska Fire Service]( [Yahoo Lifestyle]( [CNN]( and [WXYZ-TV]( in Detroit. Take a few moments to read the stories and click the buttons above to share it with others through your social media networks. --------------------------------------------------------------- National Service in the News [Energy Express Students a Success with Cortland Residents (AmeriCorps)]( The Preston County News & Journal, West Virginia Holidays are always a busy time at Cortland Acres, and this past Fourth of July was no exception. Forty-four Energy Express students and their counselors brightened the day for Cortland residents on July 3. The students came prepared with hand-made Fourth of July cards and their favorite book to read to residents. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Helping Atlanta’s High School Grads Get to College is a Summertime Duty (AmeriCorps)]( Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia For high schools, getting students to graduation day is no longer the finish line. Counselors and education nonprofits increasingly are stepping in to help students navigate the tricky months in between earning their diplomas and heading to college. Between 10 percent and 20 percent of the nation’s high school graduates who intend to go to college don’t make it to campus. Summertime obstacles — tuition struggles and seemingly endless checklists and deadlines — derail their plans. Low-income students and those who would be the first in their families to go to college are particularly vulnerable to the problem, which researchers have dubbed “summer melt.” [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [RSVP Partners with Inmates to Support Local Dementia Patients (Senior Corps)]( Enid News & Eagle, Oklahoma A new partnership between RSVP of Enid and James Crabtree Correctional Center in Helena has inmates taking up crocheting to help people affected by dementia. Inmates in the Veterans Club at Crabtree have been crocheting and donating lap blankets, stocking caps and stuffed animals to RSVP for the last three years, according to an RSVP press release. RSVP volunteers Jo Dobbs and Korene Reimer have been distributing the crocheted items to local seniors in need, VA hospitals and nursing facilities. Candace Solorio, RSVP Marketing Director, said the idea of crafting items specifically for dementia patients came after she recently helped a local senior with dementia navigate the process of entering a nursing facility. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Cheryl, Lisa Become Fast Friends Thanks to Senior Companion Program (Senior Corps)]( The Herald-Palladium, Michigan Some call it karma, what goes around comes around. Others would say you can’t sit and wait for your best life to happen, you have to take steps to make it happen. The following (true) story is about a couple of people who shared a special part of their lives together. It didn’t happen by accident. They each made small choices in their lives that eventually led to this very special friendship. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Youth Conservation Corps Members Spend Their Summers Improving Forest Preserves (AmeriCorps)]( Chicago Tribune, Illinois Flipping boards or flipping burgers. Slinging woodchips or mopping floors. For some of Lake County’s young people, the choice was easy — get a fast-food type job or enter the lottery for the Waukegan-based Youth Conservation Corps crews who work in the Lake County Forest Preserves for the summer. Jim Flury, chairman of the board for YCC, asked several crew members Thursday during a tour of projects whether they would rather be slinging burgers, and nobody raised their hand. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Nonprofits Help Mitigate Spread of Weeds Around 416 Fire Burn Area (AmeriCorps)]( The Durango Herald, Colorado Southwest Conservation Corps and Mountain Studies Institute have partnered on a project to help landowners mitigate weed growth that came as a result of the 416 Fire. A work crew from Southwest Conservation Corps sprayed herbicide Monday on invasive plants that sprouted in full force after last year’s 416 Fire burned 54,000 acres north of Durango. More than 100 private lots were sprayed with herbicide, including homes by Trimble Hot Springs and the Falls Creek subdivision. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- News You Can Use [2020 Senior Corps RSVP Competition NOFO Announced]( This week, CNCS released the FY 2020 Senior Corps RSVP Competition NOFO. We strongly encourage those interested to visit nationalservice.gov/rsvpcompetition to learn more about how Senior Corps RSVP can help them increase their impact by engaging adults age 55 years and older in volunteer service. [Learn more]( [NationalService.gov]( | [Manage Preferences]( [facebook]( We sent this email to {EMAIL} on behalf of the Corporation for National and Community Service. [Corporation for National and Community Service] [View as a webpage / Share]( --------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to {EMAIL} using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: Corporation for National & Community Service · 250 E. Street SW · Washington, DC 20525 · (202) 606- 5000 · (800) 833-3722 [GovDelivery logo](