Getting Ready to Celebrate

CNCS supports AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and volunteering across the nation [] [National Service News]( is celebrating 25 years of leading AmeriCorps and Senior Corps national service programs across America.]( August 5, 2019 Getting Ready to Celebrate This summer we have been taking a trip down memory lane while making plans for the 25 years of national service celebration. It has been informative and a lot of fun. When the [Corporation for National and Community Service]( (CNCS) was formed, it supported the creation of AmeriCorps and united America's other service programs – VISTA, RSVP, Foster Grandparents, and Senior Companions – under one banner. We became the federal home for the nation's service and volunteering efforts. During the last quarter century, CNCS has guided initiatives that have helped people and communities in many different ways. Through it all, one thing has been consistent – national service programs have been a catalyst for good wherever we've served. We encourage you to visit our website and join us in celebrating via the "[25 Amazing Ways National Service has made an Impact" slide show](. You'll learn about the history of CNCS, our programs and initiatives, and how we got to where we are today. 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 [AmeriCorps members support conservation efforts to protect Georgia's Sea Turtles.]( [This Has Been a Record-Breaking Summer for Georgia’s Sea Turtles (AmeriCorps)]( WABE-FM, Georgia [Editor's Note: Be sure to check out the great photography in this story.] In the summer on Jekyll Island, researchers drive slowly up and down the beach all night, the red-shaded headlights on their utility vehicles illuminating ghost crabs and shorebirds. Macie Broussard, a research AmeriCorps member at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, checks the time a few hours into her shift in the driver’s seat. “I usually start drinking my coffee at midnight,” she says. She and Kara Fadden peer into the darkness, looking for big dark lumps emerging from the waves. Those would be female loggerhead turtles, lumbering up the beach to the soft dry sand to lay their eggs. [Read more and listen]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [JoEtta Oglesby is one of over 60 volunteers participating in Catholic Charities of Southwestern Ohio Foster Grandparent program. ]( ['We Bring the Love': Foster Grandparents Enhance Community One Classroom at a Time (Senior Corps)]( The Catholic Telegraph, Ohio When you meet JoEtta Oglesby, it’s impossible not to get caught up in her abundant joy and buoyant personality. As she will readily tell you, much of her joy comes from spending her days volunteering as a Foster Grandparent, assisting children in the classroom through Catholic Charities’ Senior Corps program. One peek into a classroom full of second graders and it’s easy to see why Oglesby faithfully goes to school every day. The children gravitate toward her and she to them. When she notices a student not completing a worksheet like the others, she quietly sits down, asks him what’s going on and then leans in to encourage his progress before breaking into a brilliant smile. Oglesby is one of more than 60 volunteers actively participating in Catholic Charities of Southwestern Ohio (CCSWO)’s Foster Grandparent program. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Share: 25 Amazing National Service Impacts [Visit the CNCS website to discover 25 ways national service has made an impact during the last 25 years.]( the message on Facebook]( or like]( Each week, we provide a social media shareable for your networks. We're preparing for our celebration of 25 years of national service at CNCS. To get this party started, we are sharing["25 Amazing Ways National Service has made an impact" on our website.]( Take a few moments to check out the slide show and click the buttons above to share it with others through your social media networks. --------------------------------------------------------------- National Service in the News [Campers exercise at Washington state's Lions Camp Horizon for people with developmental and medical disabilities.]( [Volunteers Help Repair Lions Camp Horizon (AmeriCorps)]( Now This News, Washington Volunteers gave a well-deserved makeover to this summer camp for people with disabilities. Volunteers worked with 3,300 hours to beautify Lions Camp Horizon in the months leading up to summer sessions. Lions Camp Horizon offers six-week-long overnight sessions to people with developmental and medical disabilities. Campers participate in a wide range of activities, including crafts, bowling, horseback riding, archery, and theater. There are also camp fire performances as well as a talent show. Volunteers from AmeriCorps NCCC and local businesses helped with repairs, landscaping, and increasing accessibility. [Read more and watch video]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Office on Aging Receives National Award for Efforts to Prevent Opioid Addiction (Senior Corps)]( WNWO-TV, Ohio The Area Office on Aging of Northwestern Ohio received national recognition for its work to prevent opioid abuse. The agency hired its first Drug Abuse Response Team (D.A.R.T.) officer in March, solely dedicated to helping seniors. "We are so proud that they received the award for being so innovative to help the community and keep people alive," said Lucas County Sheriff John Tharp. D.A.R.T. was launched by Sheriff Tharp in July 2014 to stop opiate overdoses and help victims overcome addiction. "It shows that we're addressing the opioid crisis, the opioid crisis doesn't affect just young people its all ages including our seniors," said Merideth Wagoner, Area Office on Aging of Northwestern Ohio, Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) director. [Read more and watch video]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Boys and Girls Club Goes on Shipwreck Discovery with Underwater Bots (AmeriCorps)]( WBKB-TV, Michigan A Huron Pines AmeriCorps service member has been working with the Boys and Girls Club of Alpena. She wants to spark interest in creating their own underwater robot team. The kids from the Boys and Girls Club are pretending to compete in a regional remotely operated vehicle competition all week long. In this exercise, the kids are locating a makeshift shipwreck inside of NOAA’s indoor tank. They’ll focus on their findings at the end of the week. [Read more and watch video]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Six Utah Campuses To Receive AmeriCorps Members To Address Student Hunger (AmeriCorps)]( Utah Public Radio, Utah Thirty-six percent of American college students are food insecure, and a new grant from AmeriCorps is anticipated to help students going hungry on Utah’s universities. “Starving students” are no joke to Sean Damitz, the director of Utah State University’s (USU) Center for Civic Engagement. With tuition rising an average of 2% across the state this year, students might sacrifice food. It’s hard to know how many students at USU are food insecure, but Damitz said that food insecure populations are growing. “In the past four or five years we’ve seen exponential growth in terms of visitation to the SNAC pantry. So, it was 242 visits in 2014, in 2018 we had a total of 5,954 visits. So, that demonstrates the growing need at USU,” Damitz said. [Read more and listen]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Foster Grandparents Celebrate Summer Fitness Training (Senior Corps)]( Scottsbluff Star-Herald, Nebraska The Community Action Partnership of Western Nebraska (CAPWN) Foster Grandparent program celebrated its third-annual Summer Fitness Training Challenge with a summer picnic at the Gering Gardner Park on July 10. The Senior Corps volunteers came to fitness workshops every Monday in June to learn about staying fit and taking care of themselves during the summer vacation. They also were sent home with homework packets to keep them excited about their participation. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [AmeriCorps members in rural Ohio are serving to combat food insecurity issues in the state.]( [With a Focus on Food Sovereignty, Rural Appalachian Ohio is Rebounding (AmeriCorps)]( Life Pulse Blog, Ohio On a warm summer time morning in Stewart, Ohio, a faculty bus staffed by a handful of AmeriCorps service members and a number of other individuals from the local faculty district descend on the lawn of a group resource middle. The yellow bus has been retrofitted with cabinets and coolers that house recent eggs, produce, and pantry staples. A lady named Tisha, a resident in her early 40s who says that she lives “on top of the ridge” in nearby Guysville, and her 9-year-old daughter strategy in a small pink SUV. They get out, greet the employees heartily and embark the bus, choosing eggs, a slew of recent produce, in addition to crackers and a few other shelf-stable foods. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Senior Volunteers Perform Role-Reversal with Volunteering (Senior Corps)]( La Voz Bilingue, Colorado [Editor's Note: This article is available in English and Spanish.] When discussing volunteerism and seniors, the conversation often steers to how we -- the young, the vibrant, the under 65 crowd -- can assist senior citizens. There are, however, multiple branches in Colorado and around the nation through which senior citizens can continue to give back, or give back for the first time, to their respective communities. One such organization is the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). Senior Corps-RSVP, as it is known, is a national service program like Peace Corps and AmeriCorps with a focus on placing individuals 55 and over in volunteer opportunities. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [RSVP of Oswego County Offers Class to Build Strength, Balance (Senior Corps)]( Oswego County News Now, New York The Oswego County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), a division of SUNY Oswego’s Office of Business and Community Relations, has implemented a new falls prevention program in Oswego County called Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance® (TJQMBB). ... TJQMBB is a research-based exercise program that transforms martial arts movements into a therapeutic regimen to improve strength, mobility, balance and daily function. It offers a “yin-yang” style of prevention by combining states of instability with stability for equilibrium training. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- News You Can Use [2020 Senior Corps RSVP Competition NOFO Announced]( Recently, CNCS released the FY 2020 Senior Corps RSVP Competition NOFO. We strongly encourage those interested to visit the [2020 RSVP Competition page]( 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](