Educating Citizens. Building Communities.

home / stories & events / past events

Announcements

Announcements concerning the development of service-learning and civic engagement programs of Kansas colleges and universities, and throughout the nation.

 

2007

Kansas Corps Forums - December 19, 2007

Youth Service America Fall Update (Conference & Grants) - November 14, 2007

Oppurtunity to Host National Conference - Novemeber 13, 2007

Community-Campus Partnership for Health Award Applications Open - Novemeber 7, 2007

Effective Practices for Make a Difference Day - October 27, 2007

Break Away Call For Proposals - October 25, 2007

Democracy 2.0 Petition - October 25, 2007

The Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility - October 15, 2007

Students do good deeds, pump up transcripts - October 12, 2007

New Forum for Democracy Web site launched - October 8, 2007

New Federal Report Shows Volunteering Strong in America - April 16, 2007

America to Thank its 61 Million Volunteers Next Week - April 13, 2007

Campuses Host National Post-Katrina College Summit - April 10, 2007

Disadvantaged Teens Benefit from Volunteering, But Do it Less than Better-Off Peers - April 9, 2007

National Council on Workplace Volunteerism Achieves Important Milestone - March 29, 2007

CMT One Country and YSA Join Forces for National & Global Youth Service Day - March 27, 2007

National & Global Youth Service Day throughout Kansas - March 22, 2007

Former President Bush to Address National Conference on Volunteering & Service - March 20, 2007

CMT One Country Is Partnering With Youth Service America - March 15, 2007

Hands On Network Gets 50 VISTA Volunteers To Fight Poverty In Southern States - March 15, 2007

More than 20,000 Students Head to Gulf Coast For Spring Break Service Projects - March 15, 2007

New Report Shows Nonprofits Must Make Better Use of Baby Boomer Volunteers - March 8, 2007

Students and Teachers Honored With 100 Service-Learning Grants - February 21, 2007

Students Call for National Post-Katrina College Summit, April 9-14 - February 18, 2007

Growing Number of Colleges Provide Tuition Aid to AmeriCorps Alums - February 7, 2007

Corporation for National Service CEO Message on Fiscal Year 2008 Budget - February 5, 2007

Upcoming Volunteer Research from Corporation for National Service- January 30, 2007

Fifth Anniversary of USA Freedom Corps, 2007 - January 25, 2007

Call to Service: National & Global Youth Service Day - January 14, 2007

January is National Mentoring Month - January 1, 2007

 


2007

Kansas Corps Forums - Coming Soon

Kansas Corps is a pool of student volunteers from Kansas colleges and universities who serve the public the public service needs of the state of Kansas. The Kansas Corp will serve as a coordinating agency that will link various community service and volunteerism programs from Kansas higher education institutions for for the direct purpose of serving the citizens of Kansas.

Kansas Corps' planning committee will host four meetings around the state.  The focus groups will bring higher education institutions,  non-profit agencies and the private sector together to discuss the
formation of the Kansas Corps, implementation and support of the project.  The results of the focus groups will be presented to the Kansas Board of Regents.  For more information, see enclosed Kansas
Corps brochure.  

Focus group meeting dates are:
January 15 - FHSU Union – Hays - 9-11 a.m.
January 17 - Kansas Volunteer Commission -
924 SW Kansas, Topeka - 9 -11 a.m.
TBA - Wichita and Dodge City

Youth Service America Fall Update (Conference & Grants) - November 13, 2007

Youth Service Institute: Surfing the Wave of Change - December 12-14, 2007 San Diego, CA (Open to US and Overseas participants)Youth Service America invites you to attend the Youth Service Institute for three days of skill-building and innovation. Participants will gain tools and strategies to expand their organizations impact and scale by engaging in workshops that illustrate the strength and power of the youth service movement. The Institute will include over 200 participants from the service, service-learning, education, and youth development fields; and more than 20 workshops to include topics such as engaging government officials, leveraging media coverage, grant giving, Web 2.0 strategies, engaging juvenile justice system-involved youth, service-learning reflection, and much more. To learn more about the Youth Service Institute, please visit www.ysa.org/institute. Register by October 31st to receive the early-bird rate

Youth at the Center Grants (US applicants)Youth Service America (YSA) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of Justice are offering $2,000 grants to help organizations replicate successful youth engagement experiences. Successful applicants will involve youth in addressing the world's most pressing social issues, such as climate change, hunger, disease, nutrition, literacy, disaster relief, poverty, and more.  Eligible applicants are local, state, or national organizations that are part of a national network, organization, or broader coalition of organizations and want to replicate their successful youth engagement experience (for youth ages 5-25) throughout that network without a youth strategy. Examples include but are certainly not limited to: food banks, zoos, housing authorities, and other non-profit organizations addressing a social issue. Applicants should plan to use Global Youth Service Day as a primary vehicle to engage youth in the issue addressed. The grant can be used to promote participation in Global Youth Service Day 2008 and 2009. Therefore, applicants are encouraged to pursue funding for an effort that takes place over a multi-year period.  For more information, visit www.YSA.org/awards. Deadline: November 30, 2007.                                                                                                                  

**Please note the following awards are not offered by YSA, so please use the contact information given below if you have any questions.**

State Farm's Service-Learning Champion Award (US and Canadian applicants). State Farm created the Service-Learning Champion Award to recognize a non-traditional advocate of service-learning by acknowledging the valuable role played by a business or community leader who has partnered with youth in advancing the cause of service-learning. This award is designed to recognize a community member, business partner, or public official whose contribution was instrumental to the success of a youth led service-learning project. This annual award will be presented to the recipient at the National Service-Learning Conference in April in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Transportation, lodging, and conference registration costs for the award recipient will be provided by State Farm. For more information, visit: http://www.statefarm.com/about/part_spos/topics/nom_slchamp.asp. Deadline: December 1, 2007.

Arts Connect All Grants (US applicants) VSA Arts and MetLife Foundation announce grants of up to $15,000 to support the creation and enhancement of educational programs that incorporate inclusive teaching practices; provide access to students with all types of disabilities; develop social, cognitive, and artistic skills; involve people with disabilities in planning and implementation; build staff, teacher, and/or artist knowledge and skill of inclusive practices; and collaborate with public schools, actively engaging students, parents, and school administrators.  Application materials available at http://www.vsarts.org/x273.xml Deadline: December 7, 2007.

Mercy Corps Awards US High School Students (US applicants)Mercy Corps Global Action Awards honor U.S. high school students who have led a project that had a direct, positive impact on people in developing countries and that raised awareness about global poverty. Honorees receive $5,000 for their education or a charity of their choice. To check out last year's winners, visit www.globalactionawards.org. U.S. high school students and recent graduates can apply today at www.globalactionawards.org. Deadline: January 31, 2008.

Coming Soon....Disney Minnie Grants for Global Youth Service Day 2008 (US and Overseas applicants)The next round of Disney Minnie grants ($500) will be available in November 2007 for projects to take place on GYSD 2008, April 25-27. The Disney grants are to support youth-led projects (led by younger youth, ages 5-14). Individual youth as well as organizations that engage youth are eligible to apply. Visit http://ysa.org/AwardsGrants/GrantsWinnersList/Disneygrantees2007/tabid/215/Default.aspx to view past winners. Deadline will be in January 2008.

Oppurtunity to Host National Conference - Novemeber 13, 2007

We are pleased to announce an exciting opportunity open to schools across
the country. Break Away: The Alternative Break Connection will be taking
proposals through November for locations to host our 2008 summer Alternative
Break Citizenship Schools (ABCs). In the past, we have been hosted by Brown
University, Emory University, Florida International University, University
of Utah, and Vanderbilt University - to name a few. The ABCs combine the
synergy and networking opportunities of a national conference with the
personal and team growth aspects of an intimate leadership training. All
activities are presented within the dynamic atmosphere of a quality
alternative break experience. It is an experience like no other; it combines
workshops, service projects, community interaction, speaker panels,
team-building, discussions, and reflection. Participants synthesize
knowledge and skills gained during workshops with educational contact from
community and student and staff leaders from campuses nationwide.

If your school is interested in hosting this event you will have the
opportunity to send up to four participants at no cost to your program. We
have attached the application to this e-mail; please consider this
outstanding opportunity!

For more details, go to http://alternativebreaks.org/abcs.asp.

Community-Campus Partnership for Health Award Applications Open - Novemeber 7, 2007

Nominations are due February 12, 2008 for the Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH) Annual Award! http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/awards.html

The CCPH Annual Award recognizes exemplary partnerships between communities and higher educational institutions that build on each other's strengths to improve higher education, civic engagement, and the overall health of communities. The intent of the award is to highlight the power and potential of community-campus partnerships as a strategy for social justice. The award recognizes partnerships that are striving to achieve the systems and policy changes needed to overcome the root
causes of health, social and economic inequalities. Award-winning partnerships embody the CCPH principles of partnership (see http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/principles.html#principles).

Partnerships must nominate themselves and need not be members of CCPH. We welcome nominations in English from any country or nation.

Public recognition of the award-winning partnership's achievements will be made at an award presentation ceremony at the 3rd Community-University Exposition (CUexpo) Conference, May 4-7, 2008 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. In lieu of our own major conference in 2008, we are delighted to be a core sponsor of CUexpo and thrilled that conference organizers have graciously agreed to provide the ideal venue for presenting the award. We hope you will plan to join us for the conference whether you submit an award nomination or not! Session proposals are due November 15, 2007 - details at http://www.cuexpo08.ca/

Learn more about the CCPH Annual Award - including instructions for submitting a nomination, information on past award recipients and honorable mentions, and answers to frequently asked questions - at http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/awards.html

Questions about the CCPH Annual Award should be sent to award06@u.washington.edu

Effective Practices for Make a Difference Day

Make A Difference Day is the largest national day of helping others - a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors. Everyone can participate. The next event is Saturday, October 27, 2007. Learn how to get involved at www.usaweekend.com/diffday/.

Here are some ideas from the Effective Practices Collection to help get you started.


Planning the logistics of a volunteer service project
http://snipurl.com/EPC_4836

Volunteering by, in, and with low-income communities
http://snipurl.com/EPC_840

Providing childcare to increase participation in neighborhood events
http://snipurl.com/EPC_1007

Collaborating to develop service programming to address community needs
http://snipurl.com/EPC_857

Generating a list of 100 ways teens can serve their communities
http://snipurl.com/EPC_780

Matching the right volunteer with the right assignment
http://snipurl.com/EPC_539

Break Away Call For Proposals

Break Away: The Alternative Break Connection will be taking
proposals through November for locations to host our 2008 summer Alternative
Break Citizenship Schools (ABCs). In the past, we have been hosted by Brown
University, Emory University, Florida International University, University
of Utah, and Vanderbilt University -  to name a few.  The ABCs combine the
synergy and networking opportunities of a national conference with the
personal and team growth aspects of an intimate leadership training. All
activities are presented within the dynamic atmosphere of a quality
alternative break experience. It is an experience like no other; it combines
workshops, service projects, community interaction, speaker panels,
team-building, discussions, and reflection. Participants synthesize
knowledge and skills gained during workshops with educational contact from
community and student and staff leaders from campuses nationwide.

If your school is interested in hosting this event you will have the
opportunity to send up to four participants at no cost to your program. We
have attached the application to this e-mail; please consider this
outstanding opportunity!

For more details, go to http://alternativebreaks.org/abcs.asp.

Democracy 2.0 Petition Available for Students

The Democracy 2.0 Declaration of Our Generation is a short statement describing a citizen-centered approach to democracy. It will call attention to where government is succeeding and failing and will be a call to action for our citizens to help create this new form of democracy.

Please help spread the word about the Democracy 2.0 Declaration -- a statement created by hundreds of young people about what they want to see their democracy be and become -- and encourage people to sign online, in order to ensure that as many voices as possible as included in the process as we continue to revisit and redraft what we hope to be a long-living document. More information can be found at mobilize.org.

 

The Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility

The Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility  states, "I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work."  Students define for themselves what it means to be socially and environmentally responsible. Students at over a hundred colleges and universities  are using the pledge at some level. The schools involved include liberal arts colleges (Whitman and Macalester); state universities (Indiana University and University of Colorado), private research universities (Harvard University and University of  Pennsylvania), and schools outside the U.S. (Taiwan and Canada). The Pledge is also now found at graduate and professional schools, as well  as high schools.  

Graduates who voluntarily signed the pledge have turned down jobs with which they did not feel comfortable and have worked to make changes once on the job. For example, they have promoted recycling at their organization, removed racist language from a training manual, worked for gender parity in high school athletics, and helped to convince an employer to refuse a chemical weapons-related contract. 

Humboldt State University in California initiated the pledge, Manchester College coordinated the campaign effort for ten years, and Bentley College took over the reigns in the 2007-2008 school year. The project has taken different forms at different institutions. At Manchester, it is a community-wide event involving students, faculty, and staff. Typically, over fifty percent of students sign and keep a wallet-size card stating the pledge, while students and supportive faculty wear green ribbons at commencement. (At a few schools, a different color ribbon is used.) The pledge is printed in the formal commencement program.  

Depending upon the school, it might take several years to reach this level of institutionalization.  If one can get a few groups/departments involved, and get some media attention on (and off) campus, it will get others interested and build for the future. The project has been covered by newspapers (e.g., USA Today); magazines (e.g., Business Week), national radio networks (for instance, ABC); and local T.V. stations (like in Ft. Wayne, IN) 

In a sense, the Pledge operates at three levels: students making choices about their employment; schools educating about values and citizenship rather than only knowledge and skills; and the workplace and society being concerned about more than just the bottom line. The impact is immense even if only a significant minority of the one million U. S. college graduates each year sign and live out the Pledge.  

Students do good deeds, pump up transcripts
Story by Campus Compact.org

Students who want to do more for their communities can do so while earning college credit. The Center for Service Learning provides students with the opportunity to make a difference and become certified in service learning.

Students who want to become more involved in the community can earn college credit for their efforts. In correlation with the Center for Service Learning, faculty and students participate in group activities that examine problems in communities.

Students then work to help solve those problems by doing a variety of tasks, going on alternative breaks or becoming a volunteer. Students can also become certified in service learning.

» Read the full article from The University Daily Kansan.

New Forum for Democracy Web site launched

Forum for Democracy, a non-partisan free web site, is launching its' Beta version on Monday, October 8th.  Youth Service America would like to invite you, your friends, family and associates to weigh in on either side of the public policy debates they are conducting on a weekly basis at their forum.   They are encouraging informed and well researched responses including not only blogging but video and all forms of citizen journalism which you are encourage to upload to their site. 

Once formally launched they will be awarding free trips, prizes and scholarships to the best and brightest solution based participants.  The aggregated majority and minority opinions will be presented to our elected representatives in Washington, D. C. as an expression of the Voice of We the People.   In time you will be able to earn college credit for your participation.  Please visit www.forumfordemocracy.com.


New Federal Report Shows Volunteering Strong in America

A new federal report found that 61.2 million Americans volunteered in 2006 – a figure that approaches historic highs – while pointing out that one in three Americans dropped out of volunteering between 2005 and 2006. The report shows Kansas 5th in the national rank of volunteers by state.

“Volunteering in America: 2007 State Trends and Rankings in Civic Life,” is the second annual study by the Corporation for National and Community Service that gives a detailed breakdown of America’s volunteering habits and patterns by state and region. The report, which was released today, also provides the agency’s first-ever ranking of levels of civic engagement by state through a new Civic Life Index. It is available at http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/volunteering/index.asp.

"This new report is a landmark in civic renewal,” said Robert Putnam, the Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University and author of the highly influential book, Bowling Alone. “It tells all Americans how we and our neighbors are doing as citizens. Citizenship is not a spectator sport, and we can all do better. This report points the way."

The 61.2 million adults who volunteered in the United States in 2006 represent 26.7 percent of the population. Using Independent Sector’s estimate of the dollar value of a volunteer’s time, the 8.1 billion hours Americans volunteered last year equates to a value of $152 billion dollars, a powerful economic impact to the entire nation.

While volunteering remains at historically high levels compared to past decades, the volunteer rate declined between 2005 and 2006. One key reason is volunteer attrition. Of the 65.4 million people who volunteered in 2005, 20.9 million did not continue to volunteer in 2006, the highest attrition rate in four years.

“This report is a wake up call for any group that uses volunteers: If you want to keep them, you need to give them serious and meaningful work that affects change in your community; and you have to remember to train, manage, and thank them they way you would any valued colleague,” said Corporation CEO David Eisner. “The bottom line is volunteering isn’t just nice, its necessary to solving some of our toughest social challenges. The only way to tackle the hard challenge of illiteracy, youth violence, poverty and other problems is if Americans rally together.”

Among the findings, the study reveals that females volunteer at significantly higher rates than do males; that religious organizations continue to be the most popular venue through which volunteers serve (35.3%), and that 32.2% of Baby Boomers are volunteers. As this group ages, they could double the number of older volunteers by 2034.

On the state level, Utah again led the nation in having the highest volunteering rate, followed by Nebraska, Minnesota, Alaska and Kansas. Washington D.C. and Massachusetts experienced the largest increase in volunteering of any of the 50 states between 2002 and 2006; the Midwest had the highest volunteer rate for adults, college students, Baby Boomers and older adults; and Connecticut experienced the largest growth in volunteering over the last two decades: almost doubling their volunteer rate. Minnesota and Idaho were the two top states for volunteer retention, with approximately 75 percent of volunteers continuing to volunteer year after year.

The report includes a new Civic Life Index, which uses 12 indicators to gauge state levels of community and civic engagement over time. The index was developed in consultation with Putnam and other experts and includes measures of volunteering (including state volunteer rates and state volunteer hours per capita); neighborhood engagement (including rates of working with your neighbors to improve the community and attending public meetings); voting rates in 2004 and 2006; and nonprofit organizations per capita, according to Robert T. Grimm, Jr., the agency’s Director of Research and Policy Development.

“A growing body of research demonstrates that volunteering and other community activities lead to better health, more happiness and greater prosperity in neighborhoods and states,” Grimm said. “When people volunteer, they not only spread good will, they also solve tough problems and create tangible benefits for their communities. The evidence confirms that volunteering and high levels of civic participation are vital to a healthy society.”

The Civic Life index found that states with higher volunteer rates are extremely likely to also have higher civic index scores; that Montana ranked first in civic life, followed by Vermont, Alaska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota, Iowa, Oregon, Maine, and Missouri; and that the Midwest had the highest Civic Life Index among all the regions.

The Corporation is the nation’s largest grant maker for volunteering and service, and it administers the Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs. It is working with President Bush’s USA Freedom and a broad-based coalition of nonprofit, corporate, and government leaders to increase the number of volunteers in America to 75 million by the year 2010.

To help organizations better recruit and retain volunteers, the Corporation has produced a new online resource tool in response to the study’s findings on volunteer attrition. Developed by experts in volunteer management from the Points of Light Foundation and the Hands On Network, the free “Resources for Retention” how-to guide can be viewed at www.nationalservice.gov/resources.

As part of the report, the Census Bureau for the first time collected information on the level of informal volunteering in America. More than 5.3 million Americans worked with their neighbors to fix or improve something their community even though they did not volunteer through a formal organization.

“Out of the tragedy of 9/11 and the devastation of the hurricanes has come an unmistakable good: a strong interest in volunteering and community involvement, said Eisner. “America needs more volunteers to mentor youth, care for seniors, and meet other social needs. I encourage any American who wants to make a difference to visit www.volunteer.gov to find the right volunteer opportunity for you.”

For more information on this report, click here.

 


America to Thank its 61 Million Volunteers Next Week
Washington, D.C.
April 13, 2007

The nation’s 61.2 million volunteers will be honored in events across the nation as part of National Volunteer Week, April 15-22.

“The optimism and determination of our country’s volunteers reflect the true spirit and strength of our nation. My administration encourages Americans to seize the opportunity to help someone in need,” said President Bush in a proclamation issued yesterday celebrating National Volunteer Week.

The proclamation kicks off a week of volunteer service projects and special recognition events to thank America’s volunteers. Events will involve Americans of all ages and backgrounds and are aimed at thanking America’s volunteers and encouraging more to get involved. Americans who want to volunteer are encouraged to visit http://www.volunteer.gov to find a volunteer opportunity in their community.

National Volunteer Week began in 1974 when President Richard Nixon signed an executive order establishing an annual celebration of volunteering. Every president since has signed a proclamation promoting the week. The 2007 theme is "Inspire By Example" because it reflects the power volunteers have to inspire the people they help, as well as, to inspire others to serve.

To kick off the week, the Corporation for National and Community Service will release Volunteering in America: 2007 State Trends and Rankings in Civic Life report on Monday, April 16. The second annual report gives a detailed breakdown of America’s volunteering demographics, habits, and patterns by state and region and ranks states on various measure of volunteering. For the first time, the study also includes a Civic Life index to gauge the level of volunteering; neighborhood engagement; voting; and civic and nonprofit infrastructure by state.

In honor of their service to their communities and our country, thousands of volunteers will receive the President’s Volunteer Service Award, presented by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. The Council is charged with recognizing the important contributions Americans of all ages are making within their communities through service and civic engagement.

“This week we thank America’s most valuable assets – our volunteers. From schools and shelters to hospitals and hotlines, volunteers are essential to our nation’s social and economic well-being,” said Corporation CEO David Eisner. “As we pay tribute, we must redouble our efforts to engage more Americans in serving their communities and country.”

The Corporation for National and Community Service is the nation’s largest grantmaker supporting service and volunteering. Last year, participants in the Corporation’s Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs provided more than 218 million hours of service and mobilized an additional 1.8 million community volunteers. The Corporation is working with President Bush’s USA Freedom and a broad-based coalition of nonprofit, corporate, and government leaders to increase the number of volunteers in America to 75 million by the year 2010.

Also next week, millions of youth will participate in the 19th Annual National & Global Youth Service Day on April 20-22, 2007. The goals of the day are to mobilize youth to identify and address the needs of their communities through service, to support youth on a life-long path of service and civic engagement, and to educate the public, the media, and policymakers about the year-round contributions of young people as community leaders.

 


43 Campuses Host National Post-Katrina College Summit: Students Demand
100,000 Jobs for Gulf Coast Residents
San Jose, California
April 10, 2007

Today, students and faculty at 43 campuses across the nation simultaneously kicked-off the "National Post-Katrina College Summit," a week-long effort to raise awareness about the crisis in the Gulf Coast, and to promote federal legislation for a New Deal-style jobs program for the region.   
 
Some of the leading campuses in the country, including NYU, Princeton, Michigan, Stanford, California, Tulane, Xavier, LSU, and San José State, are hosting the National Post-Katrina College Summit.  The attendance at the 40 summit events is expected to top 10,000 students.
 
Summit events taking place this week include a jazz procession across campus (Hamline University), documentary films (many campuses are showing Spike Lee's film "When the Levees Broke"), speakers (Lt. General Russel Honore, one of the heroes of Hurricane Katrina, is speaking at the University of Michigan), blood drives (CSU Fullerton), petition drives (every campus), and reading the names of the 1784 Katrina victims (SJSU and University of Nevada at Reno).  

This summit has been initiated by the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, which is the national effort to develop federal legislation for 100,000 WPA-like jobs for Gulf Coast residents to rebuild their communities.  The cost of the program, which includes job training, is approximately $4 billion.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project has received support from several key allies, among which are Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, Chair of Homeland Security Committee, and two of the major grassroots organizations in the region: Louisiana ACORN and All Congregations Together (ACT).

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project is the national effort to develop federal legislation
to create 100,000 jobs to rebuild the region using Gulf Coast residents.

For more information, please see www.SolvingPoverty.com.

 


Disadvantaged Teens Benefit from Volunteering, But Do it Less than Better-Off Peers
Washington, D.C.
April 9, 2007

A new federal study has found that volunteering produces many positive benefits for teens from low-income backgrounds - they become empowered, are more likely to volunteer and become politically engaged, and believe they will graduate from college and make a difference in their communities.

But the study by the Corporation for National and Community Service also found a disturbing “class gap” in teen volunteer rates.  Youth from disadvantaged circumstances have a volunteer rate of 43 percent, compared to 59 percent for other youth.  They are also much less likely than other youth to take part in service-learning or school civic clubs.

“This study highlights service as one of our most effective and positive interventions in a young person's life.  For youth at risk of hopelessness and despair, service builds social networks, trust, confidence, skills, initiative and lots of other tools that can help them succeed in life,” said Corporation CEO David Eisner.  “We need to do two things: reach more disadvantaged youth through service, and help more providers of youth services to engage young people as assets rather than simply treating them as clients.”

The study, “Leveling the Path to Participation: Volunteering and Civic Engagement among Youth from Disadvantaged Circumstances,” is the third of the Youth Helping America series of reports based on interviews with 3,178 American youth ages 12 to 18 conducted between January and March of 2005.  The full report is available on the Corporation’s website.

The overall rate of teen volunteering is robust and is on the rise.  In 2004, more than 15.5 million teenagers volunteered, contributing more than 1.3 billion hours of service.  That translates into a rate of 55 percent, more than double the rate of adults.  The rate of volunteering among older teenagers (ages 16-19) today is more than double what it was in 1989.

Youth experts have long believed that the act of serving others can build confidence, a sense of responsibility, and social connectedness that is beneficial both to the young volunteer and the larger community.  The study confirmed that youth from disadvantaged backgrounds who volunteer demonstrated more positive civic attitudes and behaviors than youth from disadvantaged backgrounds who didn’t: 

● Almost 40% more likely to believe that they can make some difference or a great deal of difference in their community (70% and 51%, respectively).

● Nearly 50% more likely to say they are very likely to graduate from a four-year college (76% and 51%, respectively).

● Twice as likely to discuss politics with their parents, other adults, or friends. 

● 3.5 times more likely to say they are very likely to volunteer in the next year (52% to 15%, respectively).   

In looking at where youth from disadvantaged backgrounds volunteer, clear patterns emerge.  They are more likely to volunteer with religious organizations and less likely to volunteer with youth civic or leadership groups.  Forty-eight percent of youth from disadvantaged backgrounds say they volunteer because of their religious or spiritual beliefs, compared to 36 percent of other youth volunteers.  In addition, 39 percent of youth from disadvantaged circumstances who volunteer do so through religious congregations, compared to 33 percent of other youth.  This suggests that faith-based organizations are a key pathway for engaging more youth from disadvantaged backgrounds in service.

School is another key driver of volunteering by youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. Youth are most likely to volunteer because they are asked, and a teacher is the most likely person to make the request.  This finding suggests the importance of expanding service-learning to more classrooms in America.  Service-learning – a teaching method that combines academic instruction with community service -- has proven to be especially effective in helping students from disadvantaged backgrounds become more engaged in learning and do better in school. 

In looking at motivations, youth from disadvantaged circumstances gave the same primary reason for volunteering as their peers from higher income backgrounds: the importance of helping others.  But the groups split ways when asked about other motivations to volunteer.  Youth from disadvantaged circumstances are much more likely than non-disadvantaged youth to be motivated to volunteer in order to gain work experience.  This finding suggests that organizations aiming to attract youth from disadvantaged backgrounds into service should make sure to offer volunteer opportunities that can provide useful work and career skills. 

The Corporation for National and Community Service has a long history of investing in programs that engage youth from low-income families in service, and has recently stepped up those efforts.  Tens of thousands of young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds serve in youth corps that are part of the agency’s AmeriCorps program, gaining valuable skills and money for college while meeting local environmental and public safety needs.  More than 400,000 students from low-income backgrounds engage in K-12 service-learning programs supported by the Corporation’s Learn and Serve America program each year.

Building on those efforts, the Corporation released a five-year strategic plan in 2006 that set a national goal of engaging more than three million youth from disadvantaged circumstances in service by the year 2010.  In addition to emphasizing this goal in grants and program guidelines, the agency is launching a “Summer of Service,” a new initiative to engage youth, particularly those from disadvantaged circumstances, in high-quality, service-related activity during the summer months.  The Corporation is encouraging camps and other youth organizations to include community service and service-learning as part of their summer activities.  As part of this effort, the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps is operating a three-week residential program of community service for youth ages 14 to 17 in three cities—Charleston, SC;  Denver, CO; and New Orleans, LA.

“Over and over, we’ve seen how service can have a powerful impact on a young person’s life,” said Eisner.  “By starting early and unleashing the energy and idealism of young people, we can help meet pressing needs and create a generation of lifelong citizens.”

Data for the report came from the 2005 Youth Volunteering and Civic Engagement Survey, conducted by the Corporation for National and Community Service in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau and Independent Sector.  For purposes of this analysis, youth were considered to be from disadvantaged circumstances when their family's income was less than or equal to 200 percent of the poverty level, following the 2005 federal poverty guidelines.  The first two reports in the Youth Helping America Series are titled “Building Active Citizens: The Role of Social Institutions in Teen Volunteering” (November 2005) and “Educating for Active Citizenship: Service-Learning, School-Based Service, and Civic Engagement” (March 2006) and are available on the CNCS Research and Policy webpage.

 


National Council on Workplace Volunteerism Achieves Important Milestone
Washington, D.C.
March 29, 2007

The National Council on Workplace Volunteerism announced today that its member companies have involved more than 463,000 employee volunteers who have donated nine million hours to employee volunteer programs in 2006.

“We are delighted to report that we have achieved this important milestone,” says Diane Melley, the new chair of the Council, which is a program of the Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Melley is Director for the IBM On Demand Community initiative, IBM’s global strategic effort to support employee and retiree volunteer efforts worldwide. On Demand Community is utilized by more than 70,000 IBM employees and 10,000 IBM retirees in more than 68 countries. It reflects well over 4.5 million hours of community volunteer efforts by “IBMers.”

“American businesses have long been committed to community service,” adds Melley, “and they continue to galvanize their resources by partnering with colleagues and competitors alike to strengthen their communities.

Workplace volunteering is defined as a planned, managed effort under the leadership of the employer. More than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies have volunteer programs, and workplace volunteering has become a critical element of the strategic plans of many businesses.

The National Council on Workplace Volunteerism is dedicated to standardizing best practices in the field of employee volunteerism. The Council works on a national level in partnership with local volunteer organizations to further the field of workplace volunteerism. Its members represent NGOs, Volunteer Centers and Corporations with more than 10 million employees.

Members of the Council include: The American Association of Community Colleges, Deloitte Services, LP, Federated Department Stores, Inc., General Mills Inc., The Home Depot, the IBM Corporation, KPMG LLP, Levi Strauss & Co./Levi Strauss Foundation, The McKesson Foundation, Morgan Stanley, Oracle USA, Readers Digest, The Salt River Project, Time Warner, Inc., United Way Volunteer Engagement, the Verizon Foundation, Wachovia Corporation and The Walt Disney Company.

The Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network engages and mobilizes millions of volunteers who are helping to solve serious social problems in thousands of communities. Through a variety of programs and services, they encourage people from all walks of life - businesses, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, low-income communities, families, youth and older adults - to volunteer.

 


CMT One Country and Youth Service America Join Forces for National & Global Youth Service Day
Washington, D.C.
March 27, 2007

Rising Country Star Taylor Swift is Honorary Spokesperson for National & Global Youth Service Day

CMT One Country, the pro-social initiative for cable network CMT, and Youth Service America have joined forces to help motivate youth in America for National & Global Youth Service Day on April 20-22, the largest volunteering event in the world.  Rising country star Taylor Swift will be the honorary spokesperson for National & Global Youth Service Day on behalf of CMT One Country and Youth Service America, speaking publicly on behalf of the event on radio, television and print opportunities.  Events for National & Global Youth Service Day kick-off Friday, April 20 and run through Sunday, April 22.

“I am grateful to Youth Service America and CMT One Country for being given the opportunity to speak on behalf of my generation about the importance of volunteering,” said Swift.  “Volunteerism has become increasingly important in today’s society and I am happy to represent a generation that is taking action in their communities and adopting an attitude that contributes to the world around them.”

“The goals of National & Global Youth Service Day directly align with those of CMT One Country,” said Lucia Folk, director of public affairs, CMT. “Taylor Swift, with her youth and popularity, serves a vital function of speaking directly to a younger audience, one that will grow up in an environment that lauds community service.  CMT One Country’s partnership with Youth Service America will assist in re-affirming our commitment to encourage civic participation among all age groups.”

“Young people are constantly told that they are the hope of tomorrow. At Youth Service America we believe that youth are the hope of today,” said Steve Culbertson, president and CEO of Youth Service America. “They have amazing energy, commitment, idealism, and creativity. There is every reason for them to address the problems facing the world today, not tomorrow. And with Taylor Swift as our spokesperson, who embodies what we see young people doing every day, we hope to shine a bright light on the huge misunderstanding about young people’s greatness.”

Taylor Swift is one of country music’s hottest-rising stars.  She has enjoyed tremendous success since first bursting onto the scene in 2006 with her chart-topping debut single "Tim McGraw."  Since that time, her self-titled album has been certified Gold by the RIAA and she is currently nominated for a 2007 CMT MUSIC AWARD for BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR and an ACM award for Best New Female Vocalist.  Swift previously toured with hot acts Rascal Flatts and George Strait.  The 17-year-old rising star has also made a splash in the national media spotlight with appearances on ABC’s Good Morning America, NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and FOX’s Fox & Friends and The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet.

CMT One Country, CMT's pro-social initiative, was launched in the fall of 2005 to promote civic participation and inspire CMT viewers to take action and bring about important change in their communities.  CMT One Country partners include America’s Second Harvest, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Habitat for Humanity, Hands On Network and the USO (United Service Organizations).  Led by Advisory Board members President Jimmy Carter, Maya Angelou and General Colin Powell, whose combined service to America is legendary, CMTONECOUNTRY.com aims to offer tools to help anyone start making a difference immediately.  For more information: www.CMTONECOUNTRY.com. 

CMT, America’s No. 1 country music network, carries original programming, specials, and live concerts and events, as well as a mix of videos by established country music artists and new cutting-edge acts, including world premiere exclusive videos. Founded March 6, 1983, CMT, owned and operated by MTV Networks, reaches 84 million households in the United States. Go to country music’s biggest web site at www.CMT.com.

National & Global Youth Service Day (April 20-22, 2007), the largest service event in the world, mobilizes youth to identify and address the needs of their communities through service-learning and community service. The event is organized by Youth Service America (YSA) with the support of State Farm Companies Foundation as the Presenting Sponsor. More than 115 National Partners and 51 Lead Agencies throughout the United States organize projects. Overseas, National Lead Agencies in 118 countries around the world manage national events. Planning Tool Kits, Service-Learning Curriculum Guides, classroom posters, grants, and more are available for youth, parents, teachers and organizations. For the U.S. Map of Service Projects for National & Global Youth Service Day 2007: www.YSA.org/map.

Youth Service America is a national nonprofit resource center that partners with thousands of organizations committed to increasing the quality and quantity of volunteer opportunities for young people ages 5-25, to serve locally, nationally, and globally. Founded in 1986, Youth Service America’s mission is to expand the impact of the youth service movement with communities, schools, corporations, and governments. In addition to National & Global Youth Service Day, which take place concurrently each April, YSA also hosts SERVEnet (www.SERVEnet.org), providing the largest database of volunteer opportunities in America. For more information: www.YSA.org.

 


National & Global Youth Service Day throughout Kansas
Manhattan, Kansas
March 22, 2007

Please accept this invitation for colleges and universities in Kansas to serve, learn, and share during National Volunteer Week (April 15-21, 2007), National & Global Youth Service Day (April 20-22, 2007), and Earth Day, April 21, 2007. Share with us the activities that your campuses will coordinate in April.

Send us your campus name, the student/community organizations involved, and a brief description of activities. It will be placed on a special KsCC webpage for National & Global Youth Service Day. Let’s show our communities that we are truly concerned about the environmental health of our state!

 


Former President Bush to Address National Conference on Volunteering & Service
Washington, D.C.
March 20, 2007

Former President George H.W. Bush will be the featured speaker at the 2007 National Conference on Volunteering & Service, scheduled for July 16-18, 2007 in Philadelphia.  Also speaking will be Alma Powell, who founded America’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth, along with her husband, General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), in 1997. 

The conference, which will be held at the Philadelphia Convention Center, is the premiere training and education event in volunteer management, community volunteering and national service leadership for nonprofit organizations, business, government agencies and Volunteer Centers.  Registration information will be available at www.nationalservice.org by the end of March. 

It was President Bush’s vision of “a thousand points of light” describing America’s spirit of volunteering that helped initiate the movement leading to the creation of the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network, which are co-sponsors of the annual conference. 

“We are thrilled that President Bush and Mrs. Powell will join us in Philadelphia,” says Robert Goodwin, President & CEO of the Foundation.  “Their vision will inspire us to find greater ways to engage more volunteers more effectively to address America’s serious social problems.” 

The theme of the 2007 conference is “The Power of We,” which was developed with input from volunteer and community leaders from Philadelphia and surrounding areas.  “’The Power of We’ emphasizes the power of collective action to solve our problems,” says David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service.  “This has been a hallmark of America’s character since our founding that is more important today than ever before. 

“By evoking the profound opening words of the U.S. Constitution – ‘We the People’ – this theme also both connects us to Philadelphia’s history and the world-changing democratic ideas of our founders while also calling us to action in the present day – our never-ending work of building a more perfect union,” he added. 

The National Conference on Volunteering and Service is the nation’s largest gathering on volunteering, where more than 2,500 leaders, thinkers and doers come together for three days of education, discussion and professional networking. Joined by leading federal and state officials, and executives from the business community, the attendees at this conference set the tone and agenda for community service in America and around the world. 

The conference brings together volunteer program managers, policy makers and participants from businesses; Volunteer Centers; Federal, state and local governments; national, local and international nonprofits; faith-based service programs; and service programs from top colleges and universities. The 2007 conference offers more than 130 workshops and seminars focusing on a variety of topics from corporate volunteering to recruiting youth and seniors into community service. 

The Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network supports the vital work of millions of volunteers who are helping to solve serious social problems in thousands of communities nationwide. For more information about local volunteer opportunities, call 1-800-VOLUNTEER or click here.

The Corporation for National and Community Service strives to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering by providing opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country. The Corporation administers the Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs. Together with the USA Freedom Corps, the Corporation is working to build a culture of citizenship, service and responsibility in America. For more information, visit http://www.nationalservice.gov.

 


CMT One Country Is Partnering With Youth Service America For National & Global Youth Service Day

New York, New York
March 15, 2007

“The Power of One,” the latest campaign by Country Music Television’s (CMT) pro-social initiative, CMT One Country, urges CMT viewers to get involved in their community through civic participation and volunteerism.  CMT One Country is reaching out to CMT fans to let them know about the opportunity to get involved with National & Global Youth Service Day (April 20-22, 2007) events all over the country. CMT One Country also rewards volunteers for making a difference in their communities by giving them the opportunity to win rewards from CMT.  If you want to learn more about CMT One Country and how you can win rewards for the good work you already do, go to www.CMTONECOUNTRY.com. 

 


Hands On Network Gets 50 VISTA Volunteers To Fight Poverty In Southern States
New Orleans, Louisiana
March 15, 2007

The Corporation for National and Community Service will deploy 50 AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteers to five southern states, where they will engage low-income residents to fight poverty and improve lives, CEO David Eisner announced today.

Under an agreement with the nonprofit Hands On Network, the VISTAs will leverage resources and mobilize more volunteers to confront critical needs in southern states with high concentrations of poverty.

“By bringing the poverty-fighting passion and community organizing skills of our VISTAs and putting them to work within the entrepreneurial civic engagement network of Hands On, we can help many American communities solve some of the toughest poverty-related problems they face – mostly by turning to their own citizens as resources,'' said Eisner, signing the agreement along with Hands On Network CEO, co-founder Michelle Nunn today at a ceremony in New Orleans. “It's fitting that we announce this partnership here on the Gulf Coast, where VISTAs and other AmeriCorps members and Hands On Network have already done so much good for so many. We're excited about the prospect of doing even more.''

“We are incredibly excited about this tremendous opportunity and know from firsthand experience the amazing contributions that national service members can make,” said Nunn. “We have seen them in action here in New Orleans where they have been on the ground from the beginning and continue to provide exemplary leadership as Gulf Coast communities continue to rebuild and recover. These VISTA members have the capacity to recruit and manage thousands of additional volunteers to put their hands to work and create meaningful change for communities.”

Twenty VISTAs will be assigned to Hands On Action Centers to address poverty-related issues. In addition, 20 will focus on Hands On Programming – which includes such initiatives as the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, Hands On School and the Citizen Academy program – and 10 VISTAs will be assigned to expand the Hands On Volunteer Leaders program.

Total program support is estimated at $837,500 – approximately $600,000 for the 50 VISTAs and up to $237,500 in AmeriCorps Education Awards for members who complete their service.  

VISTA (Volunteers in Service To America) has been on the front lines of the fight against poverty for more than four decades.  Over the years, its 177,000 volunteers have established health clinics, neighborhood watches, literacy programs, and Upward Bound and Head Start programs.  Among other activities, VISTA members, who serve full time for a year, recruit community volunteers, raise funds, help manage projects, and otherwise build the capacity of nonprofit organizations to become sustainable. VISTA supports about 6,500 members annually, double the size since it became part of AmeriCorps in 1994.

The Corporation for National and Community Service improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering, providing service opportunities for millions of Americans of all ages and backgrounds. Corporation programs include Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. For more information, visit http://www.nationalservice.gov/

 


More than 20,000 Students Head to Gulf Coast For Spring Break Service Projects
Washington, D.C.
March 15, 2007

More than 18 months after Hurricane Katrina struck, the Gulf Coast is a major destination for students on their spring breaks. During this respite from classes, an estimated 20,000 students will trade vacations for volunteering, with thousands expected to participate in a host of projects run by organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and the Hands On Network.

Over the past decade, the "alternative spring break" movement-through which students perform community service projects during their vacation time-has taken off. Each year, thousands of students, mostly from colleges, but some high school students as well, build houses for low-income families, care for AIDS patients, and tutor inner-city children. The ongoing need for assistance in the rebuilding effort following Hurricane Katrina, has added a new urgency and interest to the movement.

"American college students represent the future promise of their communities and our nation," said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America. "This kind of committed service shows that they embrace their responsibility to heal other communities and to help others find their own promising future. These students are setting a fine example for all of us, and shining a spotlight on the kind of civic engagement that will make our communities healthy and strong."

As Emma O'Brien, an AmeriCorps NCCC member based in Sacramento, Calif., noted, "People really wanted to come down and see for themselves the difference they can make." O'Brien and hundreds of other AmeriCorps members are in the Gulf States, leading teams of students as they assist with the area's recovery.

For its part, the Corporation for National and Community Service has sent more than 5,700 AmeriCorps members in the Gulf Coast since the devastating 2005 hurricanes. AmeriCorps members serve with a variety of organizations, including the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, YouthBuild, conservation corps, and many smaller faith-based and community organizations. Among other activities, they are mucking out damaged homes, clearing debris, restoring parks, building new homes, and training and supervising volunteers, including college students on spring break.

Jill Piacitelli of Break Away, the Alternative Break Connection, noted that the hurricanes of 2005 prompted many colleges to sponsor alternative spring break trips last year. Afterward, "we got a lot of calls from people saying that we want to grow that program. Our chapter membership probably grew 15 percent from where it was last year."

The jump in spring break service trips this year reflects a larger trend of increased levels of volunteer service by America's college students. A comprehensive report on college volunteering released by the Corporation last fall found volunteering among college students has increased by 20 percent since 2005, more than double the growth in the adult volunteering rate. The study, College Students Helping America, found that 3.3 million college students volunteered in 2005 - nearly 600,000 more students than three years ago. The Corporation has set a national goal of increasing that number to 5 million college students and student associations, and nonprofit organizations toward that goal.

Organizations sending college students to the Gulf this year include:

The Corporation for National and Community Service provides opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country through three programs: Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. Together with the USA Freedom Corps, the Corporation is working to build a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility in America. For more information, visit www.nationalservice.gov.

 


New Report, Projections Show Nonprofits Must Make Better Use of Baby Boomer Volunteers
Washington, D.C.
March 8, 2007

The surge of Baby Boomers will increase volunteering by older adults by 50 percent by the year 2020 – and double the number of older adult volunteers by the year 2036, according to a report and projections released today by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

The first-ever study to track volunteering among a large sample of Baby Boomers from year to year, Keeping Baby Boomers Volunteering, found that Americans born between 1946 and 1964 want higher-skill assignments to keep them engaged, and it advised nonprofit organizations to re-imagine roles for that emerging crop of volunteers. The report also found that Baby Boomers are volunteering at higher rates than their predecessors – including the Greatest Generation – and that those who volunteer 12 weeks or more annually are most likely to serve year after year.

The Corporation’s “Volunteering Among Older Americans: Population Projections, 2007-2050,” released along with the report today, forecasts that the number of older Americans will continue to rise sharply for decades because the youngest Baby Boomers will not reach age 65 until 2029.

“The Boomer wave signals one of the largest opportunities the nonprofit sector has ever had to expand its pool of resources,” said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation. “Only the nonprofits that retool their ability to engage citizens will reap that reward.”

The report, which used Current Population Survey data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau in 1974, 1989 and from 2002 to 2006, found that three out of every 10 Boomers who volunteer today leave their organizations each year. It outlined key characteristics that lead to greater retention. The study found that:

“The Baby Boom generation gives our nation an unprecedented opportunity to increase the breadth and the scope of volunteering,” said Robert T. Grimm, Jr., Director of the Corporation’s Office of Research and Policy Development. “If we use the right approach, this population will continue their service and change the face of volunteering in America.”

Grimm said nonprofit organizations should examine charitable and human resources models for retention – cultivating volunteers the way an organization would a donor and providing professional development as many employers do for their staff.  Since other studies predict that trillions of dollars will be given to charities in the coming decades and that volunteering and giving behaviors are related, he said encouraging substantial volunteering makes good business sense for nonprofits because such efforts also could result in considerable monetary gifts to organizations that serve needs.

Baby Boomers’ relatively high volunteer rate today is tied to their education level and propensity to have children later in life. Previous studies have found education and having children are two key predictors of volunteer levels, which accounts in part for the fact that the volunteer rate for Baby Boomers is peaking later in life than past generations.  In fact, mid-life adults (age 45-64) are three times as likely to have a four-year college degree today as they were 15 years ago (from 11.5 percent to 29.5 percent).  Once their children leave, Baby Boomers could maintain relatively high volunteer rates because of their higher education levels, expectations that they will work later in life than previous generations, and good health. 

Eisner released the report today in Chicago at the Joint Conference of the American Society on Aging and the National Council on Aging to highlight the Corporation’s continued commitment to engaging Americans born between the boom years of 1946 and 1964.  The Corporation, nonprofits, and private-sector organizations launched the “Get Involved” campaign at the White House Conference on Aging in 2005 to promote national awareness and recruitment of Boomers. Last year, the Corporation unveiled its Strategic Plan, and one of the goals is harnessing Baby Boomers’ experience.

The Corporation for National and Community Service improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. Providing service opportunities for millions of Americans of all ages and backgrounds, Corporation programs include Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. The Corporation supports a national goal to recruit an additional 10 million volunteers by the year 2010. For more information, visit http://www.nationalservice.gov.

 


Students and Teachers Honored With 100 Service-Learning Grants
For National & Global Youth Service Day 2007
Washington, D.C.
February 21, 2007

Twenty-nine students between eight and 25-years-old and 71 teachers and service-learning coordinators were awarded the State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Grants for National & Global Youth Service Day, April 20-22 by Youth Service America and State Farm Companies Foundation. The $1,000 grants were awarded in 37 states encompassing all academic disciplines and designed to expose more people to the positive benefits of service-learning.

"The State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning grants open the door to our young people to become fully engaged participants and leaders," says Steven E. Culbertson, president and CEO of Youth Service America. "These grants will support young people as they step into meaningful decision-making roles and make important contributions to their schools, organizations, and communities. Studies have shown that students who participate in service-learning demonstrate increased civic and social responsibility and improved academic achievement."

"State Farm's philanthropic mission is to help build safer, stronger, and better educated communities," says Kristy Funk, assistant secretary, State Farm Companies Foundation.  "Partnering with organizations such as YSA promotes the company's commitment to helping raise achievement levels of our nation's teachers and students.  Service-Learning is important as it provides a connection between classroom academics and solving community issues, while linking school officials, parents, community members, and students together.  The service-learning grants are an excellent way to support the efforts of these students and teachers." 

A sampling of the causes that the youth are undertaking in their campaigns:

The profiles of the State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Projects happening for National & Global Youth Service Day in April are at:  www.ysa.org/awards/stateFarmWinnersList.cfm.

National & Global Youth Service Day (April 20-22, 2007), the largest service event in the world, mobilizes youth to identify and address the needs of their communities through service-learning and community service. The event is organized by Youth Service America (YSA) with the support of State Farm Companies Foundation as the Presenting Sponsor. More than 115 National Partners and 51 Lead Agencies throughout the United States organize projects. Overseas, National Lead Agencies in 118 countries around the world manage national events. Planning Tool Kits, Service-Learning Curriculum Guides, classroom posters, grants, and more are available for youth, parents, teachers and organizations. For the U.S. Map of Service Projects for National & Global Youth Service Day 2007: www.YSA.org/map.

Youth Service America is a national nonprofit resource center that partners with thousands of organizations committed to increasing the quality and quantity of volunteer opportunities for young people ages 5-25, to serve locally, nationally, and globally. Founded in 1986, Youth Service America’s mission is to expand the impact of the youth service movement with communities, schools, corporations, and governments. In addition to National & Global Youth Service Day, which take place concurrently each April, YSA also hosts SERVEnet (www.SERVEnet.org), providing the largest database of volunteer opportunities in America. For more information: www.YSA.org.

 


Students Call for National Post-Katrina College Summit, April 9-14
San Jose, California
February 18, 2007

Students from sixteen colleges, including Xavier, Tulane, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, San José State, Stanford, and University of Michigan have put out a call to all college campuses to participate in a "National Post-Katrina College Summit" for April 9-14.

The Post-Katrina College Summit will be a nationwide, weeklong effort to raise awareness about the Gulf Coast through documentary showings, speakers, spoken word, teach-ins, rallies, petition drives, and other events. The Summit is an attempt to catapult New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast back into the national consciousness and to promote federal legislation for a New Deal-style program for the Gulf Coast.

Tasha Easton, one of the student organizers from San José State University, states, "We are the richest nation in the world; yet we continue to have Americans from the Gulf Coast deprived of shelter, employment, and the faith of their government.  The Post-Katrina College Summit is part of our campaign to change this."

Working together as the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, students and faculty are calling for federal legislation to implement a civic works program in the Gulf Coast, creating 100,000 jobs for Gulf Coast residents to rebuild their communities. The cost of the program, which includes job training, is estimated to be $4 billion.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project has already received support from some key allies, among which are Congressman Bennie Thompson, Chair of Homeland Security, and Cornel West, one of the country's most prominent scholars.

This last January, over 100 college students from 15 colleges and universities traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana, and Gulf Port, Mississippi as part of "Louisiana Winter."  There they met with community leaders and residents of devastated areas to discuss the idea for a civic works project, and to hear directly from the residents about what should be included in the federal legislation.

The situation in the Gulf Coast is still grim. In New Orleans, over 200,000 homes were destroyed by Katrina. To date, only several hundred families have received funds to rebuild. Insurance companies have found ways to avoid making payouts, and residents can do little more to rebuild until these insurance companies come through.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project invites all student organizations from around the country to participate in the Post-Katrina College Summit. In addition to participating in the summit, students can also take action by gathering petition signatures, introduce resolutions to their city councils or state legislatures, and ask presidential candidates to focus their attention on the Gulf Coast.

Interested groups can contact the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project for ideas and resources. For more information, visit www.SolvingPoverty.com.

 


Growing Number of Colleges Provide Tuition Aid to AmeriCorps Alums
Washington, D.C.
February 7, 2007

New Web Page Launched to Spur Campus Service

A growing number of colleges and universities are providing tuition breaks, academic credit, and other assistance to students who have served their communities and country through the AmeriCorps national service program.

A new web page launched today by the Corporation for National and Community Service lists 69 institutions of higher education in 27 states that give scholarships and other aid to AmeriCorps alums.   The incentives range from waiving admission fees to offering $20,000 or more in tuition assistance.  More colleges are expected to provide scholarship aid to AmeriCorps alums as they recognize the caliber, leadership, and civic commitment of AmeriCorps graduates.  To view the list, click here.

“AmeriCorps alums are the future leaders of our country, and these colleges are wise to give tuition aid to attract them,” said David Eisner, CEO of AmeriCorps’ parent agency the Corporation for National and Community Service.  “AmeriCorps alums have the traits that universities value in their students-- problem-solving, compassion, leadership, and a commitment to public service.”

The web page was announced at the winter meeting of the Corporation’s Board of Directors, which featured a panel of experts sharing their thoughts on how to expand college service and civic engagement.   The panelists were Richard Rush, President of California State University, Channel Islands; Veronika Gilliland, a senior at California State University, Northridge; and Wayne Meisel, President of the Bonner Foundation.

Since AmeriCorps was launched in 1994, more than 475,000 Americans have joined the program, meeting critical local needs in education, health care, housing, disaster relief, and the environment.  In return for serving a 1,700 hour term of service, AmeriCorps members earn a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of $4,725 that can be used to pay tuition or loans for college or graduate school.  So far, AmeriCorps members have earned more than $1.2 billion in Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards.

The national service agency has stepped up its outreach efforts to encourage more higher education institutions to provide incentives to AmeriCorps alums.  Since December, seven institutions have come forward, including the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and the Fletcher School at Tufts University.  They are the latest in a growing list that range from community colleges to public policy graduate schools. Rhode Island has the highest number of colleges matching the awards, with 10 colleges participating. 

Campuses that match the AmeriCorps Education Award can draw the attention of the large and growing pool of AmeriCorps alums, which will top the 500,000 mark later this year.  Hobart and William Smith College in Geneva, N.Y., saw a tripling of the number of AmeriCorps members using their award after it launched a matching program in the 2005 academic year.

Expanding campus incentives for service is part of a larger initiative to spur higher levels of volunteering by America’s college students.  Last February the Corporation set a national goal of engaging 5 million college students in service annually by the year 2010 as part of its five-year strategic plan.

The agency is working with a coalition of federal agencies, higher education and student associations, and nonprofit organizations to encourage even greater levels of service and civic engagement by college students.  Each year, the Corporation invests more than $150 million in fostering a culture of service on college campuses. It does this in several ways: through grants awarded by its main programs; through the education awards that AmeriCorps members receive at the conclusion of their term of service to pay for college; and through support of research, recognition, and other initiatives to spur college service.

The Corporation’s Learn and Serve America program, in particular, is a catalyst for service-learning programs nationwide that connect community service with academic curriculum.  Through these programs, in class and in extracurricular activities, college students serve others in their communities while strengthening their academic and civic skills.  In addition, service-learning fosters partnerships between colleges and their communities that strengthens communities and meets immediate community needs. 

The growth of service-learning at the K-12 and higher education levels is one of the reasons behind the surge of volunteering by college students in recent year.  A comprehensive report on college volunteering released by the Corporation last fall found volunteering among college students has increased by 20 percent since 2005, more than double the growth in the adult volunteering rate.  An estimated 3.3 million college students volunteered in 2005 – nearly 600,000 more students than three years ago. 

Another part of the campaign is a new program to give Presidential recognition to colleges and universities that embrace their civic mission and provide opportunities for their students to serve their communities.  In its inaugural year, the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll had an overwhelming response, with more than 500 colleges and universities applying for the honor.

The new higher education web page at www.nationalservice.gov also provides valuable links and information to colleges and universities that want to further service and civic engagement on their campuses including training resources, research findings on college volunteering, student recognition opportunities, and grant information. 

AmeriCorps is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, which also oversees Senior Corps and Learn and Serve America. The Corporation’s mission is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering. Together with the USA Freedom Corps, the Corporation is working to build a culture of service, citizenship, and responsibility in America. For more information, visit http://www.nationalservice.gov.

 


CNCS CEO Message on Fiscal Year 2008 Budget
February 5, 2007

Dear Colleagues,

Earlier today, the President released his budget request for fiscal year 2008. The Administration has requested a FY 2008 budget for the Corporation of $828.6 million.

This strong budget includes investments that will enable national service to grow volunteering in the United States, meet local needs through service, and further help nonprofits tap the enormous power of Americans to give back to their communities.

We continue, with this budget request, to strive for management excellence and to sustain our ability to meet our four strategic programming goals: expand the number of Americans who volunteer; engage college students in service; harness the experience and skills of retiring Baby Boomers; and ensure a brighter future for all of America’s youth.

The budget will support 75,000 AmeriCorps members, more than 500,000 Senior Corps participants, and 1.3 million Learn and Serve America students.

Here is an overview of the Corporation’s 2008 request:

The President and the Administration remains committed to national service.  We are also committed to controlling spending and eliminating the federal deficit.  Many agencies and programs across the government are tightening their belts.  For our budget, all national service programs are funded, most at or near historic highs, and the budget will not require any current participant in any Corporation program to stop serving.

You will find a more detailed explanation of the budget on our Web site at www.nationalservice.gov.  Please note than when looking at the 2008 request in relation to 2007, the right comparison is with the 2007 funding bill passed by the House last week, not the 2007 estimate column in our Congressional Budget Justification chart. The Congressional Budget Justification figures are placeholders because they are based on total obligations from the previous year, not the enacted funding levels.  Some time in the next couple of weeks, the actual 2007 funding level will be finalized, which will be much closer to the 2008 budget request.

The release of the President’s budget is just the first step in a long budget process.  Later this spring we will have discussions with Congressional appropriators in the House and Senate, followed by committee mark-ups, floor consideration, conference committees and more. We will continue to provide you with updates as the budget moves through Congress.

Sincerely,

David Eisner
Chief Executive Officer
Corporation for National and Community Service

 


Upcoming Volunteer Research from CNCS
January 30, 2007

Dear National Service Colleagues,

As we continue marching toward our goal of 75 million volunteers in America by 2010, we are stepping up our efforts to conduct and publish research on volunteer rates and demographic trends, which can serve as rallying points and roadmaps for further expanding volunteering. The three studies we published last year include the first state by state report on volunteering; the report on college student volunteering (up 20 percent!); and the historical report showing volunteering at a 30-year high. 

This year, we will be releasing several more studies and I’d like to tell you about them now so you can have some time to consider how you might use them far in advance of their public release. 

First, however, I need to note that we got the year off to a great start with a very successful Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.  Our field, partners, and employees helped support literally thousands of projects, in every one of the 50 states (as well as in Guam, Puerto Rico and here in Washington, D.C.), and that hard work paid off.  President Bush, Cabinet Secretaries, Governors and all kinds of celebrities and luminaries joined in our activities, and the press coverage is the best we’ve ever seen for MLK Day.  Congratulations!  Please visit www.mlkday.gov for photos and news stories from King Day events around the country.

As far as the upcoming research reports go, we will be working with key partners in advance of each release to ensure the best possible roll out.  Over the next six months, our major reports include:

Much of this research will include data from the latest round of findings from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which published the national volunteer rates for 2006 earlier this month. As an overview, the number of adults who volunteered in 2006 is 61.2 million or 26.7 percent. While this is a decline from 65.3 million, or 28.8 percent in 2005, the national volunteer rate is still at historically high levels compared to past decades. Led by Dr. Robert Grimm, the Corporation’s Office of Research and Policy Development is engaged in a detailed analysis of this data and we will be sharing our findings with you over the coming months.  

The 2006 Bureau of Labor Statistics report includes a new question about informal volunteering in response to suggestions from the volunteer and service field. We found that 5.3 million Americans worked with their neighbors to fix or improve something in their community even though they did not volunteer through a formal volunteer organization.

In 2007, we will spend more time analyzing such topics as informal volunteering, and volunteer retention. Some past studies suggest and our emerging research appears to confirm that a sizeable number of people may volunteer one year, but not the next. This reinforces our view that volunteer management is critically important and that creating positive volunteer experiences is key to growing a widespread culture of service.

If the success of King Day is anything to go by, together we can have a very productive year recruiting volunteers and improving the lives of Americans through service. I look forward to continuing to serve alongside all of you.

Sincerely,

David Eisner
Chief Executive Officer
Corporation for National and Community Service

 


Fifth Anniversary of USA Freedom Corps, 2007
January 25, 2007

A Proclamation By the President of the United States of America

     The great strength of our Nation is found in the heroic kindness, courage, and self-sacrifice of the American people.  Every day, individuals show the good heart of our country by volunteering to help make someone's life better.  Since 2002, the USA Freedom Corps has provided access to volunteer opportunities for millions of Americans.  On the fifth anniversary of the USA Freedom Corps, we honor volunteers who give their time and talents to make a difference in the lives of others, and we recognize that helping those in need makes America a more hopeful country.

     The USA Freedom Corps was created to encourage Americans to answer the call to serve a cause greater than themselves.  By matching willing volunteers with opportunities in their communities, the USA Freedom Corps brings Americans together to mentor children, assist the elderly, clean up neighborhoods, and perform countless acts of generosity.  The USA Freedom Corps has helped support national service programs such as AmeriCorps, Citizen Corps, Peace Corps, and Senior Corps.  Through programs like these, volunteers all across the country bring comfort and kindness to people at home and abroad.

     Through the USA Freedom Corps website at volunteer.gov, all Americans can find ways to serve in our country's armies of compassion.  By answering the universal call to help a neighbor, individual Americans can transform towns and cities into more caring communities and neighborhoods and make America a better place.

     NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 29, 2007, as the Fifth Anniversary of the USA Freedom Corps.  I call upon the citizens of this great country to find ways to volunteer and help their fellow Americans.  I commend the efforts of the USA Freedom Corps and all those who have already answered the call to serve, and I encourage all Americans to give of their time, energy, and talents to make America even stronger.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-first.

                             GEORGE W. BUSH

# # #

 


Call to Service: National & Global Youth Service Day  
January 14, 2007

Millions of Young People Across America Will Perform Simultaneous Service Projects

Call to Service! Start planning your service and service-learning projects now for National and Global Youth Service Day – April 20-22, 2007!   Youth across America and the world will join together in April performing simultaneous community service projects for the 19th Annual National & Global Youth Service Day. On April 20-22, 2007, millions of young people across the world, with the help of mentors, parents, teachers, and volunteers will address unmet community needs through service and service-learning projects addressing school violence, climate change, disaster relief, literacy, poverty, and urban decay.  For more information about National and Global Youth Service Day and how to get involved, please go to: www.YSA.org/nysd.

National & Global Youth Service Day, the largest service event in the world, mobilizes young people to identify and address community needs through service, supports youth on a life-long path of service and civic engagement, and educates the public about the role of youth as leaders and assets.  Planning Tool Kits, Service-Learning Curriculum Guides, classroom posters, grant money for service projects, and more are available for youth, parents, teachers, and organizations. 

Youth Service America (www.YSA.org) is a national nonprofit resource center that partners with thousands of organizations committed to increasing the quality and quantity of volunteer opportunities for young people, ages 5-25, to serve locally, nationally, and globally.  Founded in 1986, Youth Service America’s mission is to expand the impact of the youth service movement with communities, schools, corporations, and governments. Youth Service America envisions a global culture of engaged youth who are committed to a lifetime of service, learning, leadership and achievement.

In addition to National & Global Youth Service Day, which take place concurrently each April, YSA also hosts www.SERVEnet.org, providing the largest database of volunteer opportunities in America.

For additional resources, also visit the National Youth Leadership Council (www.nylc.org), the primary service-learning partner of National & Global Youth Service Day.

 


January is National Mentoring Month
January 1, 2007

The Corporation for National and Community Service is delighted to join with the Harvard Mentoring Project and MENTOR to spearhead National Mentoring Month (NMM) in January 2007.

NMM is really a campaign to recruit more mentors who can help youth from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve their potential.  The national service family is already highly invested in mentoring as a powerful strategy for helping young people succeed, with virtually all of our programs supporting a broad variety of mentoring initiatives.  The Corporation’s Strategic Plan includes a goal that America should support 3 million additional mentoring relationships by 2010.

The National Mentoring Month campaign will showcase snazzy public service ads, featuring Maya Angelou, Quincy Jones, Clint Eastwood, and Sting on television and in newspapers.  Other PSAs will highlight the need for mentors for young people aging out of foster care and youth with disabilities.  The theme of the 2007 National Mentoring Month is “Pass It On. Mentor a Child.” 

One of the reasons that NMM is such a natural for national service is that the campaign works through state and local nonprofit organizations and government agencies.  Some of our state service commissions and grantees have led National Mentoring Month efforts in the past, and I hope more will get involved.  Another interesting connection between National Mentoring Month and national service is some overlap in target populations: college students, people of faith, full-time workers and current volunteers make the most promising prospects for new mentors.

National Mentoring Month can provide an excellent platform for Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service efforts. King Day can facilitate the honoring of community mentors, recruiting new mentors, or providing training.  Other ideas include encouraging mentor pairs serve together on King Day, or using King Day activities to promote National Mentoring Month.

We hope you will join us in starting 2007 by not only raising the visibility of mentoring in your community but by helping increase the number of mentors for children who need them.  There’s more information about National Mentoring Month at www.whomentoredyou.org. 

With questions or for help with ideas, please e-mail Theresa Clower.

 

2006


Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service
December 24, 2006

Americans are urged to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy on January 15, 2007 by coming together to participate in volunteer projects that improve life in their communities. Registering and volunteering for projects will be easier than ever this year, with a new online system that links people to community service opportunities.

The Corporation for National and Community Service encourages all Americans to make the King Holiday a day ON, not a day OFF. January 15 will mark the 21st observance of the King Holiday. The day became a national day of service in 1994, when Congress passed legislation to give the observance even more significance.

More and more, Americans are observing the holiday actively. Instead of using the time off from work and school for leisure and shopping, they increasingly are honoring Dr. King’s memory and teachings by participating in the thousands of community projects that include mentoring at-risk children, feeding the hungry, and cleaning vacant lots.

“We are asking every American to get involved and honor Dr. King with a living memorial of service on this holiday,” said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “Dr. King’s legacy was bringing people together across racial and socio-economic lines through meaningful activity that resulted in a better and more unified country. All of us can build on that legacy by reaching across artificial barriers to serve our neighbors and address community needs.”

Service projects come in all forms: some are sponsored by single organizations and others involve partnerships of charities, communities of faith, government agencies and businesses. Some are intensely local – projects at a school or a street – while others are citywide. Some are designed for only one day while others continue.

This year, Americans will find it easier to identify projects. A new online system has been implemented to enable organizers to register projects in every state and the District of Columbia. The system can be accessed at www.mlkday.gov. The Web site contains a host of resources and ideas as well as photographs of previous King Day of Service activities. In spite of the variety, all projects have one thing in common: They are connected to the life and teachings of Dr. King and his message to unite people around a common goal to improve conditions in America.

The King Day of Service comes midway through National Mentoring Month, which highlights the importance of bringing caring adults into the lives of children who need their guidance, support and encouragement. The Corporation is leading an effort to provide mentoring services to 3 million additional children and youth in at-risk environments. Recent Corporation studies show increases in the number of mentors.

The Corporation for National and Community Service improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. Each year, the Corporation provides opportunities for more than 2 million Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America. The Corporation honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. each year by spearheading a national Day of Service for all Americans. For more information, go to http://www.nationalservice.gov.

 


Continuing Resolution on National Service Programs Funding
December 18, 2006

Incoming Appropriations Chairmen Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Congressman David Obey (D-WI) announced in a joint statement last week that they would offer a yearlong "continuing resolution" at the start of the 110th Congress next year.  The result will likely be a higher level of national service funding than the President's request and the bills reported by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees earlier this year.  Specifically, funding for Learn and Serve America, AmeriCorps*State and *National, AmeriCorps*VISTA, AmeriCorps*NCCC, and the National Service Trust would presumably be at levels equal to or greater than their Fiscal Year 2006 appropriations.

Continuing resolutions are stopgap-funding measures generally used when Congress is temporarily unable to pass its annual appropriations for the federal government.  In this case, the continuing resolution will last for the remainder of the fiscal year (through 9/30/07), and according to the Byrd/Obey statement, it will contain no earmarks (Member spending projects), and therefore room for some "limited adjustments."  Although it is still unclear how and if those adjustments will be made, it could mean the possibility of additional restored funding for the national service programs. To learn more, visit http://www.servicelearningnunited.org and http://www.voicesforservice.org.

 


Benefits of Service-Learning Touted on ABC’s “20/20”
Washington, D.C.
December 4, 2006

ABC-TV's Wednesday night "20/20" broadcast turned the spotlight on a service-learning program at Abington High School in suburban Philadelphia as example of the way Americans give generously of their time and the benefits they receive in return.

The segment was part of an hour-long special edition of “20/20” that looked at charitable giving in America.  The program used footage from Learn and Serve America’s “Bring Learning to Life” program video, which features Abington High students engaged in a variety of service-learning activities, including students helping reconstruct a historic building.  

In the 20/20 segment, anchor John Stossel describes the positive impacts of service-learning.  “Teachers say students who volunteer raise their grades, and get higher SAT scores,” Stossel says.  The piece quotes  Abington High School student Jeff Rohrbach, “After service-learning started, I got so involved into it, I started paying attention more, picked up my grades.’ Rohrbach now operates his own construction company in his Montgomery County, Penn., community.

An ABC-TV crew spent most of a full school day at Abington High in early November. In one classroom, the crew interviewed children who make blankets for sick children in Philadelphia and repair glasses for children and adults in Guatemala.  Abington is a longtime Learn and Serve America grantee and the school sponsors an AmeriCorps VISTA member who assists in coordinating service-learning activities. 

“Service-learning is doing wonderful things to connect the classroom to the community in ways that are mutually beneficial,” said Amy Cohen, Director of Learn and Serve America. “Abington High is just one of thousands of outstanding service-learning programs that are developing better students, better citizens, and better communities.”

The service-learning spotlight came in the show’s closing segment about “helper’s high” – the idea that giving money or time not only feels good but can actually improve your health.  The show included an interview with author Stephen Post, whose upcoming book reports on scientific evidence showing the positive health effects of donating money and time.  In connection with its “Get Involved” Baby Boomer volunteer recruitment campaign, the Corporation produced a fact sheet that references medical studies that show how volunteering can reduce heart rates and blood pressure, enhance immune systems, combat social isolation, and provide other health benefits.  For the fact sheet, click here.

To order a copy of the “Bring Learning to Life” video, which provides an introduction to service-learning as an effective strategy to improve academic achievement, increase student engagement, improve social behavior, build civic skills, and strengthen community partnerships, visit the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.

The Corporation for National and Community Service improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. Providing service opportunities for millions of Americans of all ages and backgrounds, Corporation programs include Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America.

 


President's Honor Roll Distinguishes 141 Schools for Community Service
Chicago, Illinois
October 17, 2006

Six colleges and universities received top recognition for extraordinary community service – three for aiding hurricane victims along the Gulf Coast and three for helping close neighbors – as the first-ever President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll was announced in Chicago today.

The President’s Award for Hurricane Relief went to Jackson State University, Louisiana State University and Tulane University. Elon University of North Carolina; California State University, Monterey Bay; and Indiana University – Purdue University, Indianapolis received the President’s Award for outstanding community service.

“Higher education is a powerful engine of civic engagement and is central to achieving the President's vision of active citizens and connected communities,” said Stephen Goldsmith, Chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service, an independent federal agency tasked with fostering an ethic of volunteerism and service in America. “We applaud America’s college students and the universities they attend for stepping up to help people in need.” 

Goldsmith presented the awards at the Campus Compact 20th Anniversary. In addition to the top honorees, nine schools received Katrina Compassion Awards for helping Gulf Coast communities recover, 10 others were named finalists for general community service, and 141 colleges, universities and professional schools were recognized for distinguished community service. In total, 492 schools were recognized on the first President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.  A full list is available at http://www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.

Monetary awards of $5,000, courtesy of the Case Foundation, were presented to the six top schools to support further service on their campuses.  “America’s colleges and universities have a historic commitment to civic engagement and are uniquely positioned to guide young adults on a path to meaningful, lifelong service,” said Jean Case, President of the Foundation who also serves as Chair of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.

The Honor Roll is co-sponsored by the Corporation, the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps, and the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. The recognition is presented in cooperation with Campus Compact, a national coalition of nearly 1,000 college and university presidents, and supported by all the major national higher education associations.  More than 500 colleges applied for the Honor Roll in its inaugural year. The Corporation made the final selections.

“The extraordinary response to the President’s Honor Roll is another sign that universities are embracing their civic mission in new and creative ways,” said Corporation CEO David Eisner. “More and more we see colleges working to improve their communities and encouraging an ethic of service by their students. These efforts are fueling a growing movement of college student service that will benefit our nation for many years to come.”

The awards were presented a day after the Corporation for National and Community Service released a comprehensive report, “College Students Helping America,” which shows college student civic engagement rising significantly in recent years. The study, which used data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed that student volunteering increased approximately 20 percent from 2002 to 2005, and that 3.3 million college students serve their communities and nation. The study showed that college students between ages 16 to 24 are more likely to volunteer than cohorts in that age group who are not enrolled. (Click here to view the report.)

Observers have attributed the growth in student service to several causes: the proliferation of high-school and college service-learning classes; an increase in the number of campus offices linking students to volunteer opportunities, and the lingering impact of the September 11 and Hurricane Katrina disasters.

The Corporation for National and Community Service is working with other federal agencies, higher education and student associations, and nonprofit organizations to encourage even greater levels of service and civic engagement by college students.  Their goal is to increase the number of college student participating in volunteer service to 5 million college students annually by 2010.

The President’s Honor Roll provides more new evidence that the nation is beginning to move toward that level of student civic engagement. More than 1.1 million students from Honor Roll schools participated in local community service activities, and more than 219,000 students provided hurricane relief.

Community service programs and activities conducted by Honor Roll schools included mentorship programs for foster children, literacy tutoring for preschool children in underserved communities, medical and other professional services, homebuilding through Habitat for Humanity, and neighborhood cleanup programs.  Universities reported that college students provided nearly 2.3 million service hours volunteering in Hurricane Katrina relief. As one example, tens of thousands of college students substituted work for fun during their winter and spring breaks by traveling to the Gulf to gut homes, clear debris, repair roofs, and paint buildings.

Each year, the Corporation makes a significant investment in building a culture of service on college campuses through Learn and Serve America and AmeriCorps programs at institutions of higher education. In addition to direct grants to support service-learning and engagement of students in their communities, the Corporation has also supported higher education through the more than $1.2 billion in Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards to AmeriCorps members who complete their service and use their awards to pay for college tuition or to pay back student loans.

The Corporation for National and Community Service improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. Each year, the Corporation provides opportunities for more than 2 million Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America. For more information, go to http://www.nationalservice.gov.

 


Senate Funding of the Corporation for National and Community Service
July 18, 2006

Tuesday, July 18th, the Senate Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction on national service held a markup to decide on funding levels to recommend for adoption in the full Senate. This bill addresses funding for the entire Corporation for National and Community Service, including the various AmeriCorps programs and Learn and Serve America.

The companion bill reported from the House Appropriations Committee last month included a 20% cut to both last year’s funding level for AmeriCorps State and National Grants as well as Learn and Serve America’s traditional funding level. If adopted, the cuts would seriously jeopardize the national service programs and their ability to sustain the progress they’ve made in recent years.

If you're willing and able, now is a great time to contact your representatives.  More information on the bills, and how to take action, can be found at www.compact.org/policy, and on Youth Service America's home page: www.ysa.org.

 

 

 

 

 

INFORMATION FOR:

Kansas Campus Compact
Kansas State University
2323 Anderson Ave. Ste.125, Manhattan, KS 66502-2912
Phone: 785-320-0700  Fax: 785-532-0671
Email: kscc@ksu.edu

Register NOW for October Webinar: "In It Together: Building Lasting and Successful Campus-Community Partnerships"

————

Fall 2009 Sunflower Service Quarterly now available!

————

McPherson College becomes newest members of Kansas Campus Compact

————

KsCC Announces plans for Kansas Day Mini-Grants for 2010

————

Pittsburg State University joins Kansas Campus Compact

————

Welcome to 2009-2010 VISTAs

Michael Chavez

Leah Noakes

Brae Johnson

Michael Knight

Danica Murray

Aly Rodee

Sara Weber

Julie Wilke

 

VISTA Leader: Angela Deckard