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Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Thank you for helping us make the 2016 Martin Luther King Day of
Service a day on!
We hope you enjoy looking through this Storify where you will see service from across
the country, and in Washington, DC, where the President and First Lady served
as well as many members of his cabinet.
Today we’re highlighting stories from MLK Day,
including from Administration officials who chose to #ServeRural as well as from the
AmeriCorps members who served with the President and First Lady.
And, we’re honoring the Resilience AmeriCorps
members who visited DC last week to begin their year of service.
Thank you and have a great weekend!
In service,
 Ted
Miller
Chief of External Affairs
Corporation for National and Community Service
 Serving with the President and
First Lady on #MLKDay:
To honor Dr. King, the President and the First Lady participated in a service
project at an elementary school alongside students and AmeriCorps members. Some
of the AmeriCorps members who participated shared stories from the day:
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"[The
President and First Lady are just] like you and me trying to make the world a
better place by serving the community." –Rickford Smith, Reading Partners
- “I hope to use the First Lady’s
Let’s Move Initiative as inspiration to revitalize our school garden. We want
to create more community equity in the garden and connect it with healthy
eating and healthy living. We want to bring our produce and healthy eating and
cooking habits into the cafeteria and even into our students’ homes.” – Natalie
Harris, FoodCorps
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“For me [serving with the President and
First Lady] emphasized that servicing communities is a team effort and
demonstrated the great value the President places in the work people like AmeriCorps
members do everyday.” – Sam Jacques, Reading Partners
 #ServeRural: Serve Rural is a national
effort to enlist volunteers and local organizations to help build thriving
rural communities. In honor of #MLKDay, leadership from the White House Rural
Council and AmeriCorps VISTA, teamed up with their colleagues from the U.S.
Departments of Agriculture and Education to help address poverty and hunger in rural communities. Visit
our blog to learn more.
 Resilience
AmeriCorps: Recently, the
first-ever group of Resilience AmeriCorps members were welcomed to the White
House as they began their on-the-ground work in communities across the
country to help develop and implement local resilience plans. This week, the White House announced that CNCS would make
available more funding to place approximately 150 Resilience AmeriCorps members
in up to 27 low-income communities.
AmeriCorps
College Possible connects students with mentors for
college prep
My Dayton Daily New (MN), January 16, 2016
Minneapolis-based nonprofit expanded to Chicago this fall, embarking on an
effort to help hundreds of low-income Chicago Public Schools students earn
college degrees. College Possible, which puts AmeriCorps volunteers to work
preparing low-income students for higher education, has landed in Chicago, led
by Christine Poorman, executive director of College Possible Chicago,
previously led the Chicago chapter of the National Foundation for Teaching
Entrepreneurship.
AmeriCorps NCCC
AmeriCorps team going to Flint to help after water
problems
Associated Press, January 8, 2016
An AmeriCorps team plans to be in Flint to support state and local efforts to
protect public health after problems with lead in the city's water supply. The
Corporation for National and Community Service announced the plans Friday for
the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps team, which will be deployed
for three months starting Feb. 1. Serving through the United Way of Genesee
County, the team will carry out projects to improve education and public
health, including going door-to-door to educate residents on using water
filters appropriately. The team will work closely with other agencies.
AmeriCorps VISTA
Service Volunteers Continue Successful Food Drive
The Kittanning Paper (PA), January 20, 2016
Armstrong and Indiana County residents helped out families in need through food
and monetary donations Monday. During the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of
Service Food Drive held at the Franklin Village Mall Shop `n Save and the
Indiana County Giant Eagle supermarkets Monday, AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in
Service to America) Sara Beatty calculated that volunteers collected two
cardboard boxes-worth of non-perishable food items and more than $220 in cash.
Senior Corps
98 Foster Grandparents mentor kids at 33 sites across 4
counties
The Daily Item (PA), January 16, 2016
A grieving Bob Roth said he found a
purpose later in life, not once, but twice, volunteering as a Foster
Grandparent at the Oaklyn Elementary School. “It gives you reason to get out of
bed every day, a reason to live,” the 87-year-old said of the six hours a day,
five days a week he spends mentoring and tutoring third- and fifth-grade
students as a volunteer with the Foster Grandparent Program of Central
Pennsylvania.
Social Innovation Fund
Solutions
The Huffington Post, January 19, 2016
There are solutions to many of the challenges facing our society today. This
isn't just New Year's optimism; it comes from what I see every day. My faith in
supportive housing stems from proof that it solves some of the toughest issues
and the promising results springing from its many applications. Occasionally I
cite facts and figures because data is vital to proving supportive housing's
case. One of its hallmarks is that it is performance and data-driven.
National Service Blog
Leadership and Service Go Hand in Hand at Student
Veterans of America National Conference
NationalService.Tumblr.com, January 15, 2016
In early January, Student Veterans of America (SVA), the country’s largest
association of student veterans, held their 8th annual national conference
(NATCON2016) at the Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. This year’s
conference brought together more than 1,700 student veterans to exchange best
practices, network, and connect with organizations that provide services and
support to veterans. In addition to leadership, the theme of service was also
ubiquitous.
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