Mayors of Super Bowl Cities Wager Volunteer Service
As part of ‘Service Bowl,’ winning mayor to host community
service project with AmeriCorps members and local volunteers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the Denver Broncos and Seattle
Seahawks prepare to face off in Sunday’s Super Bowl, the mayors from the two
cities have come up with a friendly wager that focuses on the importance of
volunteering and community service.
Mayor Ed Murray of Seattle and Mayor Michael Hancock of
Denver agreed that the winning mayor would host the mayor from the opposing
team for a day of volunteer service with AmeriCorps members. This service
project will be carried out in partnership with the Corporation for National and Community
Service (CNCS), the federal agency that
administers AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, the Social Innovation Fund, and other
programs.
“Mayors are leaders who get things done, responding every
day to needs in their cities,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS. “With this
friendly wager, Mayors Murray and Hancock highlight the impact and power of
national service and volunteering. No matter which team wins the game, both
cities—and all football fans— can celebrate the Service Bowl.”
This is the second year of the Service Bowl bet. In 2013, San
Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee joined Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
and more than 100 AmeriCorps members to transform a vacant lot into a community
park in Baltimore, Md.
“AmeriCorps is a valued member of our community, and its
commitment to service helps make us the city we are today. With this wager
between Mayor Murray and I, we want to show that the traditional mayors' bet
can be more than just putting items on the line. We’re committing ourselves to
improving our communities and improving our quality of life,” said Mayor
Hancock.
"Our teams have shown that Seattle and Denver are
national leaders in football. With this bet and in partnership with AmeriCorps,
Mayor Hancock and I wanted to showcase our cities' leadership in service to our
communities as well," said Mayor Murray.
Mayors Hancock and Murray join more than 800 U.S. Mayors in
their focus on service. Both have signed on to participate in the second annual
Mayors
Day of Recognition for National Service. Mayors
across the country will participate in a national day of recognition this April
1 to highlight the impact of national service in their cities and thank
individuals who serve.
As the federal agency for service and volunteering, CNCS
annually engages more than five million citizens in service at more than 70,000
sites across the country through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and other programs.
These national service participants meet critical community needs --
strengthening education, fostering economic opportunity, helping communities
recover from disasters, supporting veterans and military families, providing
health services, and preserving the environment.
The Seattle area ranks fourth among large cities for
volunteering and service, and last year, 993,700 million volunteers served a
total of 116.3 million hours, an economic value of $2.6 billion. This year, CNCS
will invest more than $8.4 million in Seattle nonprofits, schools, and
community groups through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Social Innovation
Fund, leveraging an additional $2 million in outside support to strengthen
community impact. This funding will support more than 790 AmeriCorps members
and 1,400 Senior Corps volunteers in Seattle.
In Denver, 610,500 volunteers gave a total of 71.9 million
hours, an estimated value of $1.6 billion, making it 13th in
volunteering among major U.S. cities. The city receives $22.5 million in CNCS
funding, which generates an additional $9.8 million in other resources. This
combined investment will support more than 2,000 AmeriCorps members and 900 Senior
Corps volunteers serving in the area.
Americans looking to participate in their own Super Service
Day can find a volunteer service project in their area using the search engine
at www.serve.gov.
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The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service and champions community solutions through its AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Social Innovation Fund, and other programs, and leads the President's national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.
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