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For immediate release:
May 12, 2008

Contact:
Carla Harris - 804-726-7107

AmeriCorps dedicates $7 million in service hours to Virginia

AmeriCorps Week is May 11 - 18

Richmond, Va. - Throughout the Commonwealth, organizations are making a difference and touching lives through participation in AmeriCorps. Last year, AmeriCorps*State resulted in nearly $7 million dollars worth of service to Virginia. The state's 17 programs and their 325 AmeriCorps members recruited nearly 7,000 volunteers resulting in more than 368,000 service hours.

May 11-18, AmeriCorps members, alumni, project staff members, commission members, friends, and supporters will participate in AmeriCorps Week. The goal is to bring more Americans into service, salute members and alumni, and thank the partners who make AmeriCorps possible.

Virginia AmeriCorps Week Events

  • The Carroll County Public Schools Reading for Life program is collecting gently used toys and books to furnish the new children's waiting room at a government subsidized counseling center. AmeriCorps members will also participate in various school landscaping projects. 
  • The City of Richmond ACES program will be assisting Habitat for Humanity with Habitat Restore, a retail outlet selling building supplies at reduced prices. Additionally, ACES will be using StarNet, the City of Richmond's Web site, to market AmeriCorps Week with a goal of registering individuals as volunteers.
  • In Hampton Roads, Community Housing Partners' (CHP) Project RISE! will promote AmeriCorps at a Community Day event, May 17, in Yorktown.
  • Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps in Virginia is partnering with other Habitat National Service programs to build and rehab homes in Mississippi for the 2008 Carter Work Project, May 11-17. The project will serve families whose homes and lives were devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
  • The Literacy Council of Northern Virginia will host a public relations effort to commemorate and observe 2008 AmeriCorps Week.
  • Mountain Empire Community College's (MECC) AmeriCorps members at Norton Elementary are sponsoring a "Caps for Life Support" drive that will culminate on May 16.
  • The Virginia Commonwealth University  AmeriCorps program is planning a "Carver Community Team Cleanup" in Richmond.
  • Sarita Johnson, a member of the Warren Council on Domestic Violence, will speak to the Front Royal community about their after school program and community with young students about AmeriCorps.

AmeriCorps is a national network of programs that engages more than 70,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet critical needs in communities. Participants receive work experience, incentives such as health insurance, and a stipend for living expenses. During its 14-year-history, the program has provided opportunities for 542,000 Americans donating 705 million service hours to give back in an intensive way to their communities.

See a complete list of AmeriCorps Week events across the country. For more information about AmeriCorps in Virginia, visit http://www.vaservice.org/.



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Interviews are available upon request. For additional story ideas and information, contact Carla Harris, VDSS, (804) 726-7107 or carla.harris@dss.virginia.gov.

The VDSS Home Office is located in Richmond and administers social services programs, consistent with federal and state law and policy of the State Board of Social Services through 120 local departments of social services throughout the state.  The VDSS mission is "People helping people triumph over poverty, abuse, and neglect to shape strong futures for themselves, their families and communities."

- Published on Monday, May 12, 2008