FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE

Contact:  Michael J. Berger

Community Outreach / 828.898.8849

Lees-McRae College’s Brittany Yates receives statewide Community Impact Student Award

Brittany Yates of Lees-McRae College will receive the fifth annual North Carolina Campus Compact Community Impact Student Award during the Compact’s Student Leadership Conference being held at Johnson C. Smith University on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010. Thirty three college students across the state received the award for making significant, innovative contributions to their campus’ efforts to address local community needs. 

Yates is a senior majoring in sports management from LaPlata MD. While she is graduating in May, she has all intentions to leave her mark at Lees-McRae in various ways.  She is a founder and the current President of Delta Zeta Nu Sorority and Vice President of Student Government Association.  It is through her leadership and personal service goals that make her give back to the College and community through engaging in campus-wide service programs. 

Yates also serves her local community as an NC-ACTS! AmeriCorps Fellow and will complete the program early next semester with 300 direct service hours fulfilled.  Brittany recently served at the Lees-McRae Student Recreation Center, playing an integral role in the daily logistics of the facility.  Yates worked with the summer staff and set up schedules that were feasible for all of us to work.   This enabled community members and children to have a facility where they attended classes and summer camps.  According to Yates, the most challenging part about working the student recreation complex was adapting to a new facility on campus which forced her to make new connections in the Banner Elk community. When asked what the most rewarding part of her summer service experience Yates commented, “It was rewarding because it allowed community members to feel more connected with Lees-McRae through the classes that the recreation center offered… it also guided me in a better direction of what I wanted my chosen career to be after I graduate in May.”  Yates has served a total of 167 direct hours towards this purpose. 

“In the short time I have advised Brittany through her fellowship with the NC-ACTS! AmeriCorps Service Program, I witnessed a strongly developed and holistic student, who has made a genuine impact on many at Lees-McRae and the local community.   Her strong level of involvement on our campus has proven her leadership abilities and her voice continues to be heard. We are proud to have her as a student at Lees-McRae and know that her endeavors will inspire others to dream, dare and achieve,” said Michael Berger, AmeriCorps VISTA at Lees-McRae in the Office of Community Outreach.

The North Carolina Campus Compact is a statewide coalition of higher education Presidents and Chancellors established to encourage and support campus engagement in the community. For more information, contact Jonathan Romm, NC Campus Compact Program Coordinator 336.278.7278 or the AmeriCorps VISTA at Lees-McRae College, Michael Berger 828.898.8849.

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Dear National Service Colleagues,

In less than two weeks, the nation will observe the second annual September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance. The tragic events of 9/11 moved Americans to come together in a remarkable spirit of unity and compassion. It was a stark reminder that our fate as individuals is inherently tied to the fate of our nation.  A commitment to helping one another and coming together as members of a community in times of need is a distinctly American trait, and one of our greatest strengths as a nation.
September 11 continues to evoke strong emotion, and it also serves as a reminder of the American tradition of heeding a call to action. In 2009, President Obama signed into law the designation of September 11th as a National Day of Service and Remembrance, which came about as the result of years of hard work by 9/11 families and service organizations.
 
This year, as part of the United We Serve initiative, the President and the Corporation for National and Community Service will ask Americans from all walks of life to honor those lost and injured, and pay tribute to the many people who rose up and served together in response to the attacks by committing themselves to engage in service to their communities, and our nation.  This day provides an opportunity for all Americans to serve in some way, to make a commitment to serve throughout the year, and to bring about solutions to social problems.  The Corporation has been working with MyGoodDeed, HandsOn Network, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, ServiceNation, our state service commissions and other partners to coordinate activities throughout the nation in observance of this day.
 
We encourage you to continue to promote service by commemorating this milestone through the United We Serve initiative, and want to share some ways in which your organization can participate in and support the September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance.  If you are planning September 11 Day of Service activities, or have other activities planned that coincide with the week leading up to September 11, here are some ways your organization can get involved:
 
1)      Post your service activities on or around September 11 by going to “register your project” on Serve.gov so that they appear when people search for opportunities related to the 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance. To ensure your opportunities appear, we recommend that you select a start and end date within the time period of September 6 and September 12 and include ”September 11” in the title. Keep in mind that opportunities with more robust descriptions tend to appear first.
 
2)     If you are planning a particular service event you would like us to consider highlighting in the media or on the Serve.gov blog, please contact us
 
3)     Inform your volunteer base about United We Serve and the President’s call to service on 9/11. Use this day to mobilize current volunteers to serve on 9/11 and to recommit to service throughout the year.
 
4)     Spread the word about your 9/11 service activities by using the various United We Serve media tools available on Serve.gov.
 
5)       Identify stories of national service participants who were either personally involved in the response to 9/11 in the weeks and months after the attack, or who were inspired to participate in national service because of 9/11. Submit these stories to the United We Serve team at serviceinitiative@cns.gov by Friday, September 3. These examples will be used in media outreach and events surrounding this year's 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance.
 
In honor of the National Day of Service and Remembrance, the Corporation for National and Community Service will be supporting service activities in six cities – New York, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles, and Arlington, Virginia – and highlighting events nationwide.  In addition, the Corporation and its partners have created media materials – public service announcements for radio and TV, and an online awareness campaign in conjunction with the AOL advertising network.
 
If you are not able to plan or hold activities for or around the September 11th Day of Service and Remembrance, we hope that you will still spread the word among your network about the day, and encourage people to find ways to observe and perhaps commit themselves to taking action individually.  For ideas on individual action, you may wish to direct people to www.911dayofservice.org.
 
With the combined efforts of local and state governments, service partners, and your organization, together we will honor and remember the occasion of September 11, and unite Americans in a renewed commitment to serve and improve our communities and the nation.  If we can support your organization’s September 11 plans or United We Serve efforts, please contact your Corporation state office.

Thank you again for your continued participation in service.
Patrick A. Corvington
CEO, Corporation for National and Community Service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, August 31, 2010                                                         

CONTACT: Ashley Etienne

202-606-6944

aetienne@cns.gov  

National Service Agency Announces 2011 AmeriCorps Funding Opportunities
 
Washington, D.C. — The Corporation for National and Community Service today kicked off its 2011 AmeriCorps grant competition by releasing two funding notices for organizations interested in using national service as a solution to critical problems facing our communities and our nation.
 
The competition will carry out the goal of the landmark bipartisan Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act to both expand AmeriCorps and target it on a common set of national challenges.  The competition also reflects the Corporation’s strategic direction of using service as solution, expanding opportunities to serve, embracing innovation, and building the capacity of individuals, organizations, and communities to solve problems.
 
“Every year, AmeriCorps becomes more effective at meeting local needs,” said Patrick A. Corvington, CEO of the Corporation. “As more organizations discover the extraordinary added value that AmeriCorps members bring to their work, the competition for AmeriCorps grants becomes more rigorous. We’re looking for high-impact organizations across America to submit their strongest applications for how to use AmeriCorps members to address pressing social problems.”
 
The total funding available will be set by Congress through the appropriations process now underway. If the President's fiscal year 2011 budget request is fully funded, the agency anticipates approximately $311 million to be available for new, recompeting, and continuation grants in all of the AmeriCorpsState and National grant categories, and $1 million for AmeriCorps planning grants.
 
The funding notice outlines how the funding will make a focused investment in the six national issue priorities identified in the Serve America Act of improving education, energy conservation, the health of all Americans, and economic opportunity for economically vulnerable individuals; increasing service by and for veterans; and providing disaster services.
 
Within these six focus areas, the Corporation will give additional priority to those applications that propose to meet the Corporation’s strategic objectives. These strategic objectives will be included in an amended notice which will be issued following approval of the Corporation’s five-year strategic plan later this fall. Additional information on the development of the strategic objectives and the strategic plan can be found on the Corporation’s website here.
 
The 2011 competition will continue the Serve America Act program features put in place last year to increase impact, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. Among those are standardized national performance measures, simplified application procedures, and fixed-amount grants to lessen record-keeping burdens.  The funding opportunity will also streamline and simplify the criteria by which programs are evaluated for funding as outlined in the rule making enacted by the Corporation earlier this month.
 
Public or private nonprofit organizations, including labor organizations, faith-based and other community organizations; institutions of higher education; government entities within states or territories (e.g., cities, counties); Indian Tribes; partnerships and consortia; and intermediaries planning to sub grant funds awarded are eligible to apply. The Corporation encourages organizations that have never received funding from the Corporation or AmeriCorps to apply for these grants.
 
Applications to the Corporation are due January 25, 2011, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and successful applicants will be notified in early June 2011.  Potential applicants are encouraged to read all the information posted on the Corporation's New Funding Opportunities web page. For questions regarding multi-state or Indian Tribe applications to be submitted directly to the Corporation, please call (202) 606-7508 or send an e-mail to americorpsnational@cns.gov. For questions concerning a single-state application, e-mail americorpscapplications@cns.gov or contact the State Commission in your state. A list of all State Commissions can be found here.  
 
AmeriCorps Planning Grants
 
The Corporation also announced the availability of $1 million in AmeriCorps State and National and Indian Tribes Planning Grants.  The grants support the development of AmeriCorps programs so applicants are better prepared to compete for an AmeriCorps grant in the following grant cycle.  Organizations applying for planning grants must not have previously received an AmeriCorps grant.
 
Planning grant applications are due November 4, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Successful applicants will be notified in February, 2011.  The 2011 AmeriCorps Planning Grants funding notice is available here http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/funding/nofa_detail.asp?tbl_nofa_id=84 .
Questions about the planning grant competition can be submitted to the email addresses listed above.  AmeriCorps was established in 1993 as a way for Americans to give back to their communities and country and earn money for college in return. More than 637,000 AmeriCorps members have given 774 million hours of service since the program’s inception.  AmeriCorps members serve with thousands of nonprofit, faith-based, and community groups each year, helping them expand their reach and better meet their mission. Last year AmeriCorps members mobilized or managed 2.4 million volunteers for the organizations they serve.