Wendy Meets 106-year-old Foster Grandparent               

In honor of Senior Corps Week, Corporation for National and Community Service CEO Wendy Spencer served today alongside our oldest Foster Grandparent volunteer 106 year-old Grandma Virginia (third from right) and Foster Grandparent volunteers Lemuel Belton Jr. and Golenia Vines at the C. Melvin Sharpe Health School in Washington, DC.

Volunteer. They Might Name a Day After You

Foster Grandparent Aurora Bryant’s 11 years of volunteer service led to a very special tribute – a day named in her honor. La Vista (Nebraska) Mayor Doug Kindig proclaimed April 7 to be Aurora Bryant Day in the city to recognize her commitment to service.

Grandma Bryant serves every day at La Vista West Elementary School and helps train new volunteers on how to work with children with behavior issues.

“She’s amazing, there are just no words,” said Lisa Elsasser, a La Vista West kindergarten teacher whom Bryant works with often.

“The program keeps you going,” said Bryant. “It may not keep you young, but it keeps you going.”

Read the story in the Papillion Times

Photo by Rachel George/Papillion Times

Operation AmeriCorps is Coming to Flint, MI

CNCS has announced that Flint, MI, will be one of 10 communities nationwide to become part of the agency’s new Operation AmeriCorps initiative with a focus on education.

The Community Schools AmeriCorps project, led by the City of Flint, will support 80 AmeriCorps members during the next two years to provide after-school and summer programming for K-6 students at three local elementary schools. Flint will expand its community school model as a way to transform local education and increase student achievement.

“This new partnership will offer enhanced educational support and renew Flint schools as neighborhood hubs, while engaging more Americans in national service,” said Flint Mayor Dayne Walling, an AmeriCorps alum himself. “It is an honor for Flint to be selected for this innovative AmeriCorps project.“

“I salute the City of Flint, Flint Community Schools, the Michigan Community Service Commission, and the local community partners for this visionary project that will have a transforming impact on the community and its young people,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “Through Operation AmeriCorps, this city will come together to ensure more Flint students succeed in school and in life.”

Operation AmeriCorps is a CNCS initiative for local and tribal governments to use AmeriCorps as a transformative catalyst to address a high-priority community challenge. Previous Operation AmeriCorps announcements have been made for New York City; Tucson, AZ; and Pawtucket, RI; and additional grantees will be revealed later this month.

Read the Flint, MI, Operation AmeriCorps press release

Learn more about Operation AmeriCorps

#ThankATeacher                 

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Remembering Cesar Chavez

“Cesar Chavez knew that when you lift up one person, it enriches a community; it bolsters our economy, strengthens our Nation, and gives meaning to the creed that out of many, we are one.  As we celebrate his life, we are reminded of our obligations to one another and the extraordinary opportunity we are each given to work toward justice, equal opportunity, and a better future for every one of our sisters and brothers.”

- President Barack Obama’s Presidential Proclamation recognizing Cesar Chavez Day 2015