Serve Yavapai Celebrates AmeriCorps Week

Serve Yavapai, a partnership of Prescott College and Community Counts, will join the nationwide celebration of AmeriCorps Week, March 10th – March 16th. The week is a unique opportunity to spotlight the vital work done by AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps VISTA members in communities across the county since the national service program began 18 years ago.

“We are proud to be part of great work being done by volunteers all over this community and grateful for the AmeriCorps members who are getting things done,” said Margaret Garvey, Program Director of the Yavapai County VISTA Project at Prescott College. “AmeriCorps and VISTA members in Yavapai County have made a tremendous impact allowing us to extend our outreach and services by contributing over 55,000 hours of National service at over 20 different county entities and organizations this year,” said Margaret.

Since 1994, 775,000 men and women have joined AmeriCorps, and have given more than 1 billion hours of service to the country. To mark AmeriCorps Week, a number of events are happening around the county including a “Kick-Off Spring Break with Service!” a volunteer service project with Prescott Creeks on Monday, March 12th from 12:00pm to 4:00pm at Watson Woods Riparian Preserve.  The service project will be followed by lunch and games at Watson Lake. Community members are invited to participate in this event and should register at: www.ycvp.org.

Additionally, the Retiree Connection, a project of Serve Yavapai, will hold a kick-off event to showcase our new streamlined process on Monday, March 12th from 9:30am to 11:30am at the Prescott Public Library in Founders Suite A & B. This event will outline how the Retiree Connection connects local organizations with talented, passionate volunteers through both updated technology and traditional one-on-one connections.  Retired community members seeking meaningful volunteer opportunities and local non-profit and service organizations seeking committed volunteers are encouraged to attend and learn how to become involved with this exciting program.  

AmeriCorps works with existing organizations and helps them reach more people and better achieve their mission. In 2011, the nation’s over 80,000 AmeriCorps members recruited 3.4 million community volunteers to serve alongside them in some 15,000 nonprofit, faith-based and community organizations across the country.

AmeriCorps members typically remain actively engaged in their communities once their service is complete. They not only can be counted on as volunteers, but they also run nonprofits, marshal resources within their communities to address difficult issues, and frequently pursue public service careers. AmeriCorps alums who have served with Serve Yavapai have gone on to pursue graduate degrees in public policy and social work, become an executive director of a youth center, teach students with special needs, and much, much more.

The Serve Yavapai Team!

Prescott College offers a resident B.A. program at its main campus in Prescott, Ariz., as well as low-residency B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degree programs through which students complete their studies in their home communities with the help of faculty mentors. All programs emphasize student-directed, experience-based learning by doing, environmental and cultural awareness, and social justice. More information is on the web at www.prescott.edu.

Community Counts is an umbrella organization that establishes and manages community programs to help create nontraditional solutions to the unique challenges facing communities across Yavapai County. More information may be found at www.youthcount.org.

Be great in your community!  Contact Erika Stone at (928) 515-4454 or events@ycvp.org.