Americorps
“Be all that
you can be,” “We bring good things to life,”
“Like a rock.” Every organization, company, or group
has its own logo. Logos are designed to represent, in one phrase,
what the organization stands for, what it believes in, and what
it does. As Americorps volunteers, we’re doing exactly what
our logo advertises. We’re “getting things done.”
Americorps has been getting
things done by strengthening the community for the past decade.
Created in 1993 as part of the Corporation for National and Community
Service, Americorps is a nonprofit network of service programs
that currently enrolls more than 50,000 volunteers annually. Pennsylvania
Mountain Service Corps is a local initiative of Americorps with
over 95 members serving throughout 12 different counties. Also
known as a “domestic” Peace Corps, Americorps allows
individuals of all ages, education, and race, to give their time
to the people who need it. Its flexibility enables individuals
to build upon their own strengths and talents. Volunteers choose
where and in which discipline they would like to work in: human
needs, public safety, educational, and environmental.
Though it sounds somewhat
clichéd and open to playful ridicule, Americorps is the
place where “things” get done; the things other people
normally would not do. Who is picking up trash along our highways
in the rain? Who is tromping through muddy banks planting trees
near a newly restored stream? Who is gathering shoes and clothing
for the homeless? Who is setting up Bike Safety Week for our children
and cleaning up parks and making the community better? Who is
taking all the dirty jobs and making them look easy? Americorps.
Americorps is working
for almost nothing to help the schools, towns, and communities
who are lacking the fundamentals to become successful. We provide
children, teens, mothers, fathers, and seniors the assistance
and skills needed to become safe, educated, productive, and active
members of society. “Assistance” can mean providing
daycare or mentoring at risk youth and victims of abuse. It can
mean testing the water near old AMD sites or taking children to
buy new coats, boots, and hats for the winter. It could be working
in a hospital or senior citizen center or providing help at a
cultural fair. It might be moving rocks and clearing away brush
to make trails for camp kids. Whatever it could be, it consists
of individuals going out into the community and volunteering their
time to make something a little better.
Not only does Americorps
help the community and people, but it also benefits the members
themselves. Americorps has given me the opportunity to experience
teaching, as a career, before I make a commitment to a school
district. It has given me the opportunity to interact with professionals
in my field, attend educational conferences, and build a strong
work ethic and reputation with my peers and administrative personal.
It has opened professional avenues that I otherwise would not
have had.
Americorps also benefits
members on a more personal level. I’ve been actively involved
in community projects that I know I would not have done had I
not been an Americorps member: planting trees, showing children
how to grow Marigolds on Stand for Children Day, keeping score
for floor hockey at the Special Olympics. None of these activities
are extremely difficult. None of them are physically or mentally
exhausting. They only take time and participation. Unlike many
things, being an Americorps member has produced only positive
changes in my life and in the lives of the people I’ve reached.
Brenda Piatek
March, 2003
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the development of trail and stream initiatives. This year a
'River Rendezvous', and 'Sojourn' drew participants from across
the country to enjoy the challenge and beauty of area rivers
and to discover 
