June 2, 2009

Governor Markell Announces AmeriCorps Grant Award

DOVER - Governor Jack Markell announced Tuesday that the Division of Parks and Recreation will receive nearly $370,000 in AmeriCorps grant funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service. The grant will support a total of 65 AmeriCorps members who will meet vital needs across the state in environmental and preservation initiatives.

“AmeriCorps teaches young people important lessons about the value of public service and help them pay for college,” Markell said. “The AmeriCorps positions coming to Delaware will help DNREC keep our great state parks looking good during the busy summer season, when many Delawareans take advantage of the parks’ natural beauty.”

AmeriCorps is a national service program that engages Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service to meet critical needs in education, the environment, public safety, and other areas.  Its members serve in thousands of nonprofit and faith-based organizations in rural and urban communities throughout the nation. Among other activities, AmeriCorps members tutor and mentor youth, build affordable housing, teach computer skills, clean parks and streams, run after-school programs, help communities respond to disasters, and recruit and train volunteers.

The Division of Parks and Recreation was selected to receive continued AmeriCorps funding by the Corporation for National and Community Service in a highly competitive national process after being recommended by the Delaware Health and Social Services, Division of State Service Centers, State office of Volunteerism; in partnership with the Governor’s appointed Commission on Community and Volunteer Service, which plays a key role in promoting volunteering and administering AmeriCorps programs throughout Delaware.  AmeriCorps programs are funded annually in three-year cycles, and the grants being announced today include both organizations receiving their first year of funding or those continuing in their second and third years.  Later this summer, additional AmeriCorps Formula funded grant awards to other organizations within Delaware will be announced.

On a national level, AmeriCorps will support nearly 75,000 positions through regular 2009 funding, plus an additional 13,000 positions funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  Most positions will start in the summer and fall.  AmeriCorps engages people in intensive, results-driven service through more than 4,100 nonprofits across the country.  Since 1994, more than 574,000 men and women have provided more than 718 million hours of service to their communities and country through AmeriCorps.

Last month President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, landmark legislation that will increase opportunities for Americans of all ages to serve, put AmeriCorps on a path to grow from 75,000 to 250,000 annual positions by the year 2017, and strengthen social innovation and volunteer generation in America’s nonprofit sector.

AmeriCorps is recruiting now. Applicants can choose from a wide variety of positions across the nation.  Benefits can include a living allowance, health care, training and career skills, and a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award worth up to $4,725 to pay for college or to pay off student loans.  Interested individuals can learn about available opportunities and apply online by visiting http://www.americorps.gov/ .