This year AmeriCorps Week has something for everyone!

It's the most wonderful time of the year... AmeriCorps Week! Thanks to the help of the InterCorps Council, we are doing it up bigger than ever. A schedule of events is below, and make sure to join the event on facebook for up-to-the-minute updates!

Wednesday, March 26: Pre-AmeriCorps Week Happy Hour at City Steam!
Join us from 5:30-8 PM as we let off a little "steam" and get ready for the weekend ahead! 

Friday, March 28: Kickoff Event at Three Sheets!
We'll be at Three Sheets from 7-9 PM with AmeriCorps trivia and the announcement of the "Your Site in Seven Seconds" Vine contest! Free food, cash bar, and don't forget to wear your "A" all day!

Saturday, March 29: (Still) Getting Things Done!
HARTFORD: Help paint and organize an apartment at Hands On Hartford. Shifts available starting at 9 and ending at 3 PM. RSVP online here!

NEW HAVEN: True to our roots, it wouldn't be AmeriCorps Week without a little service! Join current members to help paint the Columbus House Annex in New Haven by going here or contact intercorpsct@gmail.com for more details. 

SOUTHEAST CT: From 9-1 PM in AmeriCorps will be celebrated at FRESH Farm, on the campus of the Waterford Country School, 78 Hunts Brook Rd in Quaker Hill. Let Sheri know if you can make it at spascal@ucfs.org.

Can't make it to a service project but want to give back? AARP Experience Corps is partnering with PAVE New Haven to put on a book drive to benefit our friends at New Haven Reads. Come to the Hamden Plaza (2100 Dixwell Ave) any time between 8 AM and 3:30 PM to drop off your gently-used children's books or contact Katie at kcandiotti@aoascc.org for more details!

Monday, March 31: #MomentMonday
Share a photo on your favorite social media platform(s) of a "moment of impact" at your service site with the hashtag #momentmonday! Don't have social media? Just email your pictures to us and we'll share it on ours! 

Tuesday, April 1: Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service
Join one of the many Mayors Day events across the Connecticut or contact Sam at srigotti@fairfield.edu for information about how to help us plan one in your own city!

Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service is almost here!

To spotlight the impact of national service and thank those who serve, mayors across the country will participate in the second-annual Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service on April 1, 2014 (no fooling!).

In Connecticut, mayors and first selectmen from Bridgeport to Windham will be taking this opportunity to highlight the service of the 5,800 members currently serving through proclamations and special events. Events will be held in the following locations:

Bridgeport

Tuesday, April 1, 1:30-2:30pm

Remarks by Mayor Bill Finch and service members, presentation of certificates/issuing a proclamation.

City Hall, 999 Broad Street, Bridgeport, CT

RSVP to Perdita at pdas@ryasap.org

Hartford
Tuesday, April 1, 10:00am
Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra will recognize national service programs and participants at a brief ceremony to be held at Hartford City Hall.
RSVP to Anne at ct@cns.gov

Middletown

Tuesday, April 1, 1:00pm-1:30pm

Mayor Daniel Drew will read a proclamation at the offices of the North End Action Team, 654 Main Street, Middletown.

For more information contact Meagan at meagan@neatmiddletown.org

New Haven

Tuesday, April 1, 11:30am-1:00pm

Mayor Toni Harp will recognize members and programs as we announce a service project to beautify the neighborhood and spread the word about national service in teh community.

Lincoln-Bassett School (Auditorium), 130 Bassett St, New Haven, CT

RSVP to Shannon at smykins@aoascc.org

New London

Monday, April 7^th, 7:00pm

Mayor Daryl Finizio will read a proclamation at the City Council meeting

City Council Chambers, 3^rd Floor of City Hall

181 State Street, New London, CT

RSVP to Sam at sam.rigotti@gmail.com

Norwich
Monday, March 24
Mayor Hinchey will be joining FoodCorps and other AmeriCorps members serving in and around Norwich for lunch at Uncas School.

Windham

Tuesday, April 1, 3:45-5:00pm

A garden building event is tentatively scheduled to take place at 3:45 p.m. on April 1 at Natchaug Elementary School, where Mayor Ernie Eldridge will issue a proclamation.

123 Jackson Street, Willimantic, CT
RSVP to Sally at sally.milius@wrccinc.org

A full list of mayors currently committed is below. If you don't see your mayor on the list contact connecticut@americorpsalums.org for information on how you can help reach out!

• Bridgeport
• Bristol
• Danbury
• Fairfield
• Hamden
• Hartford
• Manchester
• Middletown
• New Haven
• New London
• North Haven
• Norwalk
• Norwich
• Stamford
• West Haven
• Wallingford
• Westport
• Windham

Note: This post will be constantly updated as more mayors sign on!

MLK Day: A Teach for America Perspective

Reflections on AmeriCorps’ MLK Day of Service

from Teach For America Teachers

In recognition of AmeriCorps’ Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of service, Teach For America corps members joined their AmeriCorps allies and community partners in service projects across the New Haven community. Below, two teachers reflect on what the experience meant to them.

Carrie Keena (Connecticut Corps ’13)

Served at the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program in New Haven

Apart from working with amazing students, one of my favorite aspects of being a Connecticut Teach For America corps member is being a part of the community outside of school.

There's no greater way to put my work into perspective than to go out and meet people in the area. In honor of Martin Luther King, a group of us got together on January 18 in New Haven to distribute VITA Free Tax Consultation flyers in parts of the community.  In addition to being able to spend quality time with some fellow teachers I hadn't seen in several months, we met up with New Haven citizens where they live, exchanging hellos and talking about braving the cold weather together – and about how nice it is that there is a service to help all of us out when it comes to those challenging tax forms!

The experience was one of bonding with the community and of feeling good about what I am doing. And that's really important when going back into the classroom and working with our Connecticut citizens first hand.

Lauren Koster (Connecticut Corps ’12)

Served at Yale University’s Peabody Museum of Natural History Events

“Welcome! Today is a free day! Here’s a program. Come on in!” This was my script as a greeter at the Yale Peabody Museum on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as an AmeriCorps volunteer and Teach For America corps member. This day off was not just a “day on” for the sake of service – every day in the life of an AmeriCorps member is a day on. There is always more to be done to help our kids succeed, to close the gap, to get just one step, even a millimeter closer, to the day when all students have access to an excellent education.

I was eager to serve. As a Yale alumna, I love heading back to my old stomping grounds, and I was looking forward to greeting children, and possibly even running into a few of my own students and their families as they came to the Peabody for a day of dinosaurs and drum performances, fossils and slam poetry, butterflies and free books.

As the day went on, I was struck by how incredibly exuberant everyone was despite a rather chaotic scene. Yes, the museum was crowded, and no, we could not give out more than one program per family because we had a limited supply and the end was in sight. A group of exceptionally enthusiastic three year olds were so overjoyed at my greeting that they all hugged my legs at the same time and I was certain that I would either topple over or pass out from the sheer cuteness of it all (I’m not a kid person so this is really saying something). I heard gasps and the exclamation, “Wow! Look at that squid hanging from the ceiling!” from more elementary school kids than I could count.

Seeing students outside of a classroom – in a completely voluntary learning – is a joy to teachers. It fills me with pride and hope to witness kids caring about learning for the sake of learning. I remember growing up with a love of sitting down with a book to know more about an alluring topic or heading to a museum to experience said topic first hand. My fear that children’s unquenchable thirst for knowledge has been satiated by shortcuts and social media was put to rest that day.

“Welcome! Come on in! It’s a free day at the Peabody. Enjoy your time here.” What a glorious day off…

AmeriCorps Week 2013 Wrap-Up

We know it's been a while, but better late than never. Overall, we had a phenomenal AmeriCorps Week with record breaking turnouts at some events! Here is a run down, and below is a little slideshow  of the week. If you have any pictures, please upload them to our facebook page, or send them to AmeriCorpsAlumsCT@gmail.com 

For our third annual Advocacy Event, we again had 5 pizzas from BAR donated, and we engaged over 20 people on the New Haven Green. It was particularly exciting, engaging youth about AmeriCorps programs who had never heard of them before.

We also sponsored a Service Day with Fairfield County's Habitat for Humanity.
5 people served: 3 current VISTA members and 2 Alums.  AmeriCorps AlumsCT also provided the group with free pizza lunch!

Pizza was our theme of the week, Just kidding! But, our theme of the week was "Made in AmeriCorps." RJ Mercede, one of our fearless Alum leaders, started an annual tradition of highlighting "Champions of Service" and he even wrote a blog about it, which was highlighted by the national chapter.  See who our winners were!

Our biggest event of the week was our Happy Hour/Social Networking event at Rudys. We had  20 + people attend including Alums from throughout the state, Public Allies, current members, and we presented the Champion of Service Award to Jim Paley & Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven.

Last but not least, we handed out a bunch of AmeriCorps Alums CT pens!

Thanks to everyone in CT who made AmeriCorps Week 2013 such a successful event! A special Thank You to All involved in the planning of this week. You hard work and dedication to "Getting Things Done" in Connecticut does not go unrecognized.

AmeriCorps Week Planning Champions:
RJ Mercede, Luis Chavez-Brumell, Tina Lindstrom, Noor Al- Ghanem, Trevor Brightman, Emily Kaas, Sam Rigotti, Anne Ostberg, Julia Silberman, and Eileen Bakos.  

AmeriCorps Alums National- Greg Heinrich, Ben Duda, and Ken Tran.

Volunteers Organize for Homeless Veterans

Volunteers from AmeriCorps Alums CT, AmeriCorps VISTA and U.S. military Veterans worked together on a volunteer service project to provide welcome baskets for Veterans who were formerly homeless and are newly housed. 

The team of 14 people created 32 baskets and organized household items, some of which had been donated at previous events like the Crazy Sweater Party / Donation Drive at Luck and Levity a week ago [article]. 

Each basket contained a number of vital household items such as dish soap, dish ware, towels, toiletries, bedsheets, pillows, shower curtains, cleaning supplies, light bulbs and many of the bare essentials these Veterans would need for their new life inside their own home. 

During the event, the inauguration of President Obama played on the radio.  And we also had a discussion about an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "Drum Major Instinct" sermon, highlighting personal definitions of "service" for the betterment of society as a whole.

For more information about future service events, in the case that you would like to volunteer or donate to help homeless Veterans, follow the AmeriCorps Alums CT page on Facebook. 

Links:

AmeriCorps Alums CT Site
AmeriCorps Alums Facebook Page

Luck and Levity Article
Martin Luther King Speech

Support provided by Target, WalMart, Home Depot, Knights of Columbus, HomeGoods,  and the Greater New Haven Community Loan Fund