AmeriCorps Team is Working Locally to Better Community

A team from AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) is working locally with the Folsom Cordova Community Partnership through the end of December to help enhance the education, health, and well-being of Folsom and Rancho Cordova’s children and families in need.

The NCCC team is assisting the FCCP with holiday events such as an annual toy drive; a Thanksgiving event for families and friends of the Partnership; and A Taste of December, the organization’s largest fundraiser, in which guests buy tickets and sample food and drink from a variety of local establishments. The team is also assisting with the organization’s day-to-day tasks, such as running after-school activities for young teenagers, watching toddlers in Play Care, and helping out with various office tasks.

The Folsom Cordova Community Partnership is a non-profit organization which works with the community to build strong families, meet the needs of struggling parents, increase self-sufficiency, and promote youth development through positive peer and adult relationships. It focuses particularly on assisting families troubled by child abuse, incarceration, and poverty to identify their strengths and overcome their challenges.

Corps Member Logan Crane explained how rewarding he has found the work to be so far; “Seeing the gratitude coming from the families just for something as simple as serving them food made me really appreciate this kind of work. I think I’d like to do something like this with my life.”

This team is one of six that are currently serving in Sacramento. The other NCCC teams are assigned to several different area organizations, including the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services; F.C. Joyce Elementary and Larchmont Elementary, both from the Twin Rivers Unified School District; Woodland Joint Unified School District; and Oak Ridge Elementary, which is part of the Sacramento Unified School District.

AmeriCorps NCCC is a part of AmeriCorps, a network of national service programs created to improve the environment, enhance education, increase public safety and assist with disaster relief and other unmet human needs. The Pacific Region campus, located in Sacramento, Calif, serves Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and the territories of Guam and Samoa, as well as the Gulf Coast Region. The Pacific Region campus is one of five campuses in the United States; the others are located in Perry Point, MD., Denver, Colo., Vinton, Iowa and Vicksburg, Miss.

NCCC members ages 18-24, must complete at least 1,700 hours of community service during the 10-month long program. In exchange for their service, they receive $5,350 to help pay for college or to pay school loans. Other benefits include leadership development, team building skills, increased self-confidence, and the satisfaction of knowing that they have made a real difference in communities across the country, AmeriCorps is administered by the corporation for National Civilian and Community Service. For information about applying to an AmeriCorps program, call 1-800-942-2677 (1-800-94-ACORP) or visit the website at www.AmeriCorps.gov.