AmeriCorps Week

WHEREAS, service to others is a hallmark of the American character, and throughout our history citizens have stepped up to meet our challenges by volunteering in their communities; and

WHEREAS, the current economic downturn means more Americans are facing hardships, and volunteering and national service is needed more than ever; and  

WHEREAS, the AmeriCorps national service program has proven to be a highly effective way to engage Americans of all ages and backgrounds in meeting a wide range of community needs and promote the ethic of service and volunteering since its creation in 1994; and

WHEREAS, each year AmeriCorps, including AmeriCorps VISTA and AmeriCorps NCCC, provides opportunities for 75,000 citizens across the nation, including approximately 380 citizens in Alabama this year, to give back in an intensive way to our communities, our state, and our country; and  

WHEREAS, more than 574,000 men and women across the nation, including more than 5,500 residents from Alabama, have taken the AmeriCorps pledge to “get things done for America” by becoming AmeriCorps members since 1994; and

 

WHEREAS, those AmeriCorps members have served a total of more than 718 million hours nationwide, including 8 million hours served by residents from Alabama, helping to improve the lives of our state’s most vulnerable citizens, strengthen our educational system; protect our environment, and contribute to our public safety; and

WHEREAS, AmeriCorps was designed to give a key role to states in deciding where resources should be directed to meet state and local needs through the work of Governor-appointed state service commissions, including the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (Alabama State Service Commission); and

WHEREAS, AmeriCorps has strengthened America’s independent sector by investing more than $5.7 billion dollars to support the efforts of tens of thousands of nonprofit, community, educational, and faith-based community groups nationwide; and those grants have leveraged hundreds of millions of additional funds and in-kind donations from others sources; and

WHEREAS, AmeriCorps members nationwide, in return for their service, have earned over $1.6 billion in Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards to further their own educational advancement at colleges and universities—including more than $14.6 million dollars that has been earned by residents of Alabama; and

WHEREAS, AmeriCorps members, after their terms of service end, remain engaged in our communities as volunteers, teachers, public servants, and nonprofit leaders in disproportionately high levels; and

WHEREAS, Congress passed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Corporation for National and Community Service and engage more Americans in service, including a major expansion of AmeriCorps to focus on critical national issues of education, health, clean energy, veterans, and economic opportunity; and   

WHEREAS, AmeriCorps Week, March 10 through March 18, 2012, is an opportune time for the people of Alabama to salute AmeriCorps members and alums for their powerful impact; thank all of AmeriCorps’ community partners in Alabama who make the program possible; and bring more Americans into service:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama, do hereby proclaim March 10 through March 18, 2012, as

AmeriCorps Week

in the state of Alabama and urge all citizens to thank AmeriCorps members and alumni for their service and to find ways to give back to their communities.

Given Under My Hand and the Great Seal of the Office of the Governor at the State Capitol in the City of Montgomery on the 15th day of March 2012.

      

Governor Robert Bentley