CELEBRATION DAY
City honors AmeriCorps and Senior Corps for invaluable service and help
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland shook hands and posed for pictures before he stopped at Cat Monaco’s booth inside First Baptist Church-Broad.
Monaco told Strickland about the service work taking place in the city with the Impact America Corps Program, where she is state director.
Strickland attended the event to personally thank AmeriCorps members who serve in community service-based programs across the country as part of the fourth annual Mayor, County, and Tribal Recognition Day for National Service.
“The Mayor and County day of recognition is for us to show them all the kinds of services we do for the community,” Monaco said. “It’s their day to come and see the impact that we’ve made.”
Strickland called the volunteers “invaluable.”
“Their volunteer hours helping make Memphis a better place is just so appreciated,” Strickland said. “We just commemorated the death of Martin Luther King and to paraphrase his saying, “Life’s most persistent question is what are you doing for others?” These people are living examples of what we should be doing for others, serving and helping.”
AmeriCorps members commit to a full or part-time position with a nonprofit community organization or public agency. Senior Corps connects adults 55 and up to organizations where they can serve as mentors or companions to those who need it in their community.
In Memphis there are 812 AmeriCorps and Senior Corps members, part of the 4,941 members who work across the state of Tennessee.
Wendy Spencer, the CEO of the Corporation for National Community Service, which administers the AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs, traveled to Memphis for the event and thanked the crowd of roughly 250 Senior Corps members.
“We are nothing without you,” she said. “You are serving Memphis, you are serving this great state of Tennessee, you’re serving our country. It’s really touching to be here on behalf of the president to thank each and every one of you.”
Louemma Moore, 71, became a Senior Corps volunteer with the Porter-Leath Foster Grandparents program after she retired.
“I love it. We sit and help read and talk to the children,” Moore said.
In Memphis, Bridge Builders Inc., the city of Memphis, Impact America, Hopeworks, the Libertas School of Memphis, Literacy Mid-South, Memphis Teacher Residency, MIFA, Porter-Leath, the Shelby County Board of Education and Teach for America all participate in AmeriCorps or Senior Corps programs.
“Memphis is such a great place for AmeriCorps because there is such a really high need for the services that are being provided by AmeriCorps members,” Monaco, from Impact America, said. “You can recruit volunteers from the community to get involved and see what’s going on in their backyard.”