Coffee, Coffee Everywhere...

One of the early Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) posters. It reads: "Sugar and spice and everything nice? Not here. But it could be...with your help. VISTA is new and it's like the Peace Corps. Long hours, hard work, low pay. Same satisfaction, same rewards. You'll work a year in the United States helping make a lot of dreams come true. Write VISTA Washington, D.C. They'll tell you how."

It’s that time of year again – Spring Youth Service Day is almost here! THANK YOU for all of your hard work planning youth-oriented projects this semester!

Don’t forget—SYSD project reports are due May 1, 2012. You can find the report form at http://bit.ly/SYSDReportForm or on the apo.org website.

Below are some frequently asked questions about SYSD as well as some last-minute project ideas. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me!

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Frequently Asked Questions

  When is Spring Youth Service Day (SYSD)?

                This year SYSD is being held April 20-22, 2012. SYSD is part of a larger movement called Global Youth Service Day, so the sponsoring organization, Youth Service America, sets the dates. If they don’t work for your chapter, it’s always okay to have your youth-oriented project earlier in the semester. We know that SYSD is very close to finals for many schools!

What kind of project should we be doing for Spring Youth Service Day?

Your project must benefit youth in some way. Ideally, your Spring Youth Service Day project should be organized by your chapter, should have some element that takes place on or near SYSD weekend, and should have as many chapter members (pledges and actives) participating as possible. However, if you cannot plan a specific SYSD project with your chapter or plans fall through, you may submit any project from this semester that benefits youth in some way. Both longer-term and one-time projects are acceptable.

When is the project report due and where can I submit it?

                The project report is due May 1, 2012 and can be submitted online to the National Office at http://bit.ly/SYSDReportForm . (You can also find the report form on apo.org if you lose this link!) Again, while we hope that you have planned a project for SYSD, you may submit any project from this semester that benefits youth. If your chapter didn’t do a single service project this semester that involved kids, we ask that you report not doing a project. A link to that form is available from the SYSD report form.

Where can I find more information?

                There is a handbook available for chapters at http://www.apo.org/site/site_files/sysd_handbook_2012.pdf with lots of information about SYSD and completing your project. Also, if you’re looking for some last-minute project ideas, I’ve included some below.

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Last-Minute Project Ideas

Still struggling to find that perfect Spring Youth Service Day project? Here are just a few ideas for projects that can be done between now and SYSD:

- Collect new teddy bears for police officers to give children injured in accidents

- Make or collect donated stuffed animals or small blankets for local fire departments for children in crisis situations (such as fires)

- Build benches or picnic tables for a local playground or family park

- Hold a community clean-up day at a local park: use Facebook and other social media tools to invite your chapter and everyone’s friends to clean up a specific park or playground (multiple parks if your chapter is large)

- Create comforting pillows for children in homeless shelters

- Make blankets for children with serious illnesses through Project Linus - http://www.projectlinus.org/

- Write letters or make cards for distribution at children’s hospitals

- Create “books on tape” (or CD using microphones attached to computers) for local preschools or libraries by recording chapter members reading children's books and including a copy of the book with your recording

- Collect school supplies for low-income families or K-12 education programs

- Play games and do craft projects with the children living in a homeless shelter

- Hold a “bicycle repair day” outside a local library and help kids fix and maintain their bikes

- Have a bake sale or other quickly organized fundraiser to benefit a local youth program

- See if there are opportunities to help with maintenance or cleanup at a local youth center, Boys & Girls Club, school, or camp

- Collect gently used books for schools, shelters or other programs that serve children and promote literacy in their communities

Sources:

http://www.apo.org/site/site_files/sysd_handbook_2012.pdf

http://fvgs.net/uploads/SERVICE_PROJECT_Ideas.pdf

http://www.projectlinus.org/

http://childrenshospital.umc.edu/documents/2010FundRaisingIdeas.pdf

http://lancaster.unl.edu/4h/serviceideas.shtml

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My NCCC Team Leader application was withdrawn when I accepted my current position with AmeriCorps VISTA, but they kept me on their applicant mailing list. I received this letter today with information about a great new opportunity for those interested in disaster response. My best experiences in NCCC were disaster response assignments. This sounds like a dream opportunity. In addition to team leaders, they will also be looking for corps members. Interviews begin in March, so apply today!

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Greetings AmeriCorps NCCC Team Leader Applicants,

  We thank you for your interest in AmeriCorps NCCC. This week, we are offering the last of our Winter 2012 positions. Even though you may not have been selected to serve for this term, we want to inform you of a potential opportunity to serve in a new AmeriCorps NCCC project opening up this summer.

  AmeriCorps NCCC hopes to launch a new service term dedicated to emergency preparedness and disaster response. AmeriCorps NCCC has been a vital support system for communities across America in times of natural disaster, especially in recent years, and we hope to expand our impact to all communities in need.

  This opportunity would be open to over 400 NCCC members, who would be specially trained in disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.  The program will hopefully start in July/August and is still contingent upon the availability of new funding to support the program and all associated member benefits.

  Team Leader Selection for this Summer Term would be identical to our current selection process and will be handled directly through the NCCC Campuses. If you have an active Team Leader application on file (Submitted or Under Review Status), you will not have to apply again. We will use the application you already have in the system, regardless of the affiliated term; just be sure to follow the link provided below and express interest in a Team Leader position. If your application is withdrawn or in declined status, please submit a Fall 2012 Team Leader application and follow the steps below.

  Once you have an active application submitted to NCCC, if you are eligible and available to serve this summer, please fill out the form provided here https://questions.nationalservice.gov/app/ask_mac. Be sure to enter AmeriCorps and then AmeriCorps NCCC as the Program Type, and enter “NCCC Summer 2012 – Team Leader” as the Subject.

  Please express your interest for this term no later than our Fall 2012 Team Leader Application Deadline which is April 1, 2012. If you do not follow the steps detailed above, you will not be considered for this potential opportunity. We hope to begin to interview for this term by March, so be sure to contact us today!

  If interested, we will keep you informed of our ability to launch this new focus program this summer.

  We hope to hear from you soon!

Beth Stewart

Selection and Placement Coordinator

AmeriCorps NCCC

Starting in August, I began a term in AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America). VISTA, a program created to reduce and ultimately eliminate poverty, gives interested individuals an opportunity to serve full-time for a year in a capacity building position at a non-profit or local government agency.

Basically, what VISTAs generally do is indirect service—for example, they create sustainable programs, recruit new volunteers, or write grants. If you're in APO, imagine a chapter's Service Vice President creating a basic service program or improving an already existing program, encouraging other people in the chapter to chair events, and finding people to participate in events when not enough people are signed up; that SVP is engaged in indirect service.

When I served a term in AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) back in 2007, I engaged primarily in direct service. I tutored and mentored kids, cleared trails, built houses, cleared debris, served meals, built fences...the list goes on. Direct service is what many people think of upon hearing the phrase "community service."

Both types of service are important to our communities and to APO chapters. The next time you notice that someone's service—direct or indirect—hasn't been recognized, I hope that you will say thank you. :)

Okay, off the soapbox. Basically, I am working with the University of Mississippi School of Engineering to develop an "Engineering Service Corps" as well as to help provide faculty with resources to develop service-learning courses. I'm really excited about the next year and hope that we can get the new service program off the ground soon. :)

We all get lots of emails about why events like officer retreats are important, and it's easy to tune it out. Here is what you will gain from the retreat this weekend, based on my experience attending last year--

1. Learn what works well for other chapters. Every chapter is different, but it's really helpful to find out about the cool things that others are doing--and see how you might be able to incorporate it into your own programs. Instead of starting completely from scratch, you can learn how other chapters implemented it, and maybe save yourself some time and stress when putting together something similar. Personally, I hate reinventing the wheel. So I love organized events like retreats where we can all compare notes.

2. Learn more about the subtleties of your officer position. This one seems odd. How can you learn more from people whose positions are all a little different? Learning about those differences and unique approaches that other chapters have to the same basic position can help you to think more about how you fit into your own chapter, and the finer points of your own role. Not to mention the subtleties that are the same for everyone in your group. :) I promise that there are some!

3. Meet new people. In the short-term, the Brothers you meet are an excellent resource for you during your term in office and beyond. They are the people you will see perhaps only occasionally, but over and over again. I'm weird, but I find it comforting when I walk into a conference or meeting and see familiar faces--I enjoy getting the chance to reconnect with Brothers periodically. Long-term, most of the people you will meet at Alpha Phi Omega leadership development events (like officer retreats) are driven individuals who will continue their success in the workforce. You never know when those connections will be helpful, and often in surprising ways.

4. Take a break before school starts. Okay, I know that the retreat will involve a bit of work, but it's somewhere that's not school and not home. It's a chance to gather your thoughts and take a step away from everyday life that is usually pretty rare during the semester.