AmeriCorps to swear in hundreds of new members

October 19, 2017

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Serve Washington on Friday will host a celebration for hundreds of local AmeriCorps members as they commit to a year’s service in communities throughout Washington. Serving at more than 900 locations throughout the state, AmeriCorps members tutor and mentor children, support veterans and military families, provide health services, restore the environment, respond to disasters, increase economic opportunity, and recruit and manage volunteers.

The event takes place Friday, Oct. 20 at Fisher Pavilion–Seattle Center. Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib will deliver the keynote speech. Other speakers are Susan Weiss, chair of Serve Washington; Andrea Fercho, VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) member from the United Way of Thurston County; and Aaron Carr, AmeriCorps alumnus and program director for City Year Seattle/King County. Debbie Schuffenhauer, executive director of Serve Washington, will swear in new members.

Similar swearing-in ceremonies are happening across the country this fall as more than 75,000 individuals join AmeriCorps.

Following the ceremony, 200 AmeriCorps members will participate in disaster preparedness training sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency; Washington State Military Department – Emergency Management Division; and Washington’s Community Emergency Response Team (popularly known as CERT)/Citizen Corps program.

In conjunction with the celebration, 50 AmeriCorps members will work on an environmental restoration project at Discovery Park, sponsored by EarthCorps.

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Serve Washington advances national service, volunteerism and civic engagement to improve lives; expands opportunity to meet the local critical needs of residents of Washington; and strengthens community capacity while creating healthy and resilient communities. For more information, visit servewashington.wa.gov.

AmeriCorps is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that engages millions of Americans in service through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and the Volunteer Generation Fund, and leads the nation’s volunteering and service efforts. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.

This year, CNCS committed $37.5 million to support Washington communities through national service initiatives. Through a unique public-private partnership, this federal investment will leverage an additional $24.5 million in other resources to strengthen community impact, build local support and increase return on taxpayer dollars.

Friday, Oct. 20, 2017

WHO	New AmeriCorps members
WHAT	Celebrate their swearing-in
WHEN	10 a.m. Open to media. Camera set up at 9:30 a.m.
WHERE	Fisher Pavilion-Seattle Center 305 Harrison St. Seattle, WA 98109