National Service News Headlines and Featured Resources
News Headlines
 Get Inspired, Connected,
Informed, and Energized! Start planning now to attend the world's largest
gathering of volunteer and service leaders. Discover fresh ideas and practical tools
to strengthen your program. This year's conference is combined with the Senior Corps
Conference and the AmeriCorps Grantee Meeting. More info.
 AmeriCorps Week is May 11-18, 2008! AmeriCorps Week is a time to
bring more Americans into service, salute AmeriCorps members
and alums for their impact, and thank community partners. Be sure to visit AmeriCorpsWeek.gov for ideas and
inspiration on how YOU can get involved!
Rigorous Longitudinal Study of AmeriCorps Finds Significant Impacts Eight Years Later.
Released in coordination with a Brookings Institution briefing this morning,
the study, Still Serving: Measuring the Eight-Year Impact of AmeriCorps on
Alumni, is the most rigorous evaluation ever conducted on AmeriCorps’ long-term
impacts on its members. The report, executive summary, and other information are at www.NationalService.gov/research/.
President's Council Releases New Toolkit to
Help Engage ALL Youth in Service. During National
Volunteer Week, The President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation launched
a new online toolkit, “Youth Engaged in Service: How and Why to Incorporate
Volunteer Projects into Your Youth Program.” The toolkit is intended to provide
local youth leaders in low-income communities – coaches, ministers, volunteers,
and community program coordinators - the tools and resources needed to incorporate
youth service into their existing efforts in order to increase the number of youth
from disadvantaged circumstances engaging in volunteer opportunities. The toolkit
was developed and will be distributed in collaboration with more than 30 national,
state, and local nonprofit and government organizations. For more information,
visit www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/yes/.
 Governor Schwarzenegger Announces
First-in-the-Nation Cabinet Position for Service and Volunteering.
On February 26, Governor Schwarzenegger signed an executive order to establish the
new position of secretary of service and volunteering. This first-in-the-nation
action is designed to
encourage volunteerism and to improve coordination of volunteer
efforts between the state’s departments and agencies. This gives volunteers
a voice at the highest levels of state government. See the article in the New York Times.
Companies Fuel Growing Pro Bono Trend with
$110 Million in Pledges
A growing number of companies have begun to support employee volunteering by
shifting to a "pro bono" approach — where employees apply the professional
skills they use everyday in the workplace to help nonprofits meet community needs.
More than 120 business, government, and nonprofit leaders have set goals and
mapped strategies for making "pro bono" as common in marketing, finance,
technology, and management consulting as it is in the legal field. For more
information, see the Summit on Corporate Volunteerism page.
TIME Magazine Puts VolunteerMatch in its Top 10 Websites for 2007
TIME named VolunteerMatch.org as one of the Top 10 websites
in its annual survey of news, business and cultural touchstones that
enrich both the online and offline experiences of today's web users.
VolunteerMatch is celebrating its tenth year helping individuals find a great
place to volunteer. It was the first website offering the ability to search
for volunteer opportunities by ZIP code and area of interest. Visit their site for
more information.
 YouthNoise.com Summits
YouthNoise is a social networking site for youth activists. All its content is
user-based - by youth, for youth. The YouthNoise Summits are FREE events about creating grassroots change in LOCAL
neighborhoods. Come together and talk about issues that truly affect youth and their
community; then find creative ways to be a part of the solution.
 A collaborative effort among twenty-two federal agencies, including the CNCS, DisabilityInfo.gov connects people with disabilities to the information and resources they need to
actively participate in the workforce and in their communities.
 Google's Free Map Tool: Asset for Volunteer Planning
AmeriCorps is exploring ways to use the Internet and social networking tools to
engage volunteers. Google has a free map-making tool (called the My Maps tab in
Google Maps) that lets users create and share maps, to easily
organize where to meet. This is an opportunity for programs to
use free, widely-available technology to organize members and volunteers.
This tool can be used for any service project, meeting, and event. Visit
http://maps.google.com/help/maps/cleanup/.
 A Time to Serve: TIME Magazine Covers the Case for National Service
In its 9/1 issue, TIME digs into the case for national service — from why it's important to
America, to activists already making waves on the ground, to the dramatic increase in young Americans volunteering in communities across the U.S. Polls show that volunteerism and civic participation are near
all-time highs since the 1970s. After 9/11, Americans were hungry to do something, get involved, make a difference. Hurricane Katrina also brought increased awareness of the need for volunteer response on a broad scale, locally and nationally. See all of the titles in this article series.
 Rescuing Recess:
Collaboration with Cartoon Network, NBA, CNCS and PTAs
The "Rescuing Recess" campaign aims to recruit volunteers to give 1 million hours
this school year to support recess and physical activity in schools. Studies have
shown that recess is declining, especially in
schools that primarily educate children from minority and low-income
families. Volunteers can play a key role in keeping recess intact by
serving as recess monitors, and free resources, equipment and special prizes are available.
Schools wishing to participate should visit
www.rescuingrecess.com.
Senior Corps Teams up with VolunteerMatch to Improve Online Search and Match
Senior Corps has a new web-based volunteer recruitment subscription service and a 55+ channel that will deliver Senior Corps grantees an exceptional tool to help in their quest for 55+ volunteers. Read more about the details, including how existing JASON data has been transferred to VolunteerMatch. Visit the Get Involved site where seniors can search for volunteer opportunities relevant to their interests and located in their regional areas.
Featured Resources
 What's Next: after the AmeriCorps and VISTA member year of service
National Service Criminal History Check
Resources
 Volunteering in America: Resources for Retention
 EnCorps: Tried-and-True Resources for Member Development
Latest Issue of The Tutor: in-depth articles for tutor, mentor, and other youth-focused programs
New DVD release from LEARNS: Beyond the Right Answer:
Effective Homework Help
AmeriCorps*State/National Evaluation Resources from Project STAR
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