AmeriCorps*VISTA
AmeriCorps*VISTA
(Volunteers In
Service To America)
For 35 years,
AmeriCorps*VISTA has been
helping bring communities and individuals out of poverty. Today,
nearly 6,000 AmeriCorps*VISTA members serve in hundreds of nonprofit
organizations
and public agencies throughout the country -- working to fight
illiteracy,
improve health services, create businesses, increase housing
opportunities,
or bridge the digital divide.
Down East RC&D Council
has been fortunate
to have several AmeriCorps*VISTA Volunteers assisting with projects in
its area. The Council's first volunteer worked with Maine's fledgling
cranberry
industry to get it up and running. Two individuals served in this
position before funding ended. There was another Volunteer who
worked
on forestry and fish and wildlife issues and assisted the Wild Salmon
Resource
Center to help find grants to cover expenses of construction and
equipment.
Then Volunteers were sought
to become grant
writers to search for project funds to assist the salmon
industry.
Several very successful grants were found which helped the Wild Salmon
Resource Center in Columbia Falls become a reality. One of the
volunteers
also set up a grant writing workshop to help train other people how to
write grants.
The last Volunteer provided
assistance
to the Maine Department of Agriculture's FarmShare Nutrition Program
for
the Elderly. The volunteer assisted farmers and seniors with
their
local food deliveries and also helped the MDOA with bulk farm pick-up
of
potatoes and apples.
Volunteers are a vital part
of the RC&D
program and the Council was fortunate to have assistance from the
AmeriCorps*VISTA
program, administered through the Corporation for National Service, who
provided funds to the RC&D to help make its resources go further
for
the area.
|
