MCSC Latest Updates
Meijer Supports Mentor Michigan!
June 18, 2009
Do you struggle to find the perfect gift for a new graduate or newlywed couple? Stop struggling and give the gift that really counts – a Meijer gift card.
This weekend, Meijer will donate $2 to Mentor Michigan for every $25 or more Meijer gift card purchased on Saturday, June 20 at any Michigan location. The money raised will be used to support mentoring programs in your local community through Mentor Michigan mini-grants later this year.
Mentor Michigan Gives Grants to Nearly 40 Mentoring Organizations to Recognize and Recruit Mentors
January 12, 2009
LANSING – Mentor Michigan, an initiative of Governor Jennifer M. Granholm and First Gentleman Daniel G. Mulhern and administered through the Michigan Community Service Commission has awarded grants to 38 mentoring organizations across the state that will recognize and recruit mentors this month in honor of Michigan Mentoring Month. Mentoring organizations received grants ranging from $100 to $1,000.
click here to read the full press release
National Service Chairman and Former CEO Urge Service Stimulus (Washington DC) --
December 10, 2008
Following is a commentary about a service stimulus by Stephen Goldsmith, chairman of the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service and former Mayor of Indianapolis, and Harris Wofford, former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service from 1995 to 2001. It was distributed McClatchy-Tribune News Service and has appeared in the Miami Herald (FL), Fort Worth Star Telegram (TX), The Record (NJ) and other newspapers.
Volunteers for national service desperately needed
Column by STEPHEN GOLDSMITH and HARRIS WOFFORD
The start of the holiday season brings anguish for many families across the country. More Americans are struggling to make ends meet. They will be in need of support and services just at the time when the nonprofits who can help meet those needs are facing precipitous drops in giving. Food banks' supplies are set to reach new lows. Yet this year we will see millions of citizens reach out in record numbers to assist those in need -- offering food, special care and compassion.
As the government seeks to deal with the economic crisis and relieve the distress felt by millions of families, we should not overlook the great American tradition of service. More than 60 million citizens every year are providing service to their neighbors and their communities.
Lawmakers who will soon consider a financial stimulus package should also consider a ''service stimulus.'' Repairing the roads and bridges of our physical infrastructure is urgently needed, but we also need to expand our civic infrastructure dramatically.
President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to make service a central cause of his presidency. In his call to service outlining plans for a large expansion of citizen service, he said he would reach out to Republicans, Democrats and independents alike, young and old, and ask all of us for our service and active citizenship.
''We need your service, right now,'' he said. Here are a few examples of what ''We the People'' can do right now and in the year ahead:
• We can help children in danger of dropping out of school by volunteering as tutors and mentors.
• Skilled professionals (lawyers, accountants, et al.) can go door to door in distressed communities to assist families facing mortgage foreclosure.
• Volunteers can support displaced families and children by helping them transition from homeless shelters to more permanent housing.
• Since financial stress and unemployment can lead to substance abuse, psychological despair and homelessness, community assistance centers and shelters will need many new volunteers and basic supplies.
As two who support national and community service from different sides of the political aisle, we look to President Obama and Congress