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 to shore up the civic infrastructure in order to help meet some of the most pressing human needs, build common cause, and strengthen the union's civic purpose.
In each area of need, the limiting factor is not American goodwill but the ways and means of recruiting, training and deploying people who want to play a part in meeting critical community needs.
More than a million new mentors and tutors are needed to help young people succeed in school, gain admission to college, and find work.
Our new president demonstrated that millions of volunteers can be actively engaged in a political campaign. Now is the time to show that a call to service from the president, using powerful new Internet means of communication, can engage millions Americans as active-duty citizens working together to meet the urgent needs of our communities.
This citizen service stimulus finds much common ground in the campaign pledges of Obama and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and most recently in the Serve America Act, introduced by Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, that greatly increases the numbers of AmeriCorps members.However any such new government resources should be viewed not as a jobs program but as assets and agents necessary to manage and train millions of volunteers.
These new forces can be rapidly assigned to existing nonprofits to recruit and organize unpaid, shorter-term volunteers.
Last year 75,000 AmeriCorps members recruited more than 1.7 million local volunteers. One of the best examples of this is AmeriCorps' relationship with Habitat for Humanity, where members don't just build homes, but most of all recruit, train and manage the community volunteers on whom Habitat relies. AmeriCorps members serving with Habitat for Humanity helped mobilize 200,000 community
volunteers to build 1,700 homes.
Of course federal efforts to build civic infrastructure need not only come from new federal funding. Our new president can take other significant steps, including requiring other federal grant programs to incorporate ways that volunteers could assist in accomplishing the grant's purpose.
In the can-do civic spirit that is the true strength of America, let's not wait for the Congress and the new president to strengthen our civic infrastructure.
In this holiday season, let's begin a new era by offering service on a scale not seen since World War II. And on Jan. 19, the day before the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States, let's honor Martin Luther King's day -- as Congress in 1994 directed us to do -- not as a day off, but as a day-on for citizen service.
Stephen Goldsmith is the chairman of the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that administers AmeriCorps and other national service programs. From 1992 to 1999 he served as the Republican mayor of Indianapolis. Harris Wofford, D-Pa., was U.S. senator from 1991 to 1995; he was CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service from 1995 to 2001.
Musette A. Michael, Executive Director
Michigan Community Service Commission
1048 Pierpont, Suite 4
Lansing, MI 48913
(517)373-4998
President-Elect's Plans Will Help Create a Nation of Service
November 21, 2008
The exciting election a few weeks ago ignited Americans across the country. And with both presidential candidates actively involved in ServiceNation throughout their campaigns, it's invigorating to think how President-elect Obama will carry his proposed plans forward after the inauguration.
On the website change.gov,
Barack Obama and Joe Biden's plan
for universal voluntary public service is laid out in detail, and
follows several of the principles of the ServiceNation campaign.
Key concepts include the following:
- Expanding the Corporation for National and Community Service by increasing AmeriCorps from 75,000 to 250,000 members.
- Engaging retiring Americans in service on a large scale.
- Expanding the Peace Corps to 16,000 members by 2011.
- Increasing service-learning in our nation's schools by setting a goal that all middle and high school students complete 50 hours of community service per year.
- Requiring 100 hours of service in college by establishing a new American Opportunity Tax Credit worth $4,000.
In the meantime, ServiceNation continues to engage citizens in its service efforts by supporting the Kennedy-Hatch
Serve America Act, building the ServiceNation movement throughout the U.S., and working to engage one million Americans in national service by 2020.
Keep yourself apprised of the service efforts swirling through our country through governmental leadership and ServiceNation. For more information, visit the ServiceNation web site.
ServiceNation: New York City Summit Was Just the Beginning!
The ServiceNation Summit September 11 and 12 in New York City was a huge success
with over 700 service leaders in attendance. Aside from the national figures,
celebrities, and presidential candidates who made their presence known, quite
a bit of exciting news occurred over those two days.
Read the whole story here.
Governor's Service Awards - July 2, 2007
A big thank you to all of you that attended the Governor's Service Awards and/or helped with the fundraising effort. The event was a huge success. The Miracles had people out of their seats dancing to all their favorite songs, the GSA winners had powerful and inspirational stories, and the local performers were very entertaining. Early estimates show that we raised approximately $80,000 - $85,000. Very exciting! Here are some of the comments we have received:
Rochelle Riley, GSA emcee and Detroit Free Press columnist: Rochelle said GSA was excellent and she wants to participate every year. She also said she was still tearing up about the Tuesday Toolmen as she walked to her car afterwards. "It's one of the best days of my life. I loved doing it, loved being there, and loved the people."
Carlas “C.J.” Quinney, winner of the 2007 Outstanding Mentor Award: “Thank you so much. What a wonderful night! I really appreciate you introducing me to the Governor … Please let the Governor and the First Gentlemen know how appreciative I am as well.”
Nick Metzger, public affairs specialist for State Farm Insurance Companies: “The Governor's Service Awards event was wonderful. Your team should be very proud of all your hard work, it certainly paid off. I've had many nice comments from our partners in the community regarding the evening’s events. Too, the Miracles were awesome.”
Shannon E. Dulin, senior public affairs coordinator for Comcast, Michigan Region:“We are so excited and honored to have won!!! Thank you!”
Mary Moellering, director of Brother Dan's Food Pantry (GSA finalist): “What an awesome program!!! Thank you for all that you did to help make it so special. Please thank everyone else that helped to recognize the volunteers in Michigan. Our bus didn't get back until 3:30 in the morning, but it was all worth it. All of our volunteers totally enjoyed all of it. And all of the winners truly deserved their awards. With all the bad news in the media, I think this should be put in the news all over the state!! … Thank you again for all that you do!”
Karen McDaniels, Gail & Rice, Inc. (secured The Miracles): “I was glad to be a part of this wonderful event.”
The event also received a lot of print coverage leading up to the event and the day of the event, including:
- Battle Creek Enquirer (multiple articles)
- Detroit Free Press (multiple articles)
- Detroit News
- Flint Journal
- Grand Rapids Press
- Ionia Sentinel-Standard
- Jackson CItizen Patriot
- Lansing State Journal (multiple articles)
- The Mining Journal
Reauthorization Legislation
Last week, the House Education and Labor Committee approved bipartisan reauthorization legislation (H.R. 2857). This legislation affects Learn and Serve America and AmeriCorps programs and has a direct impact on the primary source of funding and activities of the Michigan Community Service Commission. We are reviewing the proposed legislation to determine what content is in keeping with the goals and priorities of the Commission. We will keep you informed of the progress of the legislation.
Upcoming Events
Friday, September 28 - MCSC Board Meeting, 12:00 - 4:00 PM
Commissioner Joe Sowmick will be hosting us at the Cultural Museum-Ziibiwing Center in Mt. Pleasant.
Wednesday, October 24 - the Statewide Mentoring Conference will take place at the Holiday Inn West in Lansing. Last year we had over 400 attendees and are expecting the conference to grow this year.
Tuesday, November 13 - MCSC Board Meeting,11:00 - 3:00 PM
This meeting will take place at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing and will be in conjunction with the AmeriCorps Member Celebration. The times are tentative until the celebration agenda is confirmed.