Category Archives: Service News

06.16.09
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Nita Lowey Announces $450M for Peace Corps on Chris Matthews Show

RPCV Chris Matthew, RPCV Maureen Orth, and Rep. Nita Lowey on Hardball

RPCV Chris Matthew, RPCV Maureen Orth, and Rep. Nita Lowey on Hardball

More Peace Corps is looking more likely.

This afternoon, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) announced on RPCV Chris Matthew’s show Hardball that the proposed Peace Corps budget would increase to $450 million (over $340 million, last year) that would help expand Peace Corps’s presence to 20 additional countries.

Congress will vote next week. Lowey chairs the Appropriations Committee.

Check out the segment here (find the story “What’s Next for the Peace Corps?” among the images to the left of the video player).

06.16.09
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“Have Rainbow, Will Travel” – Peace Corps Info for Prospective LGBT Volunteers

In honor of Pride Month, Peace Corps will offer an online info session this Saturday, June 20th, 11 am – 12 pm Pacific time, exploring the issues faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals who serve their country through Peace Corps.

All Peace Corps Volunteers must work hard to adapt to their service assignments, learn a foreign language, and fit in with the local culture. LGBT Volunteers face special additional challenges, including being discreet, if not entirely closeted, about their sexual identities while in their host communities.

This online info session — requiring an internet connection — will discuss topics such as:

  • Balancing the desire to be true to ourselves with the need to be respectful of the host community Continue reading →
06.16.09
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Share Your Story of Service: It Could Show Up as the Plot of Your Favorite T.V. Show

Service Nation — the coalition of organizations campaigning for a new age of service and citizenship in the United States — is asking for your service stories.

This past year, Service Nation organizers have been working hard to bring Hollywood and the service movement closer together. Now, through a cooperative effort led by the Entertainment Industry Foundation, the entertainment industry will “shine a spotlight on the great service and volunteer heroes who are changing our world for the better, both at home and abroad” by fictionalizing real-life stories of service, and the impact of service.

The stories will be used as inspiration for writers at various television networks and shows. Here are some guidelines from Service Nation:

06.12.09
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Mayor Bloomberg Appoints a City Year Staffer as NYC’s First Chief Service Officer

Photo by Ed Reed, Office of the Mayor

Photo by Ed Reed, Office of the Mayor

This week, New York’s Mayor Bloomberg announced that Diahann Billings-Burford will be New York’s first Chief Service Officer.

Billings-Burford — who’s coming from an external affairs role at City Year New York — will lead an innovative new municipal effort that Bloomberg launched earlier this year called NYC Service.

The initiative promotes volunteering and service, with the goals of making New York “the easiest place in the world to volunteer,” finding ways for volunteers to address the impacts of the economic downturn, and”setting a new standard for how cities can tap the power of their people to tackle our most pressing challenges.”

Billings-Burford’s work will include implementing the agenda spelled out in the NYC Service Report (PDF).

One new project — sponsored by Big Brothers Big Sisters — is a campaign to bring 2000 new mentors into 51 high needs middle schools through Middle School Mentors. Mentors would spend eight hours a month with a middle school student, “being their friend in Continue reading →

06.12.09
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More Peace Corps Rally Saturday, June 13th

More Peace CorpsShow your support for More Peace Corps at a rally in Washington, DC, tomorrow from 2-4 pm at Freedom Plaza.

Hundreds of former Peace Corps volunteers will come together tomorrow to remind President Obama of his campaign pledge to build a Peace Corps of 16,000 volunteers by 2011, the 50th anniversary of the agency.

The rally will culminate with a march to the White House, led by Tim Shriver — CEO of Special Olympics International and son of Peace Corps’s founding director Sargent Shriver.  Leamer, a speaker at the event as well as one of its organizers, insists the event isn’t anti-Obama, but a friendly reminder to honor his own campaign promise.

The event will feature music from an 22-woman Brazilian drumming group Batala, Peruvian flutist Juan Cayrampoma and the American rock-n-roll band Cairo Fred.

In addition to Tim Shriver, event speakers will include: