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by Morgan January

This quarter I began making visits to our member food pantries in Aroostook County; I’ve visited three pantries in the past month. Let me preclude this story by saying that I am aware that Catholic Charities Maine helps put food on the tables of some of the neediest people I have ever seen. However, I feel as though I am sometimes quite removed from the entire situation.

On June 3rd, Dottie Sines of the Aroostook Area Agency on Aging and I went to the Van Buren pantry to help with the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) Distribution. The Van Buren pantry is the 3rd largest CSFP distribution site with 45 seniors receiving commodities monthly. This being my first visit to a food pantry, I wasn’t prepared to see… the faces of hunger. I was visiting with an elderly lady at the pantry as she was standing in line to get her commodities and I asked her “How is this working out for you, is it helping?” and she looked down at the floor and said with tears in her eyes, “You have no idea, before this program I hadn’t had cheese in years.”

Living on the meager AmeriCorps stipend allows me to understand the struggle to put food on the table, but cheese is something I take for granted. Mike Bouchard runs the pantry in Van Buren and does an outstanding job, and while we were there we discussed the needs of the pantry. He mentioned that, like everywhere, monetary and food donations have dropped to nearly half of what they were last year although they have seen a steady rise in need. Mike noted that he had a lack of food preparation space (i.e. sink, running water, cutting/cleaning/bagging area) which made it hard to break down bulk items that we sometimes get, such as rice and pasta. Also, a local butcher offered to donate frozen beef and fresh deli meat, but because he lacked proper storage space and an area to package the meat he had to decline. His shelves were lacking some key staples so at the June CCME Distribution we gave him extra of everything we had to try and generate some relief.

After our CSFP distribution in Fort Kent on June 10, Dottie Sines, my mother, and I visited the Greater Fort Kent Ecumenical Food Pantry and St. Mary’s Food Pantry in Eagle Lake. The Fort Kent Pantry does a great job, and they run a very tight ship. Unlike the Van Buren pantry, they have an adequate amount of storage space as well as places to cut/clean/bag items. During the summer months they receive all the fresh produce from a garden that the local 4-H has planted. The Fort Kent Pantry does not handle any CSFP packages due to limitations on space. Lesley Kelley runs the Fort Kent food pantry and said they were in short supply of condiments like ketchup and mustard; she explained that those items are hardly ever donated and they are among the most requested.

St. Mary’s Food Pantry in Eagle Lake is operated by Tommy Labbe - it is one of our newest and smallest food pantries. We visited Tommy two days after our June CCME Monthly distribution that also included TeFAP commodities (TeFAP is a USDA program that is distributed 4 times/year and it usually doubles what our pantries take home). This pantry is located in the basement of the local Knight’s of Columbus building; it has a long row of shelving, one chest freezer, and no fresh storage. When we arrived Tommy had just finished completing his boxes for pick-up that was the next day. His shelves were nearly bare two days after distribution! Each month Eagle Lake serves on average 170 individuals, with 68 of those being children, and 36 seniors. Many places in Northern Maine have been affected by layoffs and people are turning to the food pantry for help. Tommy explained that both St. Mary’s and the Knight’s of Columbus chapter have collections taken up in the pantry’s name and that is his only source of funding. Donations of food from the community do come in, although in relatively small numbers. Tommy said if he could have anything, he needed more freezer space due the large amounts of frozen food CCME hands out.

My mind was reeling after I left this pantry - I was mad. My mother told me that she supported me when I moved across the country to be an AmeriCorps member and after seeing the work I do she understands why I did it. I came back and talked to Dixie, and she told me to talk to our warehouse manager and see what we could do about getting Tommy some more food. The following week we were able to give Eagle Lake an entire truckload of extra food (the third one this month)! I mentioned to one of our volunteers how badly Eagle Lake needed a freezer. I took a few days off and when I returned the following week I had a chest freezer waiting in the food warehouse - my volunteer ‘knew’ someone. I called Tommy and told him the good news and he came a few days later and picked it up along with another truckload of food. He thanked me for looking out for him.

Being able to go out to the pantries and identify their individual needs helps me help them.

Morgan January is a Community Resource Corps AmeriCorps Member. She serves at Catholic Charities Home Supply and Food Bank in Aroostook County. She is a guest blogger.

by Samantha K. Buck

My 10 months of service with the Maine Conservation Corps (MCC) began in early January, but the cold winter air had no effect on the warm spirits of the others joining me during orientation. Right from the start, I knew each and every one of our terms of service were going to be meaningful and fulfilling, though our host sites varied from the Department of Environmental Protection to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

One opportunity I was able to take advantage of recently was National AmeriCorps Week, where members get involved with a community service project. I started the Week attending Gov. Baldacci’s signing of the AmeriCorps Week Proclamation with fellow MCC member Tony Sutton, among other AmeriCorps members. My service project during the week involved attending the Augusta Farmer’s Market at Mill Park with KD Roux, Tony Sutton, Keri Penick, and MCC Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator Sarah Gaffney. We had a table set up in the middle of the Market chock full of valuable information about AmeriCorps and MCC. We spent the afternoon engaging with Market attendees, educating them mainly on what AmeriCorps actually does, its nationwide impact, and how to use tick spoons. The tick spoons were a huge hit among humans and canines alike!

I felt this opportunity was very beneficial because many people who approached us were unaware of AmeriCorps, MCC, and our vastly differing service projects around the state. I met a few people who knew someone that had been in AmeriCorps; it was neat to hear about the opportunities others had taken around the country.

I hope that by speaking with members of the public in this manner, we were able to encourage others to learn more about the many opportunities for service that are available statewide and countrywide. With the number of AmeriCorps members participating in civic engagement not only during AmeriCorps Week but all through their terms of service, I’m sure we did and will continue to do so!

Samantha is an AmeriCorps volunteer serving as an Environmental Educator with the Maine Conservation Corps.

by Lana Cannon

On May 13th and 14th, Matinicus Island will be celebrating AmeriCorps Service Week by cleaning the major beaches and recycling the waste found on the beaches at the local recycling center, and clearing the Matinicus Trail of winter debris. The work crew will be comprised of community volunteers as well as Americorps CRC members from the Island Institute. We will be using community volunteered equipment and resources to complete these projects, and will be focusing on South Sandy Beach, Marky’s Beach, Blaire’s Beach, and the Matinicus Trail. We have chosen these projects because of the need for safe, clean recreational areas and the well being of the environment and physical setting of the island.

With these projects we hope to encourage community involvement while reducing the waste on beaches, promoting the island’s recycling program by recycling the waste found on the beaches, and removing the non-recyclables from the island. By removing the downed trees and overgrown areas of the Matinicus Trail we will help to maintain this valuable Matinicus recreational area, while making it safer to use and contain foot traffic to the designated trail. Matinicus is a small island 23 miles off the coast of Rockland, Maine, and due to its remoteness, it is difficult to transport waste off the island. It is the hope that through this service project we can supplement the small community and remove this waste safely and appropriately from the island, and improve the aesthetic and environmental setting while instigating community participation.

The project should be a fun way for the community to give back to its environment and social setting, and will most likely include donuts and snack to fuel the work! The more volunteers, the merrier, and we look forward to being involved in the national movement of public participation in community projects that make a direct difference in our daily lives. Matinicus Island is proud and excited to participate in Americorps Service Week.

Lana Cannon is an AmeriCorps Community Resource Corps Member and Matinicus Island Institute Fellow. She is a guest blogger.

Editor’s Note: The fourth annual AmeriCorps Week will take place May 8-15, 2010. Click here for a list of volunteer opportunities in Maine.

by Caitlyn Horose

One term of AmeriCorps service just wasn’t enough for me - I’d done AmeriCorps*NCCC and made a difference in communities from Mississippi to Maine. I fell in love with the Pine Tree State and moved here for a second term of service with the Community Resource Corps, running after school programs for low income girls through the Girl Scouts of Maine. After I finished my second term, I started having some serious AmeriCorps withdrawals. None of my friends really understood what it was like to live off a meager stipend or wear a cool grey t-shirt, or, you know - save the world every day. So, after a lot of confusion about why I couldn’t just do AmeriCorps forever, I formed AmeriCorps Alums of Portland, Maine.

Our alumni group is growing, and so is our scope - we’ve decided to become Maine AmeriCorps Alums and reach out to national service alumni throughout the state. Now, here comes National AmeriCorps Week! May 8-15th is packed full of alumni outreach events, service projects, and networking opportunities. We’ll be at local farmer’s markets, high schools, and we’ll even have a table at the SeaDogs game on May 11th! I’m already getting excited for a pack of us to be singing Sweet Caroline in our swanky bright green National AmeriCorps Week shirts. Our chapter always welcomes new members (you can be an AmeriCorps Alum or current AmeriCorps member)…and yes, you are a member even if all you do is drink beer with us at a baseball game. You might even get a free t-shirt out of it! On top of our outreach events, we’re also getting things done by helping Portland Trails and Rippling Waters Farm - a couple of nonprofits that are near and dear to our heart.

Want to learn more? Maine AmeriCorps Alums has launched a new website where you can find info on all our upcoming events. And, nothing makes me happier than a message from someone that starts, “I was an AmeriCorps member at …”, so feel free to email me. I hope you’ll join us and continue your commitment to service.

Caitlyn Horose is the Chapter Leader of the Maine AmeriCorps Alums. She is a guest blogger.

Editor’s Note: The fourth annual AmeriCorps Week will take place May 8-15, 2010. Click here for a list of volunteer opportunities in Maine.

by Lucy Bayard

People with disabilities volunteer for the same reasons that anyone else does–to give back to their communities, to improve their surroundings, and to be active and engaged in life. Some national service participants who have disabilities volunteer with organizations that serve other people with disabilities, while others focus their efforts on helping to meet a wide range of critical community needs. The individuals profiled here represent a small sampling of the many people with disabilities involved in the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs.

AMERICORPS STATE AND NATIONAL
Michael Tada
AmeriCorps Alumnus 2001, Oahu, HI
Disability: Developmental Disabilities
Michael Tada served in AmeriCorps for a year in 2001 at Goodwill
Industries as a mentor. Serving in AmeriCorps gave him an opportunity to let people know that just because he has a disability does not mean that he cannot do it. “I can do anything anyone else can do! I want to give back to the community that has given me so much,” explains Michael. Serving in national service was also a stepping stone to gain part-time employment. Since October 2006, Michael has worked part-time at the Hawaii Center for Independent Living as an advocate and is president of the Self-Advocacy Advisory Council (SAAC). He is currently the SAAC liaison to the APPLAUD project, a National Service Inclusion Project. Michael also helps with fundraising needs at Easter Seals on an ongoing basis.

SENIOR CORPS
Millie Rusk
Foster Grandparent since 1999, Laramie,WY
Disability: Blindness
Millie Rusk volunteers as a Foster Grandparent for Cathedral Home for Children. She is legally blind. Although she has no grandchildren of her own, she is affectionately called Grandma Millie, which makes her very proud. Grandma Millie volunteers in elementary schools in Laramie. She has an Atlas 600 Reading Machine that allows her to tutor children in reading and writing at the Thayer and Beitel schools. The children love to have the help of Grandma Millie and look at her special reading machine. She has received many accolades from the school where she has volunteered. In fact, when one school celebrated reading more than 2,000 books, the Cat in the Hat made an appearance and read a short poem that included a sentence about Grandma Millie. Everyone over the past eight years has felt the love, dedication, and compassion that Grandma Millie brings to the classrooms.

Please visit the National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP) website and share success stories of members and volunteers with disabilities in service.

Lucy Bayard is a Senior Training Coordinator of the National Service Inclusion Project at the Institute for Community Inclusion in Boston. She is a guest blogger.

The National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP) is a training and technical assistance provider on disability inclusion, under a cooperative agreement from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). NSIP strives to increase the participation of people with disabilities in national service and volunteerism. In collaboration with the Association on University Centers on Disability, National Council on Independent Living, Association on Higher Education and Disability and National Down Syndrome Congress, NSIP builds and sustains partnerships among disability organizations and all CNCS grantees. Services include national, state, and program training to all CNCS grantees including AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and Learn and Serve programs; technical assistance and resources to support members and volunteers with disabilities including recruitment and retention, accommodations, accessibility, management, and ensuring Section 504 and ADA compliance.

by Margaret Snell

On May 13, as part of AmeriCorps week, four island fellows will work with Isle au Haut community members to clear trails and clean beaches in Acadia National Park on Isle au Haut. Isle au Haut is located in eastern Penobscot bay, seven miles from Stonington, and has been my home since mid September. I came to the island as a fellow with the Island institute after I finished graduate school. Island fellows live in year round island or coastal communities for one or two years while working on projects related to the sustainability of the communities.

These projects include town planning, economic development, artistic outreach, educational programs, and historic preservation. My project focuses on developing and writing , along with the Comprehensive Planning Committee, the comprehensive plan for the town of Isle au Haut. The plan will provide a basis for town ordinances and help fulfill the community vision: To build a sustainable year round island community and preserve the natural beauty and unique character of the island.

About 50 people live on Isle au Haut year round, and there are six students in a school that serves grades K-8. The year round population is decreasing and school enrollment is at a critical level: next year’s enrollment is projected to be three students. In the summer, the population grows to around 300. Many residents lobster, but carpentry and other enterprises also provide important income. The Isle au Haut Boat Company provides passenger, freight and mail service to the island, but there is no car ferry. The natural environment and remote location create a particular quality of place, and is one of the Islands greatest strengths, as well as a weakness. More than half of Isle au Haut is within the boundaries of Acadia National Park. Trails lead to rugged mountains, dramatic coastal cliffs and serene bogs. Community members depend on each other for safety, entertainment and success.

Winter storms took a toll on the spruce forests, leaving blow-downs on trails. In addition, the sea deposited mangled lobster traps, buoys, and other random items on the stony beaches. I will be joined by Emma Miran, Stonington Fellow, Jessica Bellah, Frenchboro fellow, Meghan Vigeant, Swans Island Fellow, and community members to clear blow downs and pick up beach debris. This project will help maintain outdoor recreation opportunities for the Isle au Haut community and visitors to the National Park and also provide an opportunity to enjoy Isle au Haut’s natural landscapes while working with others toward a common cause: a true island experience.

Margaret Snell is an Isle au Haut Fellow with the Island Institute and is a guest blogger.

Editor’s Note: AmeriCorps Week is a recruitment and recognition event designed to bring more Americans into service, salute AmeriCorps members and alums for their powerful impact, and thank the community partners who make AmeriCorps possible. The fourth annual AmeriCorps Week will take place May 8-15, 2010. Click here for a list of volunteer opportunities in Maine.

by Margaret Petrarca

National Volunteer Week was established in 1974 by President Richard Nixon to establish an annual celebration of volunteering. What a terrific idea! It is all too often that we forget to celebrate the hours upon hours of hard work non-profits, volunteer administrators, and volunteers put forward. As volunteer administrators, we spend most of our time planning programs, recruiting volunteers and engaging our current volunteers. We may be withdrawn from the direct service that volunteers participate in daily and it becomes so easy to lose track of our accomplishments. Each day we are making it possible for volunteers to serve over 300 individuals in soup kitchens, teach refugees the magic of winter, care for children in need and support families across Maine and more. Now that is a reason to throw a wild rumpus of celebration at least once a year if not more! So why don’t we?

The dilemma is that on our already overflowing plates we now have to give even more to celebrate the art of volunteering and the individuals that make it possible. As I sat with my supervisor at our monthly celebratory coffee break we discussed the very same point. National Volunteer Week is here, what are we going to do? We thumbed through ideas and years worth of saved resources and past activities and came across the most magnificent project, a Tree of Volunteerism! Each leaf would represent a volunteer and their beliefs about volunteering. We spread out our notebooks and started brainstorming. Where does it go? Wouldn’t it look beautiful in the United Way lobby?!! How are we going to get the materials?…How are going to build a tree?…How are we going to cut out all of those leaves? The idea quickly became overwhelming for our packed tight schedule.

I then decided to use my, “Power of Ask” and the amazing tool of collaboration! I turned to my local peer-to-peer network of volunteer administrators, PAVA (Portland Area Volunteer Administrators) and combed through my contacts to find the best person to start with. Immediately I thought of Jamie Andrews from the Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine, she not only has a passion for exciting projects but also has the materials and artistic ability that I am in great need of! I didn’t stop there because I realized that if everyone in PAVA participated we could create a tree that not only recognizes the work of United Way and Children’s Museum and Theatre volunteers but volunteers from almost 30 organizations across Greater Portland. What an enormous tree and a beautiful display of appreciation!

Now the heavy load of my project is lessened significantly because it is now OUR project and the tasks can be divided up. Currently a three-dimension tree is being constructed out of PVC pipe at the Children’s Museum and PAVA volunteer administrators are seeking and submitting statements to me from their volunteers. Are you interested in helping with the tree too? Ask your volunteers to write a sentence or one word reflection on volunteering and the organization they volunteer with. They can choose to include their name and age or remain anonymous.

Submit the statements to me by Wednesday, March 14 at 5:00pm. Stop by and see our Tree of Volunteerism anytime during National Volunteer Week (April 19-24) at the Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine in Portland!

Margaret Petrarca is a VolunteerMaine AmeriCorps VISTA at the United Way of Greater Portland and is a guest blogger.

by Brad Hunter

It’s like one of those super-cool, old-school video games where your map screen only shows the area directly around your character and not the rest of the map you are working with. AmeriCorps, I’m speaking about. When you decide to take on a VISTA position that you most likely know little about for a year you can be in the dark. Lucky for me, since I’ve already done one year of VISTA my character upgraded to a small candle that cast a bit more light. But then I faced the additional hurdle of jumping state lines as well as program lines for my second year of service. Candle snuffed.

I’m spending my second year of National Service as a VISTA Leader for the VolunteerMaine project. My first was served in Michigan working at the United Way of the EUP Volunteer Center, a small volunteer center that dealt with the core volunteer center functions of recruitment, referral, recognition, and retention (you probably picked up on the 4-r’s memory trick there, feel free to use and spread liberally). This was a learning experience for me as I had no prior practice in this kind of environment, or the non-profit world in general. I was given the opportunity to work with youth in a service capacity as well as learn about the functions of a United Way in the community. It was also a great experience because we were members of a statewide network, Volunteer Centers of Michigan. My ability to see volunteering and national service at a statewide level was critical in helping me to decide on a second year of VISTA, this time as a Leader where I could help in guiding and ensuring that other national service members were being supported and put into a position to succeed during their service year.

In the potentially unlit situation I’ve moved into it has been most reassuring to find familiar contours in the surrounding landscape. The people working and supporting one another in the volunteer sector here are just as wonderful and passionate as those I was privileged to know and work with in my previous service, and they have been exceedingly generous in welcoming me to a new community and work environment. The project here is “volunteer centers without walls” and I feel as though I’ve jumped into a network that is the twin in many ways of that I just left (not the evil twin or better twin, just twin, to clarify). The team of unbelievable VISTAs and the work they are engaged in for a year of their life is something that we all draw inspiration from as we work towards a better world.

A better world. That’s what I find myself thinking about as I’m learning about my new community and my new program. It’s part of the AmeriCorps thought process in a lot of ways, I suppose. Volunteer Maine fits into that picture. Building an infrastructure of volunteer related resources and connections is an idea worth fully embracing, and the technology based system that VolunteerMaine has chosen is forward thinking with the potential for great sustainability into the future, even if it does present its own unique challenges now. My role now is to help support this project, one of this states’s chosen methods of making its world better. It is a task that I can take on with optimism and pride because I know there is a supportive network of people working with the very same goal.

My character has a long list of missions ahead, and the game may have snuffed out my candle, but it never realized I had night vision goggles on.

Brad Hunter is a VISTA Leader with the VolunteerMaine VISTA project at the Maine Commission for Community Service. He is a guest blogger.

By Elizabeth Cole

Two weeks ago I replaced my grandfather’s outdated internet browser with one that was more current and theoretically easier to use. After teaching him the basics, I started to show him some of the more advanced tools that I use. I was in the middle of explaining RSS blog feeds when he started to rub his eyes, a sign of mounting frustration. “Ah, Lillibet, I just get worn out with all of this new stuff.” I tried to explain that a RSS feed is like getting newspapers delivered to your computer rather than the door. In the midst of my analogy, which I was pretty proud of, he closed the laptop and stood up. “Thanks, honey, I think that’s all the new information I can handle for today,” he said. I had tried to give my grandfather more than he was prepared to receive, leaving me feeling like a failure and him like a fool.

This got me thinking about generational learning approaches and the implication for volunteer training and orientation. When you organize training opportunities, even informal ones, it is important to remember that adults think and learn differently than young people. With more baby-boomers volunteering than any other age group, a trend that will only intensify as more move towards retirement, understanding the principles of adult education is more important than ever. Here are some hints that will make your training sessions more effective for any age group, but that are especially important for older audiences:

• Emphasize the relevance of the training: Adults will resist material forced on them or that is only vaguely described as being interesting or “good for them to know.” Try to make the training applicable to your volunteers’ daily tasks and not just another lecture they need to sit through before they can get to the “real work” of their service.
• Make it interactive: studies show that we retain only 20% of what we hear in a lecture setting, so consider incorporating discussions, practical exercises, scenarios, role-playing, and writing.
• Construct the session around discussion: Adults learn by relating new material to preexisting knowledge. By discussing their beliefs or past experiences, adults reinforce new information.
• Involve volunteers in planning and implementing training: Giving adults some control over their learning process acknowledges that they are grownups and helps keep them engaged and enthusiastic.
• Be cautious and protective of volunteers’ self esteem: Kids learn to walk by falling down, but mature learners are much less open to trial-and-error than children. Many adults will resist trying something new if it involves the risk of making an error and feeling foolish as a result.
Nonprofits cannot hope to improve their world without first improving their volunteers. Often volunteers are charged with challenging tasks that take a lot of knowledge and training to do well. Whether you are teaching your volunteers to facilitate group discussions or showing a senior how to use the internet, remembering the basics of adult education will help you equip your volunteers to serve with passion and self-confidence.

Elizabeth Cole is an AmeriCorps member with the Maine Commission for Community Service and a presenter at the 2009 Blaine House Conference on Volunteerism.

Resources: Print Resources: Ellis, S. J., & Noyes, K. H. (1990). By the people: A history of Americans as volunteers. (Rev. ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. / Furano K. et al, (1993). Big Brother/Big Sister: A study of program practices. Philadelphia, PA: Public/Private Ventures. / Herman, R.D. (Ed.). (1994). The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Morrison, E.K. (1994). Leadership skills: Developing volunteers for organizational success. Tucson, AZ: Fisher Books. /Roaf, P. A. et al, (1994). Big Brother/Big Sister: A study of volunteer recruitment and screening. Philadelphia, PA: Public/Private Ventures.

By Shannon Brown

After four years of schoolwork, community service projects and other extracurricular activities, I graduated from Providence College in May 2009. While the vast majority of my friends, roommates, and peers headed home to wait out the economic crisis and attempt to find jobs, I packed my car the day after graduation, loaded down with both tank tops and sweatshirts, and prepared my four hour journey from Connecticut to Maine.

For the past four and a half months, I have had the distinct pleasure of acting as the AmeriCorps “Watershed Steward Intern” for the Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed (“Friends”). As a Public and Community Service Studies major, I had an extensive background in public service and work with various non-profit organizations- throughout college, I always figured that I’d volunteer for AmeriCorps at some point in my life. I assumed that being an AmeriCorps volunteer would grant me a great experience and look great for on my resume, as well as offering the added bonus of reducing some of my student loans. Perhaps best of all (though not if you asked my mother) was the opportunity to live anywhere BUT Montville, Connecticut, my hometown. Basically, I was interested in meeting new people, working for a non-profit, and shouldering some good ol’ fashioned responsibility.

What I have gained in my more than four months of experience living and working in Augusta, Maine is more than I ever thought possible. I have met wonderfully kind people, have become well-acquainted with a beautiful area of the state, and most importantly, have learned a tremendous amount of important skills that I plan on taking with me. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been exposed to virtually all areas of a nonprofit organization. My experience working for the Friends gave me the opportunity to see the marketing of the organization, the networking used to accomplish goals, how to fundraise and appeal to donors. With the Friends, I was in charge of a staff of sixteen Courtesy Boat Inspectors, got to paint t-shirts with kids at local summer camps, and dressed up (more than once) as our mascot, Spotter the Otter. For all of my friends that returned home after graduation and attempted to find the first true “career” job out of college, I say to them- you missed out! If only everyone could have had as good of a time as I have had this summer in Maine, working for AmeriCorps and the Friends.

Best of all, though, the Friends has given me a future. When my term with AmeriCorps is completed on October 1, I have decided to stay in the Augusta area. I have made wonderful contacts with local community leaders, have found a fantastic place to live, and have been on job interviews for positions that I could see myself doing. The central Maine community in which I’ve been a part for the past four months has embraced me as a new friend, and I am sticking around to see this budding friendship into fruition. AmeriCorps is the perfect first step for life after college, and I have been blessed to have had such a wonderful opportunity.

Shannon Brown is an AmeriCorps members serving with Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed and a guest blogger.