A Service Project to Celebrate 20 Years of National Service

Volunteer Florida hosted a community service project and celebration to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of both AmeriCorps and Volunteer Florida that brought local AmeriCorps programs, community partners, state commissioners, and sponsors together for a day of service, fun, networking, and reflection.  The theme of the day was "Volunteer Florida 20/20: celebrating the past and envisioning the future."  Our members joined in to assemble over 2,000 hygiene kits through Clean the World to be donated to seniors at Elder Care in Jacksonville, sort and package over 7,000 pounds of canned foods for Nourishment Network to distribute to local food banks and other agencies to donate to needy families, and paint a mural for Terry Parker High School in Jacksonville.

Here is what members had to say about the 20/20 celebration and service project:

"I enjoyed giving back to the community while at the same time celebrating our accomplishments as an AmeriCorps community.  I felt like the event helped highlight the differences we make in kids lives.  I appreciated the bonding we all got to do through the services.  I also like the variety of activities and the fact they were all hands on and really organized well." - Chanel Callin

"We were ablet o get a lot done in a short amount of time.  I learned about other AmeriCorps programs in the Northeast Florida region, and I learned how our program is both similar and different.  We're similar to the other programs in that our main focus is serving the community and making change, but we focus on health while many other programs focus on education.  But it's important to have groups that address different issues in the community because one program can't do it all.  I felt satisfied and accomplished due to the teamwork both within and among different AmeriCorps programs." - Lizzie White

"I enjoyed the service projects.  It was great to have something tangbible that showed what we did." - Maddy Spahr

Visit the North Florida Health Corps Twitter, Volunteer Florida Twitter, and the web page for the day to see more pictures and highlights from the event!