State Service Commissions – Making a Difference

By: Michigan Community Service Commission

There are organizations across America that are tackling the critical issues many communities face – and they’re doing it through service and volunteerism. We’re talking about State Service Commissions, governor-appointed public agencies or private nonprofits that are leading some of the nation’s broadest service efforts.

There are 54 State Service Commissions located across the country, including in all 50 states and in American Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands. Their efforts are widespread as they leverage local, state, and federal funds and provide service opportunities to millions of Americans.

Here in Michigan there is the Michigan Community Service Commission, or MCSC. The MCSC acts as the state’s lead agency on volunteerism and promotes service as a strategy to address Michigan’s toughest challenges. In 2008, more than 2.3 million adults volunteered more than 325 million service hours. The MCSC looks to increase these efforts and their overall impact.

The Michigan Community Service Commission has four major initiatives: Michigan’s AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve – Michigan, Mentor Michigan, and Governor’s Service Awards. It also supports a variety of other initiatives related to service and volunteerism – such as National Days of Service. The MCSC receives funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service to provide AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve in Michigan – which are National Service programs. These funds then leverage millions of dollars in local communities, making the investment in service strong in many areas of the state.

The MCSC believes strongly in the impact citizens can have when they give their time and talent to service. The Commission believes communities can be strengthened through volunteerism and strives to do so by:

• Providing leadership to support, promote, and expand volunteerism
• Securing and delivering resources to expand programming and excellence in volunteering and service
• Focusing on the critical community needs identified at the local, state, and national levels

If you’d like to learn more about the Michigan Community Service Commission, check out their 2010 Informational Sheet or visit www.michigan.gov/volunteer.

Also be sure to connect with them online by finding them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MICommunityServiceCommission or following them on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MCSConline.

Get Ur Good On

By: Portia Obeng from Youth Service America

When I was in high school, I had to complete a certain number of service hours for National Honor Society. I vividly remember trying to find a volunteer activity I would really enjoy, but I never found the perfect activity for me. Back then, I wish I had access to a website like Get Ur Good On (www.GetUrGoodOn.org) to help me find my service passion and learn how to turn that passion into action.

Get Ur Good On is Youth Service America’s youth engagement partnership with singer and actress Miley Cyrus. This is a social networking site where young people upload pictures, videos, and blog postings about what they are doing to make a difference in their communities.

This site is much more than your typical status updates and pictures of people’s vacations. Almost 9,000 teens from around the world have created an online community where they share pictures from service trips in southern India, blog about ways to save the environment, and upload videos they’ve made addressing teen suicide prevention.

Most recently, I have been amazed by the way Get Ur Good On users have responded tremendously to the call put out to “Get Ur Good On for Haiti.” Pat wrote a blog post about how his school in Indianapolis, Indiana is going to collect shoes and clothes at a clothing drive for Haiti during prom. Kassandra uploaded pictures of her school’s fundraiser in Charlotte, North Carolina called “Hearts for Haiti” where they sold paper hearts to raise $1,500 in donations. Pat and Kassandra are only two of the dozens of Get Ur Good On users that exemplify what Get Ur Good On is all about; they not only answered the call to action, but shared their story on the site and inspired other young people to suggest Haiti service projects in school too.

What I love about Get Ur Good On is that young people are inspiring each other to change the world and showcasing that doing “good” is the cool thing to do. Getting your good on is so easy; take pictures or record a video of your next service project or write a blog post about an issue you’re passionate about and share it on the site. Also encourage other people in your life to do good too by educating them and inviting them with you on service projects.

But most important, make sure to go Get Ur Good On!

2010 Global Youth Service Day – What We’re Doing!

By: Learn and Serve – Michigan Team

This year Learn and Serve – Michigan is honoring Global Youth Service Day with Conservation, Celebration, and Education.

Conservation: We’re joining hundreds of people this year to clean up Lansing’s Grand River during the Spring 2010 Adopt-a-River Clean-Up. The Adopt-a-River Clean-Up is an annual, all-day event held on April 18 and centered around the Grand River and water conservation. This year, Learn and Serve – Michigan is partnering with the organizers of the project, Impression 5 and the Board of Water and Light, to engage youth in long term service to their community.

Education: The Adopt-a-River Clean-Up has long engaged people from the Mid-Michigan area in a day-long service project. This year we will draw additional youth from around the state to assist in this service project and encourage environmental stewardship. Learn and Serve – Michigan members will distribute resource materials with ideas of how young people can take the momentum of the day and become lifelong environmental stewards. Each youth will have the opportunity to pledge to protect, clean, and preserve Michigan’s waterways, and become an environmental steward for their community. Learn and Serve – Michigan will also have resources available on how to use service-learning to bring environmental stewardship into the classroom.

Celebration: The Service-Learning Youth Council members will spend the day recording video and blogging about the event. We’ll use their images and stories during the week leading up to Global Youth Service Day to celebrate their efforts and encourage more of you to participate in your own Global Youth Service Day projects on April 23, 24, and 25.

Join Us: We encourage everyone to get involved. If you are in Lansing on Sunday, April 18, come and volunteer at the event and pledge to become an environmental steward. For more information and to register for the event click here.

If you can’t make it…at least try and celebrate Global Youth Service Day in your own way. Organize a service project or volunteer during April 23, 24, and/or 25 and prove youth can make a powerful difference in the world. If you are planning an event…make sure to register it online so we can tell the world about the great things Michigan youth can do! You can register by filling out this survey. (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LP8ND2X)

Make sure to follow our Global Youth Service Day event on Sunday, April 18, 2010 online!

Twitter: www.twitter.com/learnandservemi

Facebook: www.facebook.com/learnandservemi

YouTube: www.twitter.com/mcsconline

To find out more about Learn and Serve – Michigan’s involvement and our Global Youth Service Day efforts contact Robyn Stegman at stegmanr@michigan.gov or (517)241-0214.

Global Youth Service Day – How Are YOU Getting Involved?

By: Learn and Serve – Michigan Team

The Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC) and Learn and Serve - Michigan are excited to mobilize youth across the state through volunteerism this April as part of the 2010 Global Youth Service Day.  This annual opportunity, held on April 23, 24, and 25, encourages children and young people to address the world's most critical issues by partnering with families, schools, community and faith-based organizations, businesses, and government.

Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) is led by Youth Service America, with the MCSC serving as a GYSD Lead Agency to encourage service locally.  As part of the MCSC's efforts, we have invited members of the service-learning community across Michigan to get involved!

Commit to support the 2010 GYSD in Michigan in the following ways:

• Plan a Global Youth Service Day event in your community.  Try and focus on an event that incorporates youth in the planning and implementation of service.
• Post information about the 2010 GYSD on your website - if applicable.
• Encourage the young people in your network to create and post their own GYSD projects.

Need help getting involved?
Youth Service America’s resources; available at no charge, are useful when planning youth-service opportunities in your community. Available at www.gysd.org, they include:

• Informational posters
• Planning toolkit
• Strategy guide
• Media training manual
• Fundraising and support tips
• And much more!

Join Our Efforts!
There are already 14 projects planned across Michigan for the 2010 Global Youth Service Day with the possibility of engaging more than 980 youth. Won’t you join these efforts?

And please note, although the 2010 GYSD is scheduled for April 23, 24, and 25 – any service project planned this spring can be considered part of this large-scale effort. Whether it’s an event occurring as part of the annual National Volunteer Week, or a project slated for the end of this school year, please consider submitting it as a 2010 GYSD event.

Get involved in this unique opportunity – for more information visit www.gysd.org or www.michigan.gov/volunteer.

State Farm Companies Foundation is the Presenting Sponsor of Global Youth Service Day.  The State Farm Companies Foundation is a tax-exempt private foundation that was established in 1963 and is funded by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company.  State Farm Companies Foundation provides charitable support for K-12 public education initiatives that are national in scope in the areas of systemic improvement, service-learning, and teacher excellence.  For more information about State Farm Companies Foundation, please visit www.statefarm.com/about/part_spos/grants/foundation_grants.asp.