National Service Agency Board Member Meets with Local Leaders, Holds Community Dialogue on Service as a Solution

Official to Observe Local Service Project Successes

Washington, DC—Julie Fisher Cummings, Board Member of the Corporation for National and Community Service, will meet with area nonprofit leaders Thursday, August 26 to discuss ways that national service is addressing local challenges. Cummings will also visit the Family Service Agency of Genesee County to observe how intergenerational service strengthens communities.

Several dozen social sector leaders are expected to gather to discuss the agency's five-year strategic plan and new vision to drive greater impact toward solving national and local problems, from unemployment to student achievement. Participants will include Paula Kaiser VanDam, Executive Director of the Michigan Community Service Commission. Cummings will conclude by visiting the Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion programs of the Family Service Agency of Genesee County, where volunteers tutor low-income children and support independent living for the aging.

Flint is home to 43,300 volunteers, according to the Corporation's 2010 Volunteering In America report. This year, the Corporation will commit more than $21.4 million to support 147 national service projects led by the agency's programs in Michigan – AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America. These projects engage more than 52,000 volunteers across the state in service that tackles pressing challenges.

Below is a schedule of events. All times Eastern Time.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

WHAT: Community dialogue with area nonprofits to discuss how national service is helping to tackle local challenges and the future direction of the federal agency.

WHEN: 10 a.m.

WHERE:   Mott Foundation Building
                503 S. Saginaw Street, Suite 1200
                Flint, MI 48502

OPEN PRESS

WHAT: Cummings visits volunteers of the local Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion programs.

WHEN: 12:30 p.m.

WHERE:   Family Service Agency of Genesee County
                1422 West Court Street
                Flint, MI 48503

OPEN PRESS

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs, and leads President Obama's national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.

###