Service Bowl 2016 Unites Mayors and Nation’s Chief Volunteer Officer in Day of Service
Local volunteers, AmeriCorps members, and Senior Corps volunteers serve with Rebuilding Together as part of National Rebuilding Month
DENVER – Today, Mayor B. Hancock of Denver, Colo. and Mayor Jennifer Roberts of Charlotte, N.C. hosted the fourth-annual Service Bowl project with Rebuilding Together, a leading national nonprofit in safe and healthy housing. The Service Bowl was held in partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency that administers AmeriCorps and Senior Corps.
In February, the mayors placed a friendly Super Bowl wager focused on the importance of volunteering and community service. After the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 50, Mayor Hancock arranged for Mayor Roberts, along with Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS, to serve alongside AmeriCorps and Senior Corps members to refurbish a home in West Denver. The project included both indoor and outdoor repairs and refurbishments.
“Today’s Service Bowl project with Rebuilding Together highlights the impact and power of national service and volunteering,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS. “I am honored to serve alongside Mayors Hancock and Roberts, as well as AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers who are committed to get things done and respond to the needs in their communities.”
“It’s been a pleasure to have Mayor Roberts in town to help out with our community service project, and I’m glad that it was a Denver Broncos Super Bowl 50 win that helped make it happen right here in our great city,” said Mayor Michael B. Hancock. “Community service projects like these allow us to tackle some of the tough challenges facing our cities today, like creating, protecting and rehabilitating affordable housing, which has been a priority of ours here in Denver.”
“I am excited about this opportunity to strengthen Charlotte’s relationship with Denver and to highlight the importance of community service,” said Mayor Roberts. “Volunteerism benefits both the community and the individuals who carry it out and it helps build the trust and compassion that makes cities great.”
Today’s service project was made possible by Rebuilding Together, an AmeriCorps program, and coincides with the organization’s National Rebuilding Month, an annual month-long call to service. The month-long call to action culminates with National Rebuilding Day on April 30 and will engage volunteers in a concerted effort to complete repairs on homes, nonprofit facilities and community spaces across the country.
"The Service Bowl reflects Rebuilding Together's spirit of collaboration as we work to provide a safe a healthy home for every person," said Caroline Blakely, President and CEO of Rebuilding Together. "We are thankful to CNCS for their continued support of our mission and to Mayors Hancock and Roberts for joining us on this day of service."
Super Bowl 50 featured volunteer service as part of its official slate of activities, including a service project by Rebuilding Together. The 21st annual Kickoff to Rebuild united more than 15 NFL players from across the country with 100 local volunteers to the Bayview neighborhood to provide six low-income families with critical home repairs.
Charlotte and Denver are both strong service cities. The Charlotte area ranks fourth among large cities for volunteering and service, and last year, 509,000 volunteers served a total of 66.2 million hours, volunteer service valued at $1.5 billion. In Denver, 679,600 volunteers gave a total of 54.2 million hours, an estimated value of $1.6 billion, making it 13th in volunteering among major U.S. cities. Data also shoes that more AmeriCorps members come from Denver than other cities its size; when it comes to enrolling in AmeriCorps, Denver residents also rank second in the nation.
On April 5, Mayors Hancock and Roberts joined more than 3,500 local leaders in their focus on service. Mayors, county officials, and tribal leaders participated in a national day of recognition, highlighting the impact of national service in their cities and thanked individuals who serve.
As the federal agency for service and volunteering, CNCS annually engages millions of citizens in service at more than 50,000 sites across the country through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and other programs. These national service participants meet critical community needs -- strengthening education, fostering economic opportunity, helping communities recover from disasters, supporting veterans and military families, providing health services, and preserving the environment.