AmeriCorps Members Honored
On April 7, representatives from Emerald Youth Foundation participated in Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service to recognize volunteers and AmeriCorps members.
Since 1998, Emerald Youth has been an AmeriCorps affiliate, and members play a key role in serving Knoxville’s city children, teens and young adults.
Emerald Youth human resources coordinator Rachel Davis and chief operating officer Shara Shoup joined with Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero, Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett and other guests to share about Emerald Youth’s partnership with AmeriCorps.
“The AmeriCorps members are vital to our work with young people,” said Davis, who leads Emerald Youth’s AmeriCorps program. “In fact, many Emerald Youth alumni have gone on to serve as AmeriCorps members. For these young adults, serving as an AmeriCorps member has been a way for them to gain unique job skills, and give back and contribute to their own community.”
Mayors and county executives throughout the nation held public events like the one in Knoxville to highlight the value of national service to the nation’s cities. In 2014, 1,760 mayors representing more than 110 million citizens participated in the second-annual Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service. The initiative is led by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the National League of Cities, and Cities of Service.
Emerald Youth AmeriCorps members serve in a variety of ways, including implementing math, reading, science and homework activities, keeping kids physically active, and spending one-on-one time with young people.
The current class of AmeriCorps members—serving since August—has logged more than 15,400 service hours with kids throughout the city.
A complete list of AmeriCorps opportunities in Tennessee is available here.