HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — This year, AmeriCorps Week celebrates the hundreds of thousands of service members and volunteers across the nation tackling local problems in a movement to get it done.
Keniann Susuico, 18, is one of them. She has been an AmeriCorps member for 10 months as part of AmeriCorps Guåhan Sustainable Culture, where she found camaraderie.
“My role as an AmeriCorps member is to help out the community. We really don’t have a higher or lower role. We all work as one big team to help our community and our island,” Susuico said.
“I joined AmeriCorps GSC, specifically, to be out more in the community. I honestly love to see the island thrive and doing what’s best. So, being out there and being able to help preserve the greenery of the island, the beauty of the island, that just made me want to be a part of it more,” Susuico said.
With two months left in her service, the time spent helping others is precisely what she thought she would be doing when she first joined.
“AmeriCorps is what I thought it would be. Having outreach programs, connecting with the community, having amazing friends to volunteer with and serve for our island, it’s been a really positive impact on my life,” Susuico said.
The 18-year-old joined the AmeriCorps straight out of high school, and as a young adult, she said it has taught her to contribute to society and live conscientiously.
“Being able to be outside in the community, in the sun, learn a lot of things about gardening, how to help our island, it really opened my eyes to see that we have a lot of beautiful things that we need to preserve,” she said.
The AmeriCorps program led her to change aspects of her life to live more sustainably.
“I don’t really have to go to the store to buy produce because now I grow my own produce. Also, it helped me fix my diet. Now, not everything has to be fast food … or from a restaurant. Now I can take my time to learn to cook things with the things I’ve grown, which is really all about the sustainable lifestyle that AmeriCorps GSC is providing for everybody,” she said.
Susuico said one of the most important lessons she has learned in the program is to “always give it a go.”
“Even though things are kind of rough, (it) doesn’t mean that you’re always by yourself. My AmeriCorps members and I, we always have each other’s back. … We can all struggle at the same time, but we’ll still overcome with everything that we’ve done as a team,” Susuico said.
“That just shows us our ambition in the world because AmeriCorps is worldwide. And it’s not only a moment in time, it’s a movement we want to keep progressing towards the future. We want to make sure that things are good for not only our community but our environment as well,” she said.
The Serve Guam Commission joined in to celebrate AmeriCorps Week and in a press release noted that more than 2,394 AmeriCorps members have served on Guam.
“We are proud to be part of AmeriCorps and grateful for the AmeriCorps members and volunteers who unite to get things done and make change for Guam,” Melissa Quinata-Ronquillo, AmeriCorps Guam Memorial Hospital Authority, said in a release. “AmeriCorps members have made a significant impact on Guam’s ability to meet our communities’ unique needs like recovery and mitigation efforts pertaining to the COVID pandemic and the recent typhoons like Mawar and Bolaven. AmeriCorps’ motto is: Get things done!”
AmeriCorps Week, which is from March 10 through 16, began festivities on Monday with a volunteer opportunity at the community garden in Hagåtña.
On Tuesday, AmeriCorps GSC hosts the food bank at Chamorro Village from 9 a.m. to noon to provide local vegetables and fruits to individuals in need.
On Friday, March 15, AmeriCorps will unite in celebration to recognize its members, volunteers, stakeholders and alumni. The event will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Plaza de España in Hagåtña.
For more information, contact Quinata-Ronquillo at 671-682-4599.
AmeriCorps service member Keniann Susuico pauses for a picture with baby chicks during the Migratory Bird Celebration on Feb. 17, 2024.
