“Students working in AmeriCorps put their energy and time into enriching our community,” said Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan.
“Just a few days ago AmeriCorps in the Northern Marianas celebrated the achievements of the current school year. Director Christine Masga, the site supervisors, and the students are doing a great job.
“I look forward to seeing all the wonderful work that will be done in the year to come using this latest grant,” Sablan said.
The 2010 grant is the first made under the new Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. Funding for the Northern Marianas increased by about $100,000 over the 2009 amount. Sablan was one of the original co-sponsors of the measure.
Serve America was signed into law by President Obama into law last April. It expanded the AmeriCorps program to further promote education, expansion of health services, assistance for veterans and military families, and economic opportunity.
This April the U.S. House of Resolution commemorated the one-year anniversary of the Act with House Resolution 1276. The Northern Marianas congressman was selected to be floor manager for the debate on the resolution.
Members of the corps serve a wide range of national and local non-profit organizations, community and faith-based groups, and educational institutions and can earn money to help pay for college or repay students loans while receiving critical on-the-job work experience. Nationally, the program has received a surge of applications in recent months, and last year mobilized and managed more than 85,000 members who worked to improve life in their communities. The organization’s goal is to have 250,000 members in the field by the year 2017.
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