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Public commenter praises AmeriCorps as nonpartisan disaster-response force
Summary
During public comment at a meeting, a speaker described AmeriCorps members as nonpartisan public servants who provided disaster relief in Tuscaloosa after 2011 tornadoes and said alumni are more likely to volunteer and vote.
Public commenter, a public commenter, said AmeriCorps members are nonpartisan and focused on service, citing the 2011 Tuscaloosa, Alabama, tornado relief when teams established a donations warehouse.
"When you're an AmeriCorps member, you don't care what party someone is or anything like that. All you wanna do is show up and provide a service to the public. Our team was sent to Tuscaloosa, Alabama after tornadoes in 2011, and we, as an AmeriCorps team, set up an entire donations warehouse for that community. That work could not have been done without the boots on the ground AmeriCorps service members. This is a nonpartisan program," the commenter said.
The commenter described AmeriCorps as a unifying, civic program and said alumni show lasting civic engagement: "It's a nonpartisan issue. Public service is what unites. AmeriCorps alumni are more likely to volunteer in their community after they finish their service term. They're more likely to vote in elections. So it creates a generation of engaged citizens." The speaker added, "This is really the gem of national service in this country."
These remarks were made during the meeting's public comment period; no ordinance, resolution or formal action regarding AmeriCorps or national service was proposed or voted on during the segment recorded in the transcript. The statements reflect the speaker's observations and examples rather than a formal staff report or board position.
