AmeriCorps Cape Cod is partnering with the Dennis Department of Natural Resources and the Dennis Conservation Trust for the 2012 AmeriCorps Week of Service from Tuesday to Saturday, May 15-19th.  This year, our signature site will be the Shoop-Johnson Community Gardens on 6A in Dennis.  Volunteer opportunities are plentiful, and we would love to have your help! Click here for more information and to register!

Over 150 community volunteers joined AmeriCorps Cape Cod members and staff for the the 12^th annual Canal Clean-Up event on April 21^st, 2012, in Buzzards Bay! After enjoying breakfast, volunteers were equipped with trash bags and gloves and went right to work. Highlights of the day include:

• Over 40 bags of trash cleaned up along the Canal
• Completion of a beautiful 240-foot mural along the Canal
• Construction of a rain garden at the Herring Run Recreational Area
• Installation of doggie-bag dispensers
• Staining of two staircases
• Cleanup and maintenance at Bournedale Trail
• Children’s activities and educational booths

AmeriCorps Cape Cod and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers partnered on the event and would like to thank the volunteers for their hard work beautifying the Canal! All of these accomplishments and improvements will make the Canal a better place for years to come.

2012-2013 Individual Placement RFP Due: March 23rd, 2012

2012-2013 Individual Placement RFP

• Honoring of 6 community volunteers with the Presidential Call to Service Volunteer Award with letter from President Obama, an honor bestowed upon volunteers for serving at least 4,000 volunteer hours over a lifetime.
• Rehabilitation of a home  to be sold for affordable housing in Yarmouth.
• Painting of the residential AIDS shelter, Foley House, as well as the ‘Great Hall’ in Provincetown.
• Construction of garden beds and food collection bins, as well as the collection of 300 food items and 50 future pledges for food donation for the Lower Cape Outreach Council.
• Tied 50 fleece blankets, embroidered over 30 terry cloth towels, and created over 150 teddy bear dental hygiene kits to be donated to Cape Cod Center for Women.
• Created banners for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Cape and Islands

Licked by wolves, dressed as a lobster, ate an oyster, assisted in a dissection of a harbor seal, used a chainsaw and began planning a volunteer event; and that all occurred in just one week of this amazing program. I have just begun the Americorps Cape Cod program and already I have pushed my limits of conformability to the maximum.

My individual placement, IP, is with IFAW, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which includes anything from data entry to restocking supply kits and dissecting marine mammals. Recently, at my IP I was asked to perform a level 1, which includes data recording and taking samples of the skin and jaw, on a decaying harbor seal that had washed up, and unlike most of the IFAW team I had never dreamed to work with dead sea life.

However, when would I ever receive another chance to do this (other than my next IP day)? Besides, the worst thing that could happen would be me fainting or possibly vomiting. So why not go for it?

Needless to say, I was nervous and disgusted more than I thought humanly possible. After numerous composure pauses and eruptions of nervous laughter I finished, and was extremely proud of myself. I had successfully accomplished something I had never known I would be able to do.

The vision and mission of the AmeriCorps Cape Cod program is to offer a diverse group of trained adults a 10-month, full time, residential living opportunity serving the critical environmental and disaster preparedness needs of the fifteen towns within Barnstable County.

Our goal is to address community needs through service. We also engage citizen volunteers of the Cape on land and water based conservation projects and disaster preparedness. Service includes education and outreach to citizens and visitors on critical environmental and disaster preparedness needs of the region.