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The recently released 2015 Volunteering and Civic Life in America report shows that 2.4 million Illinoisans volunteered and helped to make Illinois the top volunteering state out of the five most populated states in the country.
The Chicago metropolitan area also had the highest volunteerism rate among the four largest cities. Illinois volunteers served nearly 287 million total hours, which is valued at $7.3 billion!
Thank you Illinois volunteers for making us number 1!
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The holiday season is a time for renewal of the spirit. The gathering of family and the promise of a new year is enough to make anyone crack a smile.
We truly have a lot to be thankful for in Illinois. Millions of us volunteered last year to help someone in need. Just last week, thousands donated over $3 million to Illinois charities on Giving Tuesday. What better way to celebrate life than by brightening someone else's?
The stories in this edition of our newsletter are all about that light that volunteers bring to the world. I think that after reading them you will agree that we have a lot to celebrate and we have many opportunities to make 2017 a better year than the ones before.
We at Serve Illinois wish you a very happy holiday season and we hope that no matter how you celebrate you find yourself in the warm embrace of friends and family, and we hope that you find a way to share the warmth with others.
Yours in Service,
Scott McFarland
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Nominate A Volunteer Today!
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We all know someone that is volunteering their time to make our community better. Nominate them for the Governor's Volunteer Service Awards!
We are looking for youth, adult, senior, AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and business nominations. Each region of the state will have one winner from each category for a total of 30 awards.
Nominations are due February 17th, and you can submit your nomination online or on paper.
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We had a great National Service Recognition Day this year! On October 12th over 800 AmeriCorps and Senior Corps members and staff gathered in Springfield to participate in training sessions, honor outstanding volunteers, and kick off the year of service. A number of members were also able to participate in morning service projects with Habitat for Humanity, painting the interior of a new Habitat House, and the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, repairing and painting fencing around the park grounds. In addition, attendees donated blood to the Central Illinois Community Blood Center, gathered socks for The Outlet’s Socktober collection benefiting the homeless, and donated over 30,000 soda can tabs to Ronald McDonald House Charities!
The planning for next year has already begun, if you would like to be a part of the planning for the 2017 Recognition Day event inquire how by emailing [email protected].
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President Lincoln leads the parade!
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Four of the Alumni Award Winners
Samoane Williams(VISTA), Tamara Jordan(State/National), Mary Yokem (RSVP), and Bevin Callan (NCCC). Not Pictured, Shanae Drummond (Veteran).
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National Service celebrated a huge milestone with the swearing in of the 1 millionth member on October 7th.
The event was celebrated with a national swearing in event that was given from outer space!
What an amazing milestone to reach!
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Let's continue the momentum of celebrating members by sharing your member stories with us!
Send stories to the address below with the subject Member story.
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*Serving Those Who Served Month of Service*
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November is for Veterans!
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November 2016 was the launch of a new Illinois based month of service dedicated to Serving Those Who Served. Hundreds of volunteers made use of days throughout the month to give back to veterans and their families with a slew of different events. From operation gratitude drives, to cleanup and restoration, to meals and floral arrangements. This veterans day and the month of November was definitely one for the books.
Be on the lookout for the planning for next years events as we look forward to continuing our partnership with the Department of veterans affairs in 20
17.
At the end of the month, there were 41 projects drawing in 570 volunteers. Collectively, the projects provided service, support, and assistance to over 3730 Illinois Veterans. “We had volunteers at our Veteran Homes, assisting with their libraries and painting various walls. We also assisted moving new furniture into 5 permanent homes for Veterans who were living on the streets,” added Jeffries.
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Meet the four veterans we honored as volunteer of the week during the month of November. All served their country, and continue serving their communities through service. Read more about their service at Serve.Illinois.Gov
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Lou Vargas
Vietnam War Veteran
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Leslie Rodriguez
Navy Reserves, Afghanistan
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Jim Niksch
Army Reserves, Sargent First Class
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George A. Pempek
U.S. Army, World War II, Korean War
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We are always looking to highlight new faces submit submissions for volunteer of the week to
[email protected]
with the subject Volunteer of the Week.
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Illinois Give 2016 had an outstanding turnout, with the number still growing.
Kathleen Murphy,
Director of communications stated:
"Based on available data provided by 23 online giving platforms through Giving Tuesday’s Open Data Project, 20,000 donors from all over the world gave $7.5 million dollars to nonprofits in Illinois. And this is just online giving! Results are still being calculated for offline donations, matching gifts, and other giving platforms that haven't reported yet."
Go to ILgive.com to follow the updates and learn more!
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The second annual Tom Harkin awards were awarded to five recipients this year.
One of those recipients being from one our programs! Public Allies Chicago.
Read what was said about James below.
"
James Taylor, Public Allies Chicago
AmeriCorps member with a disability who significantly contributed to disability inclusion efforts for national service programs.
Following his internship with Public Allies Chicago, James continued his service with the organization as an AmeriCorps member serving with Chicago Public School (CPS) Office of Diverse Learners.
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It was important to the Office of Diverse Learners to host an AmeriCorps member who had similar life experiences to the youth they served, like James. James helped the department refine their system for tracking special needs students from year to year and ensured students were provided the proper accommodations. As a student with special needs, James said he was allowed to fall through the cracks, and through his service wanted to ensure that no child would be allowed to do the same. James revolutionized how CPS tracked their diverse learners and brought a great level of proficiency and expertise to his work because of his similar life experiences to those he served."
Read more about James' story here!
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This October 21 AmeriCorps members convened in Springfield at the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) to become trained in Disaster Response.
This was a huge turnout. Of the 21 members we have many that are fully trained across the state and ready to respond to disaster recovery. Others are well on their way to becoming completely trained up, as some are just waiting to take a CPR class.
Another round of members and RSVP members will be round up to participate in the trainings in the up coming year.
RSVP members are strongly encouraged to join!
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North West Volunteerism Conference 2016
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The North West Volunteerism (NWIVC) Conference took place October 14th with a great turnout. Keynote speaker Vicki Clark was present and engaged the conference goers. Planning for next years conference will be resuming shortly, look out for the details! If you would like to be a committee member and engage in the planning feel free to send us an [email protected]
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Request for Proposals CIVC
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2017 Central Illinois Volunteerism Conference
Customer Service: Delivering a quality volunteer experience
June 7, 2017
The Central Illinois Volunteerism Conference Steering Committee invites
dynamic and engaging speakers to serve as conference keynote speakers,
workshop facilitators, and presenters. Please submit your keynote/workshop
proposals to [email protected] and [email protected].
Please use the attached RFP template to submit your proposal and make sure
to complete all sections including your speaker bio, workshop objectives, and
presentation outline. Deadline to submit proposals is January 16, 2017.
Opportunities exist for offsite simulcasting workshops. If interested, please
make sure to explain this in writing with the submission of your proposal.
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Martin Luther King Jr. Day Of
January 16, 2017
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Governor's Volunteer Service Awards
April 25 ,2017
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Southern Illinois Volunteerism Conference
April 6, 2017
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V
olunteer Week
April 23-28, 2017
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