Green Bay Conservation Corps AmeriCorps members joined by community volunteers to install thousands of native plants as part of pollinator corridor project

Over the first half of the summer, AmeriCorps members with the Green Bay Conservation Corps (GBCC) have been working with volunteers and community partners to install thousands of pollinator-friendly native plants at multiple parks across Green Bay. These installations support the Northeast Wisconsin Pollinator Corridor initiative, a collaborative project with the vision of creating a network of "stepping stones" for pollinators. The plantings are strategically placed to allow bees, butterflies, and other pollinators to roam freely throughout the city.

The GBCC AmeriCorps members were joined on May 30 by staff from Green Bay Botanical Garden to plant 150 native shrubs donated by Johnson's Nursery at Fireman's Park and then completed an installation of native flowers at the park on June 12.

The Green Bay Conservation Corps and Green Bay Parks, Recreation & Forestry Department were then joined on June 19 by volunteers from Fox Communities Credit Union, Green Bay Botanical Garden, and volunteers from the community at large to plant 4,000 pollinator-friendly plants in Danz Park. This effort included native species like little bluestem, hairy beardtongue, swamp milkweed, coneflowers, blazing stars, goldenrod, and asters. These plants were all chosen for their ability to support bees, butterflies, and other pollinators throughout the growing season.

The following week, GBCC was able to install three corridor plantings with the assistance of volunteers and community partners. Over 1,000 plants supplied by Wild Ones - Green Bay Chapter and Stone Silo Prairie Gardens were installed at Farlin Park. This was thanks to the assistance of 50 volunteers, including groups from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, UW-Green Bay High School Freshwater Scholar Program, and middle schoolers from Spring Lake Church. Thanks to the increase in volunteers, GBBC was able to plant at an additional site and installed nearly 1,000 plants at Bayview Park. Finally, GBBC installed a large pollinator planting of just under 2,000 plants at 8th Street near the community garden with the assistance of the Botanical Garden staff. 

The final large community planting this summer took place on July 10 in Hobart. GBCC AmeriCorps members planted nearly 1,200 plants in Hobart with help from a group of volunteers from Schneider. The benefits of these plantings will go beyond the pollinators and extend to the community who will enjoy the new features in their neighborhoods.

United Way of Racine County supports three cohorts through United Horizons Board Training Program

The United Way of Racine County recently celebrated the graduation of two cohorts of participants in their United Horizons Board Training Program, which provides free training for Racine County residents to help prepare them to serve on nonprofit boards. United Horizons has a unique approach to providing training to strengthen local nonprofit boards, offering district tracks for individuals from the community and for organizations.

The United Horizons Board Training Program is supported by Serve Wisconsin with funding made possible through grants from AmeriCorps and the Volunteer Generation Fund (VGF). With this support, United Horizons aims to help organizations more fully engage volunteers in community problem-solving and ensure that a wide range of community voices, particularly those from the communities being served, are represented in leadership roles.

The first track of United Horizons is a 7-session series designed for individuals seeking to grow their leadership capacity and gain a deep understanding of nonprofit board service. The training covers a wide range of topics to help prepare participants to serve of nonprofits boards, providing sessions about local community conditions, Nonprofit 101, fundraising and storytelling, governance and advocacy, identifying your Strengths, identifying local nonprofits, and financials, legals and ethics. 

Nonprofits can have representatives from their organizations participate in the second track of United Horizons, which is a 3-session series tailored for nonprofits seeking to broaden the pool of individuals serving on their boards, strengthen recruitment and retention strategies, and adopt best practices in governance. This training provides resources and sessions focusing on local community conditions, best practices in board management, and creating safe spaces 

Both tracks conclude with the United Horizons Connection Event: Strengthening Nonprofits, where program graduates and local nonprofit representatives come together to learn about United Horizons, celebrate the graduates and the impact of the program, and make connections. Prior to the event, graduates learn helpful networking tips and tricks and receive business cards they can hand out to representatives from local nonprofits. The second and third cohorts of individuals to complete the 7-session series were celebrated on July 14 with the support of the Johnson Foundation at Wingspread, who hosts the event program graduates. 

Since they started offering the United Horizons training series, United Way of Racine County has delivered 710 hours of training across the two tracks. So far, they have had 51 participants graduate from the individuals track as part of three training cohorts and 29 individuals representing 17 nonprofit organizations complete the organizational track as part of two cohorts of nonprofits. Serve Wisconsin is looking forward to the impact this training will continue to have on the Racine community, with numerous participants having already been placed on local nonprofit boards. 

Serve Wisconsin Communications and Government Affairs Officer Kyle Clower receives Everest Award for Service Excellence from Wisconsin DOA

This July, Serve Wisconsin Communications and Government Affairs Officer Kyle Clower was recognized with the Everest Award for Service Excellence by the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA). The Everest Award celebrates employees and supervisors who exemplify the best of DOA Values through their exceptional work, leadership, and commitment to excellence. The award presentation detailed that “Kyle leads with Service Excellence by elevating both the visibility and the value of volunteerism across Wisconsin. His work goes far beyond event planning—it builds morale, strengthens community partnerships, and honors the profound contributions of individuals committed to public good.”

When presenting the award at DOA’s July Town Hall, DOA Deputy Secretary Anne Hanson explained that “Kyle has elevated the visibility and value of volunteerism in a host of ways, but particularly through the Governor's Service Awards. This signature celebration is the culmination of months of meticulous planning and coordination and honors community service through a transparent and inclusive awards process. In the past five years, three Wisconsin AmeriCorps members have received the National AmeriCorps Excellence in Service Award, which is a prestigious honor given to only two members nationwide each year. This remarkable achievement is the direct result of Kyle's efforts to promote and advocate for the exceptional work of Wisconsin service members on a national stage.”

Service story of Analena Peterson - Volunteer of the Year honoree at 2025 Governor's Service Awards

July episode of The S-Files podcast

This month on The S-Files, we explored the service story of Analena Peterson, who was recognized as one of the Volunteer of the Year honorees at the 2025 Governor’s Service Awards for her efforts collecting, sorting, and donating over 25,000 books and supporting other volunteer efforts. Check out this month's episode below. You can access all of the episodes on The S-Files podcast series website.

Promoting Literacy and a Love of Reading by Collecting and Donating over 25,000 Books

In this episode, Analena discusses how after struggling with reading when she was a younger student, she learned to love reading and wanted to provide books for other children to help them develop their own passion for reading. She describes how her volunteer efforts grew from donating books to local Little Free Libraries and a few nonprofit organizations to collecting, sorting, and donating over 25,000 books and opening more than twenty of her own Little Free Libraries throughout Wisconsin and in a few other states before graduating high school this May. Analena discusses how the connections she has made through participating in pageants has expanded her ability to open up more Little Free Libraries across the state. She also shares about volunteering to assist numerous non-literary collection drives with organizations like the Volunteer Center of Washington County. Listen to learn how she plans to continue her volunteer efforts as she prepares to start college this fall while running track as a student athlete, including creating her own nonprofit organization to help support her philanthropic efforts in the future. (listen to the episode here)

Serve Wisconsin | servewisconsin.wi.gov | AmeriCorps

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