The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Bonnie Johnson, Quill Staff
"This program rocks," says Stevo Evans, one of the team members of AmeriCorps-NCCC.
The team is working at the park in Lomax, painting, repairing, power washing, and doing whatever needs to be done to beautify the park, rain shelter, playground equipment, and rec center building. They will also paint the old Lomax Jail before leaving on Friday.
AmericCorps-NCCC is a full-time national service program run by the Corporation for National and Community Service. This program provides young Americans with the opportunity to perform 10 months of service for the needs of the communities across the United States. There are five campuses which oversee these programs, Washington, D.C., Perry Point, MD., Charleston, S.C., Denver, Co, and Sacramento, CA.This team is operated out of the campus in Denver, CO.
A person who is interested in being a team member fills out an application and if chosen, they will then be interviewed.
Cheryl Lefler, community development specialist from the Illinois Coalition for Community Service, Monmouth, was instrumental in bringing the AmeriCorps team to this area.
Sara Norrman, from Massachusetts, is the team leader. She organizes the work that is to be done at each camp site. Lomax is one of five communities that the team will be working in this summer.
They will be traveling on to Carthage, La Harpe, Bushnell and Colchester to do beautification projects.
In talking with the young people, ranging in age from 19 to 25, they all had the opinion that this was a great project and a rewarding project that helps communities and hopefully will instill pride in the residents to continue the work the team has begun.
There will be a potluck supper in the recreation building on Thursday evening, June 24th at 6:00 p.m. Anyone in the community is invited to attend.
Claudia Oritz, from Texas said, "This is an awesome project. There was graffiti on things and it is nice to see it fixed up and repainted. I hope this will spark the interest in the local people and instill pride so they will continue to help keep the park looking nice," says Claudia Ortiz.
Stevo Evans, who has traveled extensively and calls South Carolina home says, "This program rocks. It's a great program to work for". Matthew Wren, St. Louis, MO and Cameron Tousley, Minneapolis, MN help Stevo paint the new ceiling in the shelter house. The men believe the program is worthwhile and they enjoy helping beautify the small
"This is a fun project, and a good opportunity to learn about other areas. I think the local people really appreciate what we are doing", says Nikole Swaney, from the state of Virginia. Leila Choueduay, from Massachusetts, is hard at work painting. She replied, "I really like this a lot. It's fun and it's nice to be doing this type of project".
Sara Norman, AmeriCorp Team Leader for the project, is from Massachusetts.
H 6 Berenici Cordova, El Paso, Texas, says,
"The Illinois Coalition for Community Service is a great program. Through this program, the team can help better communities and hopefully encourage the residents to do more".
Ricky Coffin, Long Island, NY, says, "This is a nice area and I enjoy the open spaces with the trees, etc. This is a great project."