Dec. 2, 2020
AmeriCorps volunteers close out 2020 at Arkansas 4-H Center
By Tracy Courage
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Fast Facts:
- AmeriCorps team spending 11 weeks at Arkansas 4-H Center
- Volunteers improving center’s appearance, safety and energy efficiency
- Team is seventh AmeriCorps team to serve 4-H Center
(556 words)
(Newsrooms: with additional art at https://flic.kr/s/aHsmR96UZR)
(Download this story in MS Word format here.)
LITTLE ROCK — The C.A. Vines Arkansas 4-H Center has been getting extra care and attention in recent weeks thanks to the work of AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps members.
ALL HANDS ON DECK— A nine-member AmeriCorps team is clearing trails, recycling and sprucing up interior areas of the C.A. Vines 4-H Center, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. (Division of Agriculture photo.)
A nine-member AmeriCorps team is clearing trails, recycling and sprucing up interior areas of the 4-H Center, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. More than 25,000 people typically visit the 4-H Center each year, and many of them stay for several days at camps, conferences, meetings and retreats.
“This year has been quite different during the pandemic,” 4-H Center Director JJ Pitman said. “We have not been able to host overnight camps and larger gatherings in recent months. The upside is that we are able to do some renovations and inside work that normally we can’t during full occupancy.”
The team arrived in late September from Woodland Park, Colorado, where members worked with Habitat for Humanity. Once in Little Rock, they spent a couple of days acclimating to their new home away from home before going to work. The group will be at the center until Dec. 17.
“This will be the longest stint for a team at the 4-H Center,” Shannon Caldwell, program director at the 4-H Center, said. “Traditionally, we’ve had a team for six weeks, but this team is with us for 11 weeks. This is our seventh AmeriCorps team, and we’re so lucky to have them. The impact of former teams’ work can be seen across our campus.”
This year’s team members are from Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia. The team includes recent high school graduates, college students and recent college graduates, and reflects a wide range of interests and experiences. One member — Dalton Rothwell from Ohio — was a 4-H member and showed chickens.
“We’re diverse in many different ways,” Allie Wheeler, the team’s leader, said. “Each person has skills and strengths they bring to the team, and the team wouldn’t be the same without each of them.”
What they all share in common, though, is a desire to make a difference in their world through service.
Wheeler, of Adams, Massachusetts, learned about AmeriCorps while studying at Lasell University in eastern Massachusetts, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in environmental studies. During college, she worked on service projects in Tanzania and Mexico.
“Service became very important to me while I was in college,” she said. “Doing service work that really benefits a community is what matters. AmeriCorps works really hard to find sponsors who we can work with to develop service projects. That way we’re doing what communities need us to do.”
Team member Antony Freed of Florida recently earned a Bachelor of Social Work from Florida State University.
“I hope to one day work on policy drafting, but I thought AmeriCorps would be a good opportunity to see communities with need and how they are being served,” Freed said.
One of the youngest team members, Taylor Suto, of Connecticut, graduated from high school this year and said he enjoyed learning new trade skills. He and fellow team members have been painting and taking apart old air-conditioning units to determine what can be recycled.
“I enjoy physical labor but seeing our impact on a community is the best part of this,” he said.
To learn more about the Arkansas 4-H Center, visit thevinescenter.org. Learn more about AmeriCorps.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs to all eligible persons without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
###
Media contact:
Tracy Courage
Director, Communications Services
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2126
tcourage@uada.edu