Vinton, Iowa - The first class of members to serve at the newest National Civilian Community Corps campus will be inducted during an 11 a.m. ceremony on August 11. David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees NCCC and other AmeriCorps programs, will be on hand for the event, as will Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. Also attending will be Merlene Mazyck, director of NCCC.

“We’re launching the first new campus in several years in an area that has been hard hit by floods this summer,” Eisner said. “Already, AmeriCorps members, including NCCC teams from other campuses, have been responding to Iowans in need. With the campus up and running, NCCC teams will devote their energy to serving on a number of projects, including disaster relief, in Iowa and other states in the region.”

A total of 154 NCCC members and team leaders, serving on 14 teams, will be inducted during the ceremony at the Vinton-Shellsburg High School. Once they are sworn in as NCCC members, they will be deployed to projects. The first round of projects, which lasts about 10 weeks, will all be in Iowa. NCCC members will be participating in such activities as disaster relief with Cedar Rapids Weed and Seed and the Benton County Conversation Department, and environmental projects with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Hardin County Conservation Department.

NCCC members serve a 10-month term of service during which they undertake short-term projects sponsored by local organizations within the region of the campus. In addition to Iowa, the region covered by the Vinton campus includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Other campuses are in Sacramento, Calif; Denver, Colo.; and Perry Point, Md.

NCCC is a project of the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Corporation improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. Each year the Corporation engages more than four million Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service to meet local needs through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, VISTA, NCCC, and Learn and Serve America programs. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.

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