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Honors Outstanding AmeriCorps Members & Honorary Chair
Reno, NV - First Lady Gibbons and Nevada Volunteers Commissioner presented National Service Awards to outstanding AmeriCorps members as well as the Vista and Senior Corps participants. First Lady Dawn Gibbons, honorary chair for Nevada Volunteers, was also sworn in as an Honorary AmeriCorps Nevada Member. Details on event at http://www.nevadavolunteers.org.
Nevada Volunteers' celebration of National AmeriCorps Week was held at the Governor's mansion on May 12, 2008 . The National Service Awards to the hard working AmeriCorps members, Vista , Senior Corps and Learn & Serve participants were the highlights of event. First Lady Dawn Gibbons also received an honorary AmeriCorps membership. Everyone in the room repeated the pledge each AmeriCorps member states when they begin their year of service ending with the phrase, "We are AmeriCorps, and we get things done!"
Bryan Guiot, director of Programs for Nevada Volunteers, felt the event was a great success.
"This event is all about recognizing excellence by those serving in national service within Nevada ," Guiot said. "Taking the time to thank those that make Nevada great is important. And, especially thanking our First Lady who is also Nevada Volunteers honorary chair, was appropriate as she has brought excellent visibility to those that serve."
Assisting First Lady Gibbons with the award presentations were Nevada Volunteers commissioners Janice Ayres, Mary Simmons and Janet Wright. Also in attendance was Nevada Assemblywoman Bonnie Parnell and Claudia Anderson, president of the Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation and Lynn Berardo, Parasol's development director.
Jerry Keir, executive director and founder of Great Basin Institute (GBI) and Mike O'Carroll, financial director for GBI, attended the event to congratulate Zachary Taylor who received the Nevada AmeriCorps Member of the Year Award and Matt Johnson, GBI's Nevada Conservation Corps director, who received the award for Nevada AmeriCorps Program Director of the Year.
About receiving her award, First Lady Gibbons said she was humbled.
"I keep busy trying to make a difference for Nevadans," Gibbons said after the event. "If I can help bring attention to our hard working volunteers, the Crystal Darkness program and increase awareness for the Autism Coalition, then I feel that I help make a difference for Nevadans."
Details about the National Service awards can be found on Nevada Volunteers website: www.NevadaVolunteers.org.
About Nevada Volunteers:
Nevada Volunteers creates countless opportunities to inspire, teach, train and recognize individuals, organizations, and businesses across Nevada to develop a legacy of service and citizenship. The Nevada Volunteers is the Governor's Commission that administers AmeriCorps programs statewide and hosts the annual Governor's Points of Light award. Since 1998, over 1,100 AmeriCorps members have served throughout Nevada recruiting more than 14,000 volunteers whodonated over 97,000 hours of service to local communities.
In September 2007, First Lady Dawn Gibbons was named the Honorary Chair of Nevada Volunteers and considers the commission one of her top priorities. The Website http://www.nevadavolunteers.org/ eventually will become a single source for Nevadans to go statewide for volunteering opportunities.
Those interested in determining how they can participate should subscribe for e-mail updates at the Nevada Volunteers website, http://www.nevadavolunteers.org/
About National AmeriCorps Week
May 11-18, 2008
AmeriCorps Week is a recruitment and recognition event designed to bring more Americans into service, salute AmeriCorps members and alums for their powerful impact, and thank the community partners who make AmeriCorps possible.
AmeriCorps Week provides an opportunity for AmeriCorps members, alums, grantees, program partners, and friends to shine a spotlight on the work done by members in communities across the country—and to motivate more Americans to join AmeriCorps or volunteer in their communities.
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