Here’s a story from the AmeriCorps St. Louis Emergency Response Team, which last week for Holmes County, Mississippi to help with tornado clean-up. AmeriCorps members took chainsaws, tools, generators and other gear to the disaster zone. 25 people were injured and one person died in Holmes County during last weekend's storms.

After nearly a week of lengthy days that make 12 hour shifts seem like a blessing, we completed over 13 work requests with the help of over 100 volunteers. We are all exhausted, faced vehicle issues, and may have damaged some of our best chainsaws beyond repair.

We are now coordinating Volunteer Reception Centers (VRC) in Holmes and Choctaw County, running two field teams of Americorps members in Holmes County and reaching out to over 150 households who, a week ago, didn't exist in our lives. These families, our partners, community members and other volunteers have now not only become part of our daily lives, but part of our reason for being.

Yesterday a young boy, about 8 years-old, came into the VRC, which is also functioning as a point of distribution (POD) for donations, to replace clothing he had lost in the tornado. He asked for help finding clothes and after shuffling through piles on the table I handed him a red plaid shirt. He pulled it on and, as his head reappeared, one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen was painted across his face. He was glowing with the pride and purpose that I can only assume is hard to regain after losing everything you have known. It was the greatest reward of my trip so far.

Yesterday I met with Mr. Brown's daughter, Rachel, on the property where her father's house once stood. Mr. Brown was the sole fatality in Holmes County. As I understand it, his home was lifted off its cinderblocks and thrown into a field on the other side of the road. Cleaning up the Brown's property will take days, hundreds of volunteer hours, and a variety of tools and machinery. Certainly no easy task, but within hours of my time with Rachel, three different volunteer groups of over 100 people were anxious to begin work. The volunteers were from Tennessee, North Carolina and other counties in Mississippi. People coming together, side by side for a common task: humanity.

So in the end today, like every day we have been here, totals out to be a great day because of the people we meet, the lives we have the opportunity to help make better and the friendships we build on the team. This has been a reminder to myself of why we are AmeriCorps.

As various parts of the country are hit with disasters ranging from floods to tornadoes to oil spills, national service participants have stepped up to provide vital assistance. Below is a brief overview of distasters and national service deployment.
 

The folks are trained through the city's Community Emergency Response Team and are prepared for wind, snow, ice, power outages and earthquakes. Kloshe Illahee is a community of citizens ages 55 and up. Residents embarked on their neighborhood emergency plan in 2005. The plan was finalized in 2006. Now, the group is preparing a revision, with the goal of continuing self-sustainability in preparation for a disaster.
 

I have been working with American WWII veterans since 1994, making many of them guests of honor where once they were in combat.
 

Volunteering, Teamwork, Learning and Growing, Being Prepared- proactive choices that make a difference in our social security as a nation, community, family and individual.
 

I’ve done everything from coordinating search and rescue activities to cleaning up and carrying out the trash. After a transfer to Hugo, Colorado, my latest unique volunteer opportunity began.
 

For the first time ever, I felt I was doing something with a purpose and in turn it gave me a sense of worth and meaning. Up until then I had felt like I was a burden to people around me. Whereas at the event, I felt like I meant something to someone and was doing good for those around me. I then immersed myself in volunteer work.
 

By tagging on to the President’s initiative and encouraging service this summer, we have engaged people in community service work to help make it a part of the everyday lives of all Americans with a hope that they will make an ongoing commitment to each other, their communities, and volunteer work throughout their lives
 

I have been battling some medical conditions. I use to be flat in bed for five and a half and now live with daily chronic pain. However, I have been sending all handwritten letters to the troops since Nov. 2000.
 

With the Citizen Corps Council/VOAD, RSVP hosted an informational meeting on August 24, 2009 - to kick off Safety and Security Week and also build up to 9/11.
 

Mother organizes her community to knit 130 helmet liners for her son's fellow troops in Afghanistan.
 

How one school got involved on September 11th by honoring our service members.
 

When I retired nearly four years ago, I never dreamed I would have so many interesting jobs and experiences.
 

Mike L., a member with the American Red Cross’ AmeriCorps Together We Prepare program, has been making quite an impact on Washtenaw County in Michigan. Through his service with the county’s Red Cross chapter, Mike’s usual service has been organizing a youth service group called Youth Community Action Team (YCAT) and responding to local disasters. But following an AmeriCorps training session, another opportunity presented itself.
 

Working for a company for 25 years shows loyalty—volunteering for an organization for 25 years is much more than just loyalty. It is dedication, selflessness, and passion for what one does. Wanda Allen-Yearout is one of only a few individuals with this huge accomplishment, but she is very modest about it.
 

We had a great time in Lockwood on the last day of our Fire Ready Montana tour! It wasa beautiful day and all the local fire and emergency officials were there, along with several community booths. Residents came out with their kids to meet Smokey Bear and enjoy the fire truck demonstrations. It truly was a community event!
 

After visiting with the President, I realized that volunteering here gives me the opportunity to, in a small way, repay those individuals who were so helpful to me during my crisis. Volunteerism also helps satisfy a need to be involved in solving some of the problems that we face in our community. In my case, delivering meals to the homebound has provided me the opportunity to serve longer.
 

Volunteers participated as victims in a simulated poisonous gas release. They went through triage on site then were transported to hospitals on both sides of the river. Afterwards several answered questions about their experience.
 

On August 27, 2009, I took part in United We Serve Safety and Security Week by touring our new Volunteer Reception Center, housed in the new Salvation Army Family Services Building.
 

 “With Ike’s devastation still so fresh on everyone’s mind, we are experiencing an increase in interest from people that desire to participate in training,” said Mark Sloan. “Current students in our class feel we are giving them more insight and greater ability to respond to disasters.”
 

The Mission Continues…even after the military. David has been awarded a Mission Continues Fellowship that will allow him to continue his work as head coach of the Baltimore Broncos. In this role, he not only teaches the game of football, but also strengthens the lives of his players. This non-profit football team focuses on providing an outlet for underprivileged youth, through football.
 

Our Western Fraternal Life Association Lodge 236 members have done community services for decades and plan to expand our volunteer efforts - reminding present and future generations of historical events so that, hopefully, we can help prevent them from occurring again.
 

I'm a member of a couple of Tucson, Arizona groups that bring the barn-raising model to community greening projects.
 

Operation Homefront, military families and local volunteers teamed up to take part in the President’s call to service during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction weekend. On Saturday, July 25, Operation Homefront hosted a project to prepare care packages for deployed service members and back-to-school backpacks for New York’s military children.
 

Voluntary organizations, governments, are working together to rebuild flood-damaged homes before winter.
 

Our first mission was to inform the local community, who for the most part, were unaware that the purpose of the USO was to make a ‘Home Away from Home ‘ for our military service members and their families many of whom were away from home for the first time in their lives. Deployments for six or more months at sea or years in the war zones were highly stressful for both they and their loved ones. This was what the USO was created to support during WW ll.
 

Find a whole new community at your local Veterans Administration facility. They will welcome you with open arms - and there is BBQ!
 

Another intense storm had hit in the night, filling the church’s window-wells with water that flowed over the roof’s rain gutters. For the next several hours all of us were mopping, vacuuming, and baling water to protect the reconstructed walls and flooring from the need to be demolished and replaced again. It brought back many difficult memories of fighting the 1993 floods, but this time we won.
 

It was our second day on the Thrivent Builds with the Habitat for Humanity site in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and already the house that my Thrivent Financial for Lutherans colleagues and I were constructing was taking shape. What was simply a foundation when we arrived the day before now had a floor and walls.
 

Students from Laconia High School in New Hampshire are well on their way to the creation of a DVD that will contain blueprints and critical information to be used by emergency services. In addition to creating a new emergency brochure for parents, students are using state-of-the-art Computer Aided Drafting software and laser measuring tools to create detailed floor plans and 3-D views of each room in the high school.