Missouri House Honors AmeriCorps for Indispensable Role in Joplin Recovery
Jefferson City, MO (PRWEB) January 31, 2012The Missouri House of Representatives today will pass a resolution honoring AmeriCorps members from across the country who have played an indispensable role in helping the city of Joplin recover from the devastating tornado that struck the city on May 22, 2011.
Led by State Representatives Bill White (R-Joplin) and Charlie Davis (R-Duquesne), the resolution commends AmeriCorps members from 20 organizations from seven states who served in Joplin in the wake of the tornado, the nations deadliest in more than sixty years.
The members of the Missouri House of Representatives join unanimously to applaud the history, goals, and accomplishments associated with the AmeriCorps program and to convey to all of those involved this legislative bodys most heartfelt commendation of their efforts in Joplin and Duquesne following the devastating EF-5 tornado, states Missouri House Resolution 244.
The first AmeriCorps members arrived within hours after the tornado struck, and more than 300 have served since then, providing vital services and mobilizing more than 60,000 volunteers who have been essential to the citys recovery. AmeriCorps members deployed to Joplin from programs based in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Texas, and Washington.
In a time of fantastic need, AmeriCorps members rushed to the scene and have stayed for the long haul, providing vital hope and help to the people of Joplin, said Robert Velasco, Acting CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), AmeriCorps parent federal agency. Our commitment to the people of Joplin will continue through the work of additional AmeriCorps members who will serve over the coming year.
Kate Raftery, Director of AmeriCorps NCCC, will join Missouri House members, AmeriCorps members, and representatives of FEMA, the Missouri Community Service Commission, and AmeriCorps programs active in Joplin in a ceremony at the Capitol this morning to announce the agencys commitment of more than 30 additional AmeriCorps members who will serve in Joplin over the coming year. Over the past seven months, AmeriCorps NCCC has deployed more than 200 members who have given 49,000 hours of service,
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