BREAK!

Looking for service opportunities over the break? It will be slow, but not void of opportunities!

The Boys & Girls Club in Riverton is looking for volunteers to help with dinner set up and break down, gift wrapping and PLAYING! It's 3-6pm this Friday night, but if you can come for just one hour, that would be great! Call Tiffanie at 797-9048 or email her: tpanagakos@bgcmaine.org.

Monday, December 29th will be USM guest chef night at Ronald McDonald House.

The Wayside Soup Kitchen always needs people to help serve breakfasts or dinner. Let me know if you want to do this with some friends!

In January, we will be having a big Martin Luther King, Jr event on Saturday, the 17th. During this event, we'll be working with kids at the three Portland Housing Authority education centers to make art about dreams. FMI: rachel.church@maine.edu.

STRIVE will still be having their Friday night social dances, and you are more than welcome to come get dowwwn! FMI: courtney.babbidge@maine.edu.

Enjoy some time off and stay warm!

Amanda

PortSports + Wassail = <3

You are cordially invited to PortSports First Annual Holiday Wassailing Party!!

Please check out the link for event information and help spread the word!

http://www.portsportsmaine.com/events/portsports-first-annual

The Wayside Soup Kitchen has provided some facts about the local hunger problem:

• The typical American eats an average of one dinner per week at a restaurant at an average cost of $25.00 per meal.
• The average cost per meal at the Wayside Soup Kitchen is $1.77.
• Almost one in ten people in Maine is either hungry or worried about going hungry.
• From 2000 to 2005, Maine had had the highest increase in the country in the percentage of people who go hungry.
• One third of people in Maine on food stamps are working.
• A third of Maine workers do not earn a living wage.
• To avoid having to accept handouts, adults in many families go without food so their children can eat.
• 94,000 children in Maine are living in homes at risk of hunger.

Can’t attend but would like to donate food/money? Just contact Dave & Morgan Surkin:

Dave- dave@portsportsmaine.com

Morgan- morgan@portsportsmaine.com

Say It Loud!

Portland's Popular Youth Hip Hop Group is back on stage!

Say it Loud performing December 5th!

When: Friday, December 5th at 7pm

Where: Casco Bay High School

3rd Floor Dance Studio

196 Allen Avenue, Portland, ME

Over the past two months, students from Casco Bay High School have been writing their own lyrics to create original raps, songs and poetry as well as learning new dance moves and routines with help from Add Verb Productions' facilitating local artists, Chiara Liberatore, Saiyid Brent and Bruce Tracy.

Please come see all of their hard work and amazing talent showcased in a final performance reflecting this year's themes of “Relationships...Being Who I Am...Politics...and World Issues!”

Say it Loud! Is produced by Add Verb Productions Arts & Education - a Portland based organization that awakens community-based action and understanding of social issues through theatre, creative expression and dialogue. At the students' request, Casco Bay High School and Add Verb collaborated this summer and created the Say it Loud Hip Hop Club-to help young people express what matters to them most in a unique, positive and powerful way.

Donations and Drips

Ok, two things here.
Serious and fun.

Serious:

Amanda Grondin, a student who works in the Women's Resource Center, is hoping that you will help out this holiday season. She is asking for donations for Family Crisis Services in Portland.

Family Crisis Services is an organization that helps victims of domestic abuse. They have a wish list of simple items that the women and children in their shelter could really use.

All you need to do is take a look at the list, see if there is anything you would be willing to contribute, and then drop it off at the Women’s Resource Center in the Student Center in Portland, Monday-Friday, 9am-3pm.

***Due to health and sanitary reasons, all items must be new, please!***

If you have questions, please email Amanda.grondin@maine.edu.

Wish list:

Bedding:

Comforters

Blankets

Sheet sets

Mattress pads

Plastic mattress covers

Pillows

Crib sheets

Hygiene Items:

Tampons and pads

Shampoo and conditioner

Deodorant

Razors and shaving cream

Baby wipes

Household items:

Bath towels

Hand towels

Face towels

Cleaning supplies

Laundry detergent

Dryer sheets

Alarm clocks

Night lights

Clothing:

Winter jackets (all sizes)

Winter boots (all sizes)

PJ sets (all sizes)

Sweat suit sets (all sizes)

Underwear (all sizes)

Socks

Bras

Slippers

Kitchen items:

Pots/pans

Mixing bowls

Glasses

Kitchen towels

Crock pots

Coffee makers

Toasters

Hand mixers

Miscellaneous:

Umbrellas

Walmart/Target gift cards

Gas cards

Phone cards

Journals

Day planners

Movie passes

Children’s Museum passes

Thanks for your help!

And now, a fun thing:

We work in an old farmhouse. Slowly but surely, the antique windows and doors are being replaced. Our former front door would swell like crazy when it rained or was humid in the least, and a few days ago, our door was replaced with a shiny new one that looks just like the old!

Well.

Today, it's raining.

...THROUGH the new door.

Good times, folks.

You still have time to volunteer!

Did someone tell the world it can't be above freezing anymore? I thought we were going to get away with a balmy Thanksgiving!

The Office has been bustling and students are still doing great work, despite the pressures of impending finals!

We have a lot of new opportunities this week!


*Have a hand in cultural revival*
Fur Cultural Revival helps Sudanese immigrants navigate Portland, broaden the public's awareness of the Darfur genocide and preserve the cultural heritage of the Fur tribe. They need support in their office on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays as well as assistance with web design. For more information please contact Alicia Sampson at asampson@usm.maine.edu or 228-8092.

*Get Civic on the Back Cove*
Portland Trails is building a big greenway in Portland's Bayside neighborhood. They need input on their design, and they are seeking the input via a Public Comment forum. The day will include a trail walk, design presentation, a mapping exercise, and group work to sketch ideas. Refreshments will be provided following the trail walk. It's a great chance to shape how we use our city. The public comment forum is Saturday, November 22nd from 2:00 to 3:45pm at Zero Station, 222 Anderson Street. See the current design! Contact communtiy@usm.maine.edu for more info.

*Take a break from your level 80 Druid*
Portland Career Center and Sanford/Springvale CareerCenter (for those of you in that area) need some help with individuals coming in who do not have enough computer literacy to even use a mouse or fill out an online job application. So, give that avatar a break and help somebody
get a job and enter our modern computer world! Please contact Senja St. John at meartworks@yahoo.com, and remember to report those hours!

*Dance with STRIVE*
STRIVE would like to see students of USM volunteer any Friday evening
in South Portland 6-9pm for the weekly social and dance for 15-24 year olds with developmental and emotional disabilities. Please contact Courtney.e.babbidge@maine.edu for more information!

*Dinner at the Ronald McDonald House*
Monday, November 24th, Amanda will be headed over to the http://rmhportland.org/ at 4:30 to make a meal for the guests of the House. Please email her at avickerson@usm.maine.edu if you want to join!

*At Home In Maine Opens*
The Maine State Museum is celebrating the opening of a new exhibit titled "At Home In Maine." This exhibit is one of the largest created in the museum's history! The exhibit shows a cross-section of life from the 1800s to the 1960s through sights, sounds, and interactive displays. Go check out the summer kitchen, watch home movies in a 1960s living room, read about canning vegetables, and LEARN! For more info, email avickerson@usm.maine.edu.


Remember that this is only a brief view of what's going on in the Greater Portland area. Sites like VolunteerMatch and VolunteerMaine are great resources if you're looking for a place to give some time during this holiday season!

In fact, USM's Interfaith Office is sponsoring an Alternative Gift Fair in which students can give their time to some of our valued community partners. If you'd like more info, please email them at interfaith@usm.maine.edu. There will be a Holiday Celebration and Meal on Wednesday, December 10th. Come join the USM community during this time of festivities!

That's it for this week! Our next update will likely be in DECEMBER! EGADS!

Stay warm and have a lovely harvest feast!
Amanda

Ok, ok: For real.

Hey November.

You kinda snuck up on me, there. That's not very nice. Now you're telling me that Thanksgiving is right around the corner? Harsh, dude.

We have a lot of events soon! This is mostly copied from This Week In Service. Please excuse the redundancy.

H4H Giving Spree TOMORROW

Blood Drive

Volunteer at Riverton

Catholic Charities Maine

Wrapping Booth

Ring Some Bells

Multicultural Mentoring

Arsenic and Old Lace? Tea, anyone?

Habitat for Humanity Giving Spreeeee!

TOMORROW, November 15th.

Here’s how it works: people donate $5 to Habitat for Humanity and receive exclusive coupon booklets for the mall for the day. Here’s where you come in: Habitat needs you to sell the booklets of coupons. They’re looking for people for two hour shifts. For more info or to join in on the fun contact Rachel Putnam at rachel.a.putnam@maine.edu.

Red Cross is sponsoring a blood drive at USM on December 1st!

Want to volunteer or give blood?

Contact Courtney.e.babbidge@maine.edu to get involved!

Riverton Park Study Center needs YOU!

We are looking for a few USM students to help with homework once a week. If you like kids and/or homework (who doesn't, come on?), please let Mike know: mwilson@usm.maine.edu.

Connect with Refugees!

Catholic Charities Maine serves the refugee population of Greater Portland. Volunteer opportunities include working one-on-one with a single client helping them re-settle or providing one time service for several clients such as providing transportation to an appointment. Apply to be a volunteer today! For more information contact

asampson@usm.maine.edu.

It's time to get down and WRAP.

Habitat for Humanity and PROP are sponsoring a wrapping booth at the Mall this winter! If folding crisp edges and applying bows is your thing, contact rachel.a.putnam@miane.edu.

Ring-a-ling and Gobble.. eep.

The Salvation Army needs volunteers for not only bell-ringers, but also for packaging holiday baskets for families in the Greater Portland Area. Apply at the Salvation Army on Cumberland Ave in Portland across from Portland High School or email courtney.e.babbidge@maine.edu.

Did you know USM has a Multicultural Peer Mentoring program?

Yes, we do! Come talk with other students about the challenges faced by multicultural students. Give an hour a week to support fellow USM students in their transition to the collegiate environment. Contact Alicia at asampson@usm.maine.edu or 228-8092.

The Underground Ladies' Tea & Arsenic Society

There is a cool new group on campus that sips tea and has intense personal, political, and fabulous discussions on a wide array of topics! Whether it's beading and body image, knitting and the workplace, or origami and elections, it's always a great opportunity to relax and chat with smart people about social issues! The next meeting is Wednesday, November 19th at noon. Meetings are in the Woodbury Campus Center. All are welcome!

That's it, folks.

Upcoming events:

USM’s annual DRAG SHOW is next Friday, the 21^st!

Dinner at the Ronald McDonald House on Monday, the 24^th.

US Thanksgiving Thursday, the 27^th.

DECEMBER IS RIGHT AROUND THE BEND!

Let’s hope I don’t go off the deep end before then.

Butternut love,

Amanda

Winter's a-comin'!

Happy Halloween!

We have had a busy time of it these past few weeks! The VISTAs were at a training at Rockcraft lodge in Sebago, Maine; people became aware of the Acholi plight; houses were winterized; dinner was cooked at Ronald McDonald House; and everybody made it out smiling!

Election day is coming QUICKLY, and the Office encourages you to get out and vote: Come on people, shake your booty, vote and do your civic duty! If you need to find your polling place, Google has an awesome tool!

No matter what you believe, this week has a lot of celebrations happening. I hope you were able to enjoy one of the many festivites!

Welcome, November!

Amanda

Harvest on the Harbor!

Hello, Fall-Loving people!

Harvest on the Harbor is having its FIRST wine and food tasting here in Portland! This Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Portland is hosting this event at Portland's new Ocean Gateway on Commercial Street in the Old Port!

They are looking for last-minute volunteers for a Saturday shift from 1-5:30. You would be pouring wine, taking tickets, handing out programs or selling water to guests.

Benefits include tickets to a future event, and free early admission on Saturday OR free tickets to one of the many food lectures being given on Friday! This is a HUGE event; over 4000 people are expected to attend!

All interested volunteers must be 21+ and personable!

If you are interested, please write avickerson@usm.maine.edu NO LATER than 9PM Wednesday.

Happy foliage!
Amanda

Top o' the Thursday to ya

Hey blog friends,

This week is a crazy week! Fall break + Fall Fest = whoa.

Since we had such a short week, we decided to back off a bit. We have some big things coming up at the end of the month, which I described last post: Acholi Awareness, Dress for Success, PRYSM, voting, Winterization, and more!

It's almost time to do dinner at the Ronald McDonald House again!
Monday, October 27th, I'll be headed over there around 4 to make a meal for the guests staying there. Please email if you want to join!

I hope that this weekend's beautiful weather was as splendid for you as it was for me!

Peace out,
Amanda

HEYO!

It's October, it's beautiful, and we have opportunities!

Acholi Awareness 2008
Help Us Help Women

Fall Clean-Up
Winterization Kits
Equality Maine Poll Help

Mentor Opportunity with PRYSM

Ongoing Opportunities

Acholi Awareness

Join us the last week of October to raise awareness of the plight of the Acholi people in Northern Uganda, Southern Sudan, and around the world. Documentary flims, a walk around the Bay and a Cultural Fair will all be happening this month! It looks like it will be a fantastically wonderful experience!

Help Us Help Women

Dress for Success of Southern Maine is sponsoring a clothing drive right here at USM! The mission of Dress for Success is to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support, and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

They are looking for gently worn work wear like suits and separates, blouses, shoes and accessories, winter dress coats, and ESPECIALLY clothes size 18 and up.

Contact LyndsayS@usm.maine.edu for more information!

Clothes must be in mint condition, on hangers, ready-to-wear, and no more than three years old. Please bring them to the Women’s Resource Center in Woodbury until October 17^th!

Fall Clean-Up

In conjunction with the Southern Maine Agency on Agency, we will be sending teams of students out into the Greater Portland area to rake leaves and do general yard clean-up for our elderly neighbors. If you have an afternoon to wield a rake and trash bag, please email us at community@usm.maine.edu!

Winterization Kits

On October 24^th, USM is partnering with United Way of Greater Portland to install winterization kits in the community. We will be sending three teams into the homes of community members who need help getting their homes ready for winter. Please email us if you want to be on one of the teams!

EqualityMaine

EqualityMaine is looking for volunteers to help protect equal rights in Maine. They would love it if you could donate four hours on election day! A record number of voters is expected at the polls this fall, and EqualityMaine is taking advantage of this unprecedented opportunity to talk with Maine voters about equality. They have set an ambitious goal: identify 10,000 pro-equality voters, so we can move into 2009 with a powerful base of support.

If this strikes your fancy, email sparker-holmes@usm.maine.edu!

Mentor Opportunity with PRYSM

PRYSM provides a safe and positive space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and allied (LGBTQA) young people that offers social support, leadership development and community education. Volunteer opportunities include being an adult advisor to youth, advisory committee participation, and more! Please email Amanda for more information: avickerson@usm.maine.edu

Ongoing Opportunities

We’re always looking for mentors and tutors! If you missed our two info sessions this week, don’t hesitate to contact me! avickerson@usm.maine.edu

Civic Leadership Series

The Civic Leadership Series happens every week on both campuses, and we help students learn more effective ways of communicating, recruiting, and maintaining their projects. If you are a student leader of ANY kind, you are welcome to attend our sessions!

Our next session is the week of the 20^th and will be on Planning Projects and Running Meetings. We will have Bill Vickerson, Dale Carnegie instructor and attorney, as a guest speaker!

That’s all for this week! Wee!

Enjoy this glorious weather!

Amanda

Mentoring info sessions!

WE ARE HAVING TWO EVENTS NEXT WEEK!

There will be a mentor orientation for those of you who would like to work in the Gorham Schools next MONDAY, October 6th.
It will be at Gorham Middle School, and we will be meeting at 6pm (we will have pizza, worry not!)
Please come to that if you're interested in the tutoring opportunity at Gorham High School.

For all other interested mentors and tutors, there will be another, less formal info session WEDNESDAY, October 8th at 5:30 in the Husky Hut! Come for pizza and to chat me up about our available programs!

Come be a Big Brother/Big Sister, work with STRIVE, or within the Portland and Gorham school systems!

Hope to see you there!
Amanda

Let's Make Things Happen!

HELLOOOO!

Fall is here, and it’s time to get involved!

• Coastal Clean-Up
• Mentoring: Spotlight on STRIVE U and Reiche
• Tutoring
• Free Press article
• Dinner at Ronald McDonald House
  

The Coastal Clean-Up is THIS SATURDAY from 1-5pm at Higgins Beach in Scarborough. We’re going to collect and catalog trash so that the environmental group can see what’s being thrown where!

We still have room available, so contact community@usm.maine.edu if you want to join!

We are ALWAYS looking for mentors!

I know I wrote about it before, but I want to highlight two special mentoring programs:

STRIVE U is a program for emotionally and physically disabled 15-24 year olds. They are looking for mentors to come hang out with their students a few hours a week. This extra time commitment is spent usually doing an hour of schoolwork and then an hour of fun! Students love to play board games or basketball, or just talk to you! The students at STRIVE U are mainstreamed as much as possible, but sometimes they just want to connect with kids their own age. If you can't commit to mentoring, they have social events every Friday night and are always looking for volunteers to come hang out!

Reiche School on Brackett Street in Portland has an innovative mentoring program that needs students! This after-school program puts mentors with small groups of Reiche students at a time. Over the weeks, the kids form a strong bond with their mentor while they do homework, play games, or other activities. This program has a unique teaching opportunity: mentors are encouraged to teach a short lesson on something fun, like doing yoga, knitting, or cooking! The Reiche program is a branch of the SAFE & SMART program, which focuses on educating kids about whole health.

If you think either of these (or any of our) mentoring programs sound interesting, please let me know!
avickerson@usm.maine.edu, 780-4537

Tutoring!

We have an after-school study session set up at both Portland and Gorham High School. These sessions are staffed by a teacher, some peer helpers from the school, and USM students. The Portland program is run through the Portland Mentoring Alliance, and the Gorham program is the brainchild of Joe Cerny, one of our AmeriCorps Service Leaders!
If you’d like to spend an hour or two a week in a low-key tutoring environment, please let me know!
avickerson@usm.maine.edu, 780-4537

Read about us in the Free Press!

Our very own Alicia Sampson wrote an article in the Free Press about getting involved with the local community. It hits stands next week, so keep your eyes open!

Dinner at Ronald McDonald House

The last Monday of every month is our night to cook dinner at the Ronald McDonald House on Brackett Street in Portland. We need a few students to commit an hour or two to preparing a dinner that will be served buffet style around 6pm. This a really easy way to get involved at a great place, and I encourage you to contact me if you'd like to join me!
I'll be going this coming Monday, September 29th, around 4:30pm.

I hope that one or more of these activities will inspire you to get involved! We can’t do it without you!
See you soon,
Amanda

KickOffs, Leadership, and Mentoring!

Hellooo!

The Community Service Kick Off went well! We had some dedicated volunteers who helped us build, clean, serve, and cook! We hope that next year, it can be even bigger and better!

Coming up next:
Our Civic Leadership Series!
With this series of leadership trainings, we will be offering practical skills for effective leadership, with the intent of gaining a deeper understanding of the role of what it means to be a citizen leader at USM and in Southern Maine.

We will be offering workshops in Portland and Gorham that fall into two tracks. The USM track is for current or aspiring student group leaders; the Community Partnership track is for students engaged in community work in greater Portland. There is a certificate upon completion of either track.

We really hope that this series will be helpful for you to learn how to be a great leader. It will be hosted by the three VISTAs of our office and the advisor for PIRG, Carrie Shepard.

We’re going to offer it once a week on both campuses:
Gorham Trainings: 7:00 PM Wednesdays in the Husky Hut
Portland Trainings: 1:30 PM Thursdays Luther Bonney 503

If you are interested in participating, please shoot us an email!


We are also in full swing of recruiting mentors for this year!

We currently have mentorships in every Portland elementary school, almost all the Portland middle schools, and Portland and Deering High. In Gorham, we have partnerships at the middle school and the high school. Additionally, we have mentors at Greely Middle School, the Kaler Elementary School in South Portland, and the Saccarappa Primary School in Westbrook.


If you want to be a mentor, please let me know! (avickerson@usm.maine.edu)
It’s an hour a week and will make a HUGE difference in a kid’s life!
I have a pre-application ready to email you ASAP, and we always need mentors!

I hope to see you soon!
:)
Amanda

Events and tshirts!

Hi all!

We wanted to share with you the new design for our tshirts! Created by our very own Alicia Sampson, it reflects our core values AND the Portland skyline!



Put it on your calendars:
The Community Service Kick-Off is Friday, September 5th.
At 9am, we have two options:
Helping Spiral Arts clean out their space OR heading over to our Habitat for Humanity House.
At lunchtime, there is an opportunity to serve a meal at the Wayside Soup Kitchen.
For evening/dinner time, the Ronald McDonald House has invited us to be Guest Chefs!

If you are interested in ANY of these opportunities, PLEASE let us know!

Enjoy the rest of your summer and see you soon! :)

-Amanda

A Biological Sketch of Alicia Sampson, New Vista at CS&CE

Hello USM! My name is Alicia Ines Sampson and I joined the office of Community Service and Civic Engagement this July! I intend to use this first blog to introduce myself to the USM Community!

Since my junior year of high school I have been working in environments, which foster creativity and independence in kids. I have worked as junior and senior counselor at summer camps for four years. Last year while attending a graduate program in Cultural Anthropology at SUNY University at Buffalo, I worked as an after school counselor with ages K-6 at the JCC of Greater Buffalo.

At an early age I came to love soccer. Soccer became an extremely important part of my life. From age 6 to 18 I was dedicated to the sport and to my teammates. For seven years I played soccer at a highly competitive level (college, national and international). Through soccer I learned how to communicate, cooperate and lead.

During my undergraduate years I explored my passion for art by enrolling in painting and drawing courses at the Art Students League in New York City and the Newark Museum in New Jersey.

Midway through my sophomore year at Montclair State University (New Jersey) I went to Costa Rica and volunteered with the organization i-to-i. Here I learned about the environment while working for two months in four ecologically diverse national parks. At Volcan Tennorio, near the boarder of Nicaragua, I tracked animals in the rainforest. On the Nicoya Pennisula at playa Cocolito I worked hard for several weeks maintaining the pristine beaches, walking up and down the coast picking up trash that washed ashore, and encouraging visitors to only leave their foot prints in the sand. In another project at a sea turtle station I tended to the nests, helped develop local involvement and patrolled the beaches to protect the nests from poachers, . Later during my stay I worked at an orphanage near the capital city of San Jose. I was responsible for helping the children with homework, organizing soccer tournaments, and nurturing their artistic abilities.

As a junior my fascination for Latin American cultures along with a desire to explore my ancestral roots led me to set out to Buenos Aires, Argentina to complete my minor in Latin American/Latino Studies at Universidad Belgrano.

At the American Museum of Natural History in New York City I was a volunteer docent. I gave talks to elementary school children on the Eastern woodland Indians. Several months later I worked as an intern in the Division of Anthropology on a project with Meso-American pottery, where I became familiar with their intricate designs and formal qualities.

More recently I have formed an arts, music, and film enterprise called Otter Productions with 12 of my closest friends. In June of 2007 we presented our skecth comedy show Dr. Anonymous to an audience of 200 people in Greenwich CT, we’ve been awarded special mention by the National Film challenge in 2005 for our short film The Government Man, we also have recorded five albums of original music and hope to produce our sixth later this August. I am currently living at the height of the arts district in Portland’s West End neighborhood where I continue to nurture the relationship between community and the arts! One project I am involved in is the Tower of Song a monthly (first Friday of the month) live performance from the Top Floor of the old Congress Square Hotel. Local musicians are invited to play a 3-5 song live set that will be projected to the masses below- creating an impromptu soundtrack for the streets of Portland.

As an undergraduate Cultural Anthropology Major, I was enrolled in the service-learning course Contemporary and Practical Anthropology. This course required me to actively participate in community-based project that addressed community identified needs. I selected to volunteer at the Montclair Inn, an assisted living residence. At the Montclair Inn, I was an Activities Coordinator. My duties involved organizing event such as poetry readings, current event discussion groups, art projects and gardening. Most importantly, I became a friend to several of the residents. My willingness to listen to their stories or concerns was genuinely valued. Hearing about the difficulties that these elderly residents faced fostered a newfound sense of citizenship within me. This course not only connected my coursework to real world issues but also deepened my understanding of the importance of political involvement, civic responsibility and activism.

As an anthropologist I recognize the uniqueness and validity of every cultural group. By increasing cultural awareness and appreciation of cultural diversity, anthropology teaches people to recognize that regardless of differences we share the same basic humanity. It is my hope that culturally relevant education can promote the value of other worldviews and other ways of living. I am eager to work with USM students interested in community service, develop community service events, as well as work with multicultural communities both on and off campus!

Please feel free to contact me to express interest in the programming offered by our office and/or to discuss new project ideas!

Cheers!

Alicia Ines Sampson
AmeriCorps VISTA
Office of Community Service & Civic Engagement
228-8092
asampson@usm.maine.edu

Helloooo USM!

Hi all!

I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself! My name is Amanda Vickerson, and I am one of three AmeriCorps VISTAs at the Office of Community Service and Civic Engagement this year.

I am a native Mainer; I grew up in Scarborough and graduated from SHS in 2003. After that, I decided to stay in Maine for my education and attended Colby College in Waterville. I graduated with a BA in Women’s, Gender & Sexuality studies and a minor in Education. During my time at Colby, I became really interested in service learning and civic engagement. I think it’s really important to be active in the community in which your school resides, and thus, I was an assistant teacher at a local elementary school for three years. I was able to get involved on a really personal level through direct service learning, and I loved it!

After college, I decided to follow a lot of my friends down to the “big city” of Boston. It turned out that Boston was too large and impersonal, and so I decided to return home to Maine. The AmeriCorps VISTA program is a great option for me because it allows me to jump right into a position and start learning as I go! We might be a small office, but with so much enthusiasm, I think we should be able to get things up and running like USM has never seen before!

At USM, I plan to revisit the mentoring program to see how it can be more cohesive and successful. There is already a huge demand for mentoring, so I hope to streamline that process by expanding our partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Maine.

If you want to become a mentor, shoot me an email at avickerson@usm.maine.edu, Facebook me, call me at 780-4537, or just stop by the office!

I’m looking forward to the coming year and I hope to get everyone as excited about volunteering as I am!

Come say hi! :)

Amanda

We're very excited!

Starting up this blog is a way for us to hear from students (and others!) about their community service experiences--and a way for everyone's voices to be heard. What else is blogging for? We're looking forward to seeing people's stories. It's Blogspot, so if you have a blogspot or gmail account you can post to it--and if you don't it's easy to join. The most recent post will be on the front page of our website for the world to see. Whatever else is true, community service makes for great stories. Share them!