AmeriCorps members serve at Pass It Along

Newton — Currently, Pass It Along has four AmeriCorps members serving one-year terms as program associates. In their position as program associates, Derek Pivko, Erin Miller, Katie Madsen and Mindy Affriol have been active in the community by working on community service projects throughout Sussex County. They have served in various programs that are designed to help others while teaching teens about the needs that exist in their community and how by volunteering they can help to meet those needs. They have helped to foster a love for service in Pass It Along’s youth volunteers and have also helped to create and develop new programs that give youth volunteers the chance to make a difference and give back to their communities. As part of their service the four traveled to Atlanta, Ga. for a four day conference with other AmeriCorps members from across the country. During this conference they attended several workshops including an overnight experience at Global Village, where they lived in a simulated poverty village where they learned firsthand about poverty, built shelter in the Global Village Slum, collected water and made sure it was used properly for the people in the village during one of the coldest nights of the year. These AmeriCorps members then used their training to enhance their volunteer experience at Pass It Along. They have served in and managed programs including SCARC Art, Alternative Spring Break, Jack’s Kids, Y Mentoring, Youth Council, Serve-A-Thon, Family Volunteer Day, Youth Conference, Box City and Serve-A-Thon, just to name a few. This past year, 1,058 volunteers completed 24,529 hours of service in Pass It Along programs and events. Many of these programs were run by these hardworking AmeriCorps members. For more information about the AmeriCorps program you can visit www.americorps.gov. For more information regarding AmeriCorps positions at Pass It Along contact Kelly Bonventre at 973-726-9777 or at kelly@passitalong.org.