Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Knox Co. Annual E-Cycling Event

On Saturday, January 12th Knox County will be hosting its annual E-Waste Recycling Event from 8:30am-4pm and has invited AmeriCorps Alums, Knoxville to participate.
If you would be interested in contributing your time to kickoff the new year with a fun service event, please shoot me an email with the following information.

Name   Email  Phone Number and Shift Preference (8:30am-4pm, 8:30am-12pm, 12pm-4pm)

AmeriCorps Alums events don't require that you be an Alum to participate so if you want to bring  your friends or family you are perfectly welcome, although for this event I imagine limiting it to children of some maturity (say 15+) would likely be preferable.

Please let me know, Current Corps member Abby is working to get this coordinated and would appreciate having this info as soon as possible.









To see the flyer for the event, click here.
Everyone have a happy holiday season if I don't speak with ya'll before then.


-Jason

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

The Fantasty of Trees

This Friday, AmeriCorps Alums will converge upon The Fantasy of Trees helping with setup for the event.  The Fantasy of Trees benefits the East Tennessee Children's Hospital and we look forward to committing our Friday evening to this worth while effort.

About The Fantasy of Trees:
The Fantasy of Trees has been a holiday tradition in East Tennessee since 1985. In 2012, the 28th annual event will showcase a theme of "The 12 Days of Christmas," highlighted with whimsical decorations and designs that celebrate the lyrics of the famous holiday song, from the seven swans a-swimming to the five golden rings, and yes, even to the partridge in a pear tree.
 

About East Tennessee Children's Hospital:
Since opening its doors in 1937, Children’s Hospital has changed and grown tremendously. It had humble beginnings as a small hospital for children with polio. Today, Children’s is a Comprehensive Regional Pediatric Center offering a wide range of pediatric health care services.

Hope to see everyone out there!

Any questions, please contact AmeriCorps Alums, Knoxville.

We are also in the process of planning our November planning meeting for our Core Planning Group that will hopefully occur early next week.  Reflection on The Fantasy of Trees and a leadership update are coming soon.


Monday, October 15, 2012

AmeriCorps Members Getting Things Done at Town of Farragut, Waste Audit

Members of the CAC AmeriCorps program with Knox County Solid Waste & Town of Farragut Stormwater Matters worked with the Town of Farragut's Office of Sustainability to execute a waste audit.  What is sustainability?  What is a waste audit?  Check out the video to find out and see how AmeriCorps helped get things done!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Hunger Stopped, Brains Eaten.

Thank you to our Alums who spent their day participating in the "Stop Hunger, Eat Brains!" double header service/social events. In the morning a cumulative 6 hours and 40 minutes were spent sorting and labeling food materials at Second Havest Food Bank of East TN. Approximately 756 cans were sorted and labeled. To top it off, Alums took part in the 2012 Knoxville Zombie walk bringing their own canned donations to the event!

What a unique event! If you'd like to hop on our mailing list just send a message saying so to knoxville@americorpsalums.org.


AmeriCorps Alums at Second Harvest Food Bank of East TN


AmeriCorps Alums W/ Food Donations at the Zombie Walk



Thursday, September 27, 2012

Service Event - "Stop Hunger, Eat Brains!" Saturday, October 13th 2012

 
 
AmeriCorps Alums, Knoxville will be holding a day of service on Saturday, October 13th 2012 where we will be working with Second Harvest Food Bank in Maryville for the first part of the day and then participating in a canned food drive/Zombie walk. This will be a fantastic opportunity to serve as well as have an awesome fun time, Hope to see you there! =) See the schedule and details below:

- - Act I. Sorting the Dead & Packing Heat - -
We will meet at 8:45am at Second Harvest Food Bank in Maryville, TN.
From 9am - Noon we will be sorting and packaging food for distribution to the hungry in our region. Second Harvest Food bank is located at 136 Harvest Lane Maryville, TN 37801.

- - Act II. Stop Hunger, Eat Brains - -
We will meet in costume at 3:!5pm at the stage in Market Square, Downtown Knoxville. This event is collecting canned goods for Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries.
PLEASE BRING AS MANY CANNED GOODS AS YOU CAN SPARE!
The walk will start at 3:30pm and will take the zombie horde through a short walk all around Downtown Knoxville. This will make for excellent photos. I hope to see a couple AmeriZombies =)
For more information on the Zombie Walk, visit the Zombie Walk 2012 event page here:
http://www.facebook.com/events/278050735632897/?ref=ts

BRING YOUR FRIENDS, BRING YOUR FAMILY! EVERYONE IS INVITED TO SERVE AND DONATE CANNED FOOD ITEMS!
 
If you don't mind, it would also be great if you could RSVP with me at knoxville@americorpsalums.org.  Not necessary, but greatly appreciated.

Friday, August 10, 2012

August Planning Meeting

Whoaboy!
I kind of got behind on this and for that I apologize.
I want to remind folks that today is our Monthly AmeriCorps Alums planning meeting to be held at Barley's at 7:30pm tonight.  We will be inviting the 40 person CAC Corps that started on Monday of this week and will thus be offering several free Pizzas and Apps.  Hope to see you there.

Agenda is HERE.

Aaaand.. Congratulations to the new class of CAC AmeriCorps Members for completing your first week and getting through orientation.  You are starting on a journey that will extend far beyond this year of service and I congratulate you on taking your first step.





Friday, July 20, 2012

Go Goat Or Go Home!

As my old NCCC team, Fire II, used to say. "Go Goat or Go Home!" which is comparable to "Getting things done" or "Get 'er Dun" or "Go Big or Go Home!" or.. well, you get the idea and on July 14th, 2012 that is exactly what 10 dedicated AmeriCorps Alums did kicking off the Knoxville Chapter's first ever service event.  20+ hours of service later and over 200lbs of waste removed from Goose Creek, AmeriCorps Alums dove into service in a big way and we are looking forward to building on this momentum.





Friday, July 13, 2012

Rain or Shine, Mary Vestal Cleanup Is On Like Donkey Kong!

Tomorrow there is a 50% chance of rain particularly moving into the afternoon.  Because of the recent rain surge, it is possible that traversing the stream may not be possible for safety reasons.  That said, it is our intent to hold the event tomorrow and do a cleanup in the aquatic buffer, and throughout Mary Vestal park in the case that the stream is not navigable.  I encourage ya'll to come out rain or shine at least for a little bit.  Make sure to bring your rain gear and lets get things done. =)   Go Goat or Go Home as my old NCCC team used to say. 

We will be doing cleanup work in and/or around the stream and possibly throughout the park depending on ambition with a trash inventory.
AND
Conducting a stream walk/visual assessment of the stream.

Gloves, waders, vests, grabbers, water, etc. will be provided.  Everyone who attends will get a super awesome surprise  ^_^ 

Thank you everyone,
Sara and I Hope to see you there!


Friday, June 29, 2012

Congrats CAC AmeriCorps Graduates 2012!

Congratulations to this year's graduating group of CAC AmeriCorps Service Members who now join the AmeriCorps Alums family.  Whatever you man now do, and wherever you may now go, you are forever part of something bigger than yourselves.   You gave a year of your life to service and to east Tennessee and in return you have become the embodiment of the principles that originally inspired you to serve.  Through action comes realization and on behalf of the Knoxville Chapter of AmeriCorps Alums, I wish you the best and hope that your service is rewarded with a sense of fulfillment and personal and professional opportunity.

Aaaand if you happen to be sticking around the Knoxville Area, know that you are always welcome to AmeriCorps Alums gatherings, events and opportunities.

-Jason Scott, President, AmeriCorps Alums Knoxville

Photo credit: Joshua Cunningham

Thursday, June 21, 2012

First Ever AmeriCorps Alums, Knoxville Chapter Service Event!




Where: Mary Vestal Park in South Knoxville
What Time: 9am - 11am
What Day: July 14th, 2012
What are we doing: Adopt-A-Stream Cleanup! AmeriCorps Alums Knoxville has adopted a section of Goose Creek that runs through Mary Vestal Park and we are going to clean it up and have a good 'ol time doing it.  There will be opportunities to also do a pipe inventory and a visual assessment for those with the interest.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Water Quality Forum Sponsorship



Thank you to the Water Quality Forum for awarding the Knoxville Chapter of AmeriCorps Alums a $500 grant to purchase visibility / outreach based materials.  The Water Quality Forum has supported local AmeriCorps efforts through the AmeriCorps Water Quality Team for over 10 years and support of the AmeriCorps Alums group here in Knoxville shows a commitment to Service Members beyond their year of service.  Thank you to the Water Quality Forum.  Thus far we have secured the following:

1 domain name, AmeriCorpsAlumsKnoxville.Org for 2 years.
1 tabletop display w/ case for outreach opportunities.
200 2"x6" AmeriCorps Alums Knoxville stickers for distribution.
1 High Intensity Reflective Aluminum Sign, 12" x 18"
1,000 Business Cards

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Look, a centralized location for all things AmeriCorps Alums Knoxville to live for the convenience of our membership.  More coming soon, please hang in there.