News
WC to Oversee Nine AmeriCorps*VISTA Community Volunteers
President Obama Makes Commitment to Service
May 1, 2009
It will go a long way in funding the local Grow Food, Grow Hope, which has a goal of putting fresh food on the tables of Clinton County residents during their time of need.
Grow Food, Grow Hope is a community gardens project initiated by Wilmington College for Wilmington and Clinton County. The goal of the project is to use local agricultural resources to address community needs resulting from the current economic crisis. Its central purpose is to increase the capacity of our citizens to provide food for their families. Toward that end, the Community Gardens Project will create a network of community food producers who can supply food to those in need and to local markets.
The College has received more than $159,000 in federal stimulus funds from the AmeriCorps VISTA program to support nine new VISTA volunteers who will work with a coalition of community leaders to pursue two primary objectives:
1. To generate a renewed interest in small plot and backyard gardening through education and community outreach.
2. To improve access of all community members to adequate, affordable and nutritious food.
The centerpiece of the project is a series of 20 4-by-12 foot small plot gardens on College land. The purpose of the gardens is to teach preselected families and individuals how to grow their own vegetables and supplement their food needs. Seeds, seedlings, tools and assistance are provided. The number of gardens will be expanded to 40 next year.
Other components of the project include producing vegetables on College farmland for donation to local food pantries, working with community leaders to start a year around farmers market, working with Sugartree Market Ministry, promoting backyard gardening and an edible landscaping project around public buildings, creating a growers co-op, supporting the “Buy Local First Clinton County” campaign, offering youth outreach activities, and conducting an experimental project based on the concept of community supported agriculture.
The centerpiece of the VISTA project will be a series of 20 4-by-12 foot plots on College land that will be used by pre-selected families and individuals to grow vegetables this summer.
Other projects include the growing on College farmland of significant quantities of sweet corn, potatoes and tomatoes, all of which will be donated, and free demonstrations on how to grow a vegetable garden. In addition, an experimental project based on the concept of community-supported agriculture will be undertaken this year.
Also, WC is partnering with Energize Clinton County in its “Grow Local” and “Buy Local” campaigns and with Sugartree Ministries to fight poverty by improving access to adequate and nutritious food. Other initiatives include a year-round farmers market, a food co-op and youth outreach.
President Dan DiBiasio said that, while the College is receiving no direct financial benefit, it pursued the VISTA grant as part of its commitment to voluntary service and providing leadership in a community hard hit by the economic downturn and joblessness resulting from the DHL pullout. He noted that the project capitalizes “on two strong campus traditions”: agriculture and service.
“Service is one of the College’s core values; it has been important throughout our history and emanates from our Quaker heritage,” he said. “These nine new VISTA volunteers will provide an opportunity for the College to work with the community in many new and meaningful ways.”
DiBiasio praised the federal initiative to make national service programs a top priority of the White House and the Congress.
“This increased commitment at the federal level enables Wilmington College to expand what we have been doing for years in the areas of service and civic engagement,” he added.
In a White House statement, Obama said, “I call on all Americans to stand up and do what they can to serve their communities, shape our history and enrich both their own lives and the lives of others across the country.”
The grant funds eight VISTA volunteers and a VISTA team leader.
Tara Lydy, director of WC’s Center for Service and Civic Engagement, will oversee the VISTA team and coordinate the job responsibilities of the nine positions.
They include an administrative assistant/data collector and individual coordinators for agricultural entrepreneurship, programs surrounding the community supported agriculture initiative, a prospective food co-op and “Buy Local” campaign, public relations, youth outreach, community volunteer outreach and one for interfacing with the College.
In working under Lydy’s office, the VISTA team leader will supervise the various coordinators. The team leader must be a VISTA veteran with at least one year experience while the College is encouraging college graduates to apply for the coordinator positions.
“The United States is about to see an explosion of volunteer programs — and that’s exciting,” Lydy said, noting there will be 3,000 more VISTA volunteers “on the ground” in Ohio this year.
“All the dreams of past presidents are coming true — each year, service opportunities have gotten bigger and bigger.”
AmeriCorps is the federal government program that partners with non-profit organizations, public agencies and faith-based organizations. It was created under President Bill Clinton in 1993 and has been described as a “domestic Peace Corps.”
The College has had a VISTA volunteer on staff for the past seven years, and two this past year, both of whom are involved with WC’s service programs.
The College’s “VISTAs,” Anthony Staubach and Alyssa Benson, were secured through a grant received by the Ohio Campus Compact, a statewide non-profit coalition of 49 college and university campuses working to promote and develop the civic purposes of higher education.
In addition to monthly paychecks for a subsistence allowance, the nine new VISTA volunteers will receive health benefits from the federal government. Also, the College is seeking ways to help alleviate some of the volunteers’ housing and food expenses, including offering on-campus housing free-of-charge during the summer until they obtain more permanent quarters.
Also, Sodexo, WC’s food services provider, has offered to donate an alternative meal plan that would provide for a number of meals each week in the campus’ dining areas.
“Those are big benefits, and they are really important,” Lydy said, noting it represents further affirmation of the College’s commitment to the project.
Once the VISTA volunteers successfully complete their year in Wilmington, they will be eligible for an end-of-service stipend of $1,200 or an educational service award of $4,725 to pay qualified student loans or continue their education.
Lydy hopes to have the VISTA team selected by early May, as they are required to undergo pre-service orientation conducted by AmeriCorps before starting at their work sites. Ideally, most of the VISTAs will be in Wilmington by early summer.
A 1996 WC graduate who joined the College’s Student Life staff in 1998, Lydy said the service and civic engagement program has grown exponentially in a brief time — and the reality of having 11 VISTA volunteers on campus during the next academic year marks a major milestone.
Hers is essentially a one-person shop as far as WC employees.
“It’s almost shocking to me to see how fast we’ve grown,” she said. “This place functions because of committed students.”
Students, faculty and staff have logged 61,798 hours of voluntary service in the five years prior to March 1. That’s quite a total for a student body that numbers fewer than 1,200.
“We want to continue seeking out persons that haven’t been exposed to service,” she said. “I’m a firm believer if you give a person their first taste of service, they become hooked. Give someone a good volunteer experience and they’ll come back for more.”
Lydy is taking that philosophy outside the campus perimeter, as nine new volunteer leaders are about to make their marks on the Clinton County community.
Those interested in applying or learning more about the VISTA positions should contact Lydy at the College, (937) 382-6661 ext. 261.
