More than 500 AmeriCorps volunteers from Energy Express will begin a summer of service in West Virginia with an official swearing-in ceremony this week in Charleston and Morgantown. Thousands of children will be served through the free eight-week, summer reading and nutrition program for children living in West Virginia’s rural and low-income communities.
"This summer we are thrilled to have over 80 Energy Express sites throughout West Virginia, serving over 3,000 children," said Susan Gamble, a representative of WVU Extension. "This would not be possible without AmeriCorps. In the eyes of the children we serve, these AmeriCorps mentors are superheroes."
Energy Express, a program of WVU Extension, is the largest summer AmeriCorps program in the nation, with over 500 AmeriCorps volunteers serving as mentors in the program. In exchange for a summer of service, AmeriCorps volunteers receive a living allowance and Segal Education Award to pay for college or payback student loans.
Through Energy Express, children gain or maintain reading levels during summer months through creative, colorful, and captivating uses of art, drama and vocabulary. The program also provides children with two nutritious meals each day during the program, helping to ensure West Virginia youth are fed, even after the school year comes to an end.
AmeriCorps volunteers with Energy Express will be sworn in to a summer of service in Charleston at the Beni Kedem Temple today (June 11) at 11 a.m., and in Morgantown at University High School Tuesday (June 12) at 11a.m.
Energy Express is made possible with support from West Virginia University, West Virginia University Extension Services, the West Virginia Department of Education, the Appalachian Regional Commission, various Community Foundations and Volunteer West Virginia, the State’s Commission for National and Community Service. Volunteer West Virginia awards funding for operation of the state’s AmeriCorps programs which mobilize more than 1,100 AmeriCorps volunteers each year throughout the state.
For more information, visit this website or call 304.293.3855.