Green Bay Conservation Corps helps community members become "Mustard Busters" for Earth Day

Hoping to mobilize the community in Green Bay to support conservation efforts, the AmeriCorps members with the Green Bay Conservation Corps (GBCC) organized the Garlic Mustard Challenge for Earth Day 2024. The social media campaign and competition went from April 22 to April 29, empowering volunteers to become "mustard busters." Participants removed garlic mustard from five sites across the city, as it is a highly destructive invasive species initially brought over from Europe in the 1800s that threatens native ecosystems.

Community members were educated about invasive garlic mustard as part of the campaign and asked to remove it from Red Smith Park, Newberry Conservancy, Enos Colburn Park, He-Nis-Ra Park, and Westside Trail. Volunteers could find GBCC AmeriCorps members at the sites or post pictures of the garlic mustard they removed on social media with #GBMustardBusters2024 to be entered into a drawing for a gift basket.

Volunteers from numerous companies and organizations came out throughout the week to remove garlic mustard from the parks. On one of the days, the GBCC AmeriCorps members supported twenty-four participants who divided into three teams of eight to compete to remove as much as possible within an hour, picking over 200 pounds in less than sixty minutes.

MCHS Community Corps AmeriCorps members at

New Leaf Foods organize Earth Day project to install community orchard to provide free produce

Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS) Community Corps AmeriCorps members LuTia Colbert and Braedon Richlen helped plan and coordinate an Earth Day project as part of their service at New Leaf Foods in Green Bay. In addition to helping coordinate the installation, they spread awareness on behalf of New Leaf Foods, helping to gain sponsors and donors to support the project and similar efforts.

Volunteers at New Leaf Foods joined instructors and students from New Leaf Prep Academy on Earth Day this April 22 to install a community orchard on the school grounds. This effort is part of New Leaf Foods’ Community Orchards Project, which has funded and installed public fruit and nut trees and bushes to make fresh produce free and available for local residents.

As part of the effort, students, teachers, and New Leaf Foods collaborated to plant apple, pear, cherry, plum, and peach trees, and berry bushes, asparagus, and helpful pollinator plants. They helped dig holes, plant the seeds, fill them with dirt, water the new plants, and erect fences to keep out wildlife.

New Leaf Foods has previously added orchards at Chappell Elementary, Red Smith K-8 School, Edison and Lombardi Middle Schools, and Southwest High School last year. This year, the organization is installing orchards at Jackson Elementary, Green Bay East High School, New Leaf Prep Academy, Voyageur Park, and Braisher Park. The installations are expected to be completed by the middle of May. Because of the service of the MCHS Community Corps AmeriCorps members at New Leaf Foods, the community can enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables at no cost.

Milwaukee Christian Center YouthBuild helps clean up neighborhood on Earth Day as part of Big Clean MKE 2024

Hoping to help make a difference in their local community on Earth Day, the AmeriCorps members and program staff with Milwaukee Christian Center (MCC) YouthBuild joined in the community cleanup organized by Muskego Way Forward on April 22. They joined the three-hour cleanup, which was part of the larger citywide Big Clean MKE 2024, to assist in their local area.

"A lot of our members are Milwaukee residents, and so I think it’s really important to have an aspect of service within what they're doing," said MCC YouthBuild program director Maya Marion. She reflected that this service on Earth Day helped the participants to “just take a moment to think about your community and about the space that you live in and contribute to society in a greater way."

Media Coverage of Earth Day Project featuring interviews with MCC YouthBuild

• WTMJ-TV - Residents gather to clean up Milwaukee on Earth Day

PASS AmeriCorps and Schools of Hope members participate in Earth Day project at Troy Farm

To give back to their local community for Earth Day, AmeriCorps members and staff from Partners for After School Success (PASS) and Schools of Hope participated in a service project at Troy Farm, which is a vegetable production and education project of Rooted in Madison. They were joined that morning by some of Serve Wisconsin’s staff members to move and spread compost to prepare one of their fields for planting. In addition to spreading compost, some participants helped prepare seedlings for growth and planting in the future.

Marshfield Clinic Recovery Corps present on AmeriCorps service during National Public Health Week webinar

As part of the celebration of National Public Health Week during the first week of April, Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS) Recovery Corps helped lead a nationwide webinar organized by the American Public Health Association. MCHS Recovery Corps AmeriCorps member Jennifer Podeweltz and program director Meagan Barnett were featured speakers one the session entitled Innovative Workforce Solutions: Lessons Learned from Public Health AmeriCorps.

They discussed how the program’s AmeriCorps members serve as recovery coaches assisting individuals with substance abuse disorders, often drawing upon their own personal experiences. Megan Barnett reflected on this, explaining that “having someone from the community who understands those unique features and barriers is really important. Lived experience is really valuable because you are helping other people go along that journey."

Jennifer and Meagan shared about their experience in the webinar, which focused on best practices in recruiting, training and nurturing early-career public health professionals from Public Health AmeriCorps. With public health facing a workforce crisis, the webinar discussed ways to help grow local talent and build pathways for community members to join the field of public health and become critical, trusted messengers for their community.

Jennifer explained that “when I came into my position, I didn't have any experience in public health. If you have a passion for helping people, they (Public Health AmeriCorps). can get you there.” She reflected on her overall experience, saying “on top of the experiences of working with peers, it's working with other coaches and learning from them. It's amazing to see the transformation in myself in the past two years.”

Webinar Recording: Innovative Workforce Solutions: Lessons learned from Public Health AmeriCorps.

Serve Wisconsin offering funding to support volunteer engagement in rural Wisconsin

Serve Wisconsin invites non-profit organizations, Indian Tribes, local governments, schools, institutions of higher education, and state agencies to apply for mini-grants ranging between $2,000 and $4,500 that focus on strengthening volunteer engagement in rural areas of Wisconsin, where nearly 30% of the state’s population resides. Rural communities are defined as having populations of fewer than 2,500 residents.

Funding can be used to support or promote general volunteerism, volunteer trainings, volunteer engagement, or agency capacity building through volunteerism. Serve Wisconsin encourages applications from rural communities working with older adult volunteers and youth-led volunteer programs. If awarded, the last day to incur expenses reimbursable by the mini-grant will be September 30, 2024.

The application for these grants is currently open. Serve Wisconsin will begin reviewing the next round of applications on May 15, and awarded entities will be notified by May 31. Subsequent applications will be accepted after May 15 and will be reviewed on the 15th of each month through either June or until all funds are awarded.

For more information on how to apply for these mini-grants please visit the VGF page of our website: https://www.servewisconsin.wi.gov/volunteer-generation-fund.

If you are interested in learning more about the Volunteer Generation Fund, please contact Rachel Donaldson at rachel.donaldson@wisconsin.gov.

Service story from AmeriCorps member with WAHRS -

Wisconsin Association for Homeless and Runaway Services

April episode of The S-Files podcast

This month on The S-Files, we explored the service story of AmeriCorps member Brittany Arnold, who is serving this year with the Wisconsin Association for Homeless and Runaway Services (WAHRS). Check out this month's episode below. You can access all of the episodes on The S-Files podcast series website.

Providing Support at Pathfinders Youth Shelter while serving with WAHRS

In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps member Angelica Morales, who is currently serving her fourth AmeriCorps term with the Wisconsin Association for Homeless and Runaway Services (WAHRS) at Pathfinders in Milwaukee. Angelica discusses her service over the last four years at the Pathfinders Youth Shelter, which provides short-term shelter for adolescents aged 11-17 and crisis counseling for older youth. She describes the assistance she provides for youth, including her role in the intake process, their intervention plans, and group meetings, as well as the overall support, guidance, and supervision she provides during their stay at the shelter. Listen in to learn how Angelica has grown to love working with youth through her AmeriCorps service at Pathfinders, as well how she has found opportunities to use her artistic abilities to help provide education and awareness about a variety of topics. (listen to the episode here)

For those interested in taking an active role in promoting national service and volunteerism in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin National and Community Service Board has one vacancy for a board member for the following appointment type:

• A representative of local labor

Those interested in serving must complete an application to the governor for the appointment. The online application for a board position can be found HERE, with additional information on the application process found at Apply to Serve - Governor Tony Evers. If you are interested in serving on the board and have any questions, please contact Serve Wisconsin Executive Director Jeanne Duffy at jeanne.duffy@wisconsin.gov.

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