I am Dawn Gould and I serve with Downriver CARES AmeriCorps. Now that May has come to a close, I look to the summer and serving in summer camp. This will be our second year running this free and educational camp for community children in River Rouge. This year the camp is doubling in size, with approximately 110 children participating, which means more staff and more AmeriCorps members will be on hand. Our program has just added 10 new members for a summer term and I was able to meet them over the last week of their training. They are eager and enthusiastic and I am excited to get to know them better.
I will be finishing up my second term of service in August although it went by far too fast. I have so many great memories that I’ve made with people I will call friends forever, thank you Downriver CARES members!
As I look ahead to August when I will be moving on from Downriver CARES, part of the AmeriCorps Pledge comes to mind...
“I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.”
Serving with Downriver CARES for two years was profound. In addition to all the great experiences, there is also the reward of learning new things and meeting incredible people, but also helping the community with our Friday service events. Every Friday a different Downriver CARES AmeriCorps member plans an event. They range from serving food in a local soup kitchen to tearing down an abandoned house in the city of Detroit. Coming together with the rest of Downriver CARES every Friday makes our program unique and determined to get things done. That is something I will miss.
I am proud and humble to be able to call myself an AmeriCorps member (soon to be Alum)! Thank you for the opportunity to experience service in a way I never could have imagined and a special “thank you” to my program director, the individuals of Downriver CARES, the Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Council, and those I met along the way!
5 comments:
Dawn! This makes me want to cry (in a good way)! What a wonderful attitude you have towards this time of great transition in your life!
sDawn,
You have done an amazing job at not only your site but also planning our AmeriCorps week community carnival, various other service events, member trainings, outreach presentations and so much more. Thank you, your the best!
Joe Spain
Beautifully written! Thank you Dawn!
Sonya
Thanks for sharing your reflections with the team, Dawn! It has definitely been a pleasure working with you this term; I know the new members working with the summer camps at the FRCs are definitely in good hands :-)
-Alexis
can I have a tissue with your blog? thanks. :) You're great, Dawn!
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