Shannon Britt served as a college adviser at Essex High School in Tappahannock, Virginia, as part of the Virginia College Advising Corps (VCAC), an AmeriCorps program. She found out about AmeriCorps when she was in high school, where she was served by a VCAC adviser.  She recalls, "The 2017-2018 school year was our first year having a college adviser. During my fourth year of college at the University of Virginia, I heard someone speak to our Intro to Counseling class in the education school about the program. I was interested in paying forward the great advising I received in high school...

Congratulations to Betty L. Robinette of Wytheville - winner of the 2021 Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Senior Volunteer! For people who live in rural areas, fighting hunger is a serious issue. Communities like Southwest Virginia face a number of challenges – from scarcity of grocery stores and food pantries compounded with a lack of transportation to diminishing job opportunities and higher rates of unemployment. This is where Betty Robinette saw a growing need and did more than step into make a difference. Betty was the catalyst that started the Community Food Kitchen in 2012. When the...

Crystal Curtis, Appalachian Community Action and Development Agency AmeriCorps VISTA Member of the Year - AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) members bring their passion and perseverance where the need is greatest: to organizations that help eradicate poverty.  Ms. Curtis is the Appalachian Community Action Agency’s first dedicated staff member to address the drug/opioid addiction issue which is crippling Southwest Virginia. As an AmeriCorps VISTA, Crystal has been highly effective in raising community awareness about the agency’s program and expanding its reach throughout the community. She has been a constant presence at educational and drug take back events and even...

Over the past four years, Bob Eadie has spent many hours building oyster-growing equipment for the Tidewater Oyster Gardener’s Association (TOGA) on his own initiative and often from his own home or Camp Kekoka. Bob's volunteer support has been critical as interest in TOGA equipment is growing rapidly. In recent years, membership demand for TOGA-built floats and devices has grown from approximately 120 in 2020 to 350 in 2024 and even more in 2025. This kind of growth is great but building floats is a lot of hard work and requires skills and time. In 2024, the float-building team fell...

We Serve, the service club at Eastern Mennonite High School in Harrisonburg, Virginia, works in partnership with the Rockingham Rotary Club as an interact club. Interact clubs bring together young people ages 12-18 to develop leadership skills while discovering the power of Service Above Self. In the hopes of expanding the school's annual service day into more regular service opportunities for students, an 11th grade student named Abby Stapleton started We Serve during the 2018-2019 school year. Abby also hoped to broaden students' interactions with a wider group of community organizations helping others while also providing mentorship opportunities through expanded...