HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton Rotary Club met for their luncheon meeting on July 31, 2017. The guest speaker was Lucas Anderson who was hosted by his father Rotarian Chris Anderson. Anderson grew up in Houlton and has graduated with a business degree from Bryant University. Anderson wanted to spend a year in service helping other communities, so he joined AmeriCorps which is under the umbrella of the National Civilian Community Corp (NCCC).
NCCC is loosely based on the Civilian Conservation Corp developed under the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and “The New Deal” in 1933. In 1992, the Committee on National Community Service was renamed NCCC. Its mission is to strengthen communities and develop leadership through direct, team-based national and community service. NCCC partners with municipalities, non-profits, state and federal government, state parks, Indian tribes, schools and others throughout the region to which the volunteers are assigned.
Anderson showed a powerpoint presentation opening with a video showing how the volunteers went into the village of Santa Clara, New Mexico and helped to move forward a business plan to boost economic development. Their work was on restoring unsightly historical old buildings.
The program is a full-time, team-based residential program for men and women between the ages of 18-24. Anderson chose the path of the Traditional Corps which insists on a commitment of 10 months for the assigned tasks. Also, 80 hours of volunteerism were required in the communities that he was assigned to. For the 10 months of work he received a $4,000 living allowance, a $5,800 education award and a year’s forbearance on any existing student loans. He also received reimbursement on travel expenses.
The skills learned by the volunteers included team building, learning how to recruit others for the program, as well as vehicle safety, waste recycling,portfolio editing, record keeping, and learning how to handle the equipment used on task.
Anderson was assigned to the southwest area of the United States. He worked in Arkansas building trails. He went to Texas to take part in a building renovation and worked on a senior center. He also traveled on to New Mexico to help with the Santa Clara project.
Anderson said that he was always aware that he and his partners were representing AmeriCorps, especially since they wore uniforms at all times. The volunteers put in long hours of hard work. The demands on the participants led to a 30 percent attrition rate. There are five regional campuses of AmeriCorps in the United States with each having around 1,200 participants in any given year. The organization is federally funded.
