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Merrimack native serves in national service program

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Amanda Franklin, 20, of Merrimack, recently began a 10-month term of service in the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), an AmeriCorps program. Franklin, based out of the regional campus in Sacramento, is currently serving on her first project.

Founded in 1994, AmeriCorps NCCC is a residential national service program that supports disaster relief, the environment, infrastructure improvement, energy conservation, and urban and rural development. Over the past 23 years, over 1 million Americans have served the nation through the family of AmeriCorps programs. Currently, about 80,000 people serve in AmeriCorps programs nationwide each year, with about 2,000 of those in AmeriCorps NCCC.

Franklin arrived in Sacramento in mid-October to begin training. This training emphasized teamwork, leadership development, communication, safety, and project preparation.

As a Corps Member, Franklin will be responsible for completing a series of six- to 12-week-long service projects as part of a 10- to 12-person team. Her first service projects will end in mid-December, at which time the teams will break for the winter holidays and begin a new project in a new location in January.

Twenty-three teams composed of 279 Corps Members and Team Leaders began service projects in November throughout the Pacific region and areas affected by recent hurricanes. Some of these projects include supporting wildfire response and recovery in California and Washington, renovating transitional housing for homeless youth in Wyoming, and assisting with hurricane recovery in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, among a

variety of other projects.

There are four additional NCCC campuses located in Denver, Colo., Baltimore, Md., Vinton, Iowa, and Vicksburg, Miss., each of which is a hub for its respective area of the country.

Before joining the NCCC, Franklin graduated from Merrimack High School in June 2015.

“I chose to serve a term of national service because I wanted to get out in the community and make a real difference. I love to help people and I felt stuck in my hometown unable to make a difference,” said Franklin. “When I heard about AmeriCorps NCCC, and found that I could have the opportunity to travel to a different area of the country while doing work that would make a difference, I knew it was something that I needed to do.”

Franklin is the daughter of Greg and Lauri Franklin.

AmeriCorps NCCC members, all 18 to 24 years old, complete at least 1,700 hours of service during the 10-month program. In exchange for their service, they receive $5,815 to help pay for college. Other benefits include a small living stipend, room and board, leadership development, team building skills, and the knowledge that, through active citizenship, they can indeed make a difference. AmeriCorps NCCC is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. For more information about AmeriCorps NCCC, visit the website at www.nationalservice.gov/nccc.