The C.A. Vines Arkansas 4-H Center has been getting extra care and attention in recent weeks, thanks to the work of AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps members.
A nine-member AmeriCorps team is clearing trails, recycling and sprucing up interior areas of the 4-H Center, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. More than 25,000 people typically visit the 4-H Center each year, and many of them stay for several days at camps, conferences, meetings and retreats.
"This year has been quite different during the pandemic," center director JJ Pitman said. "We have not been able to host overnight camps and larger gatherings in recent months. The upside is that we are able to do some renovations and inside work that normally we can't during full occupancy."
The team arrived in late September from Woodland Park, Colo., where members worked with Habitat for Humanity. Once in Little Rock, they spent a couple of days acclimating to their new home away from home before going to work. The group was at the center until last week.
"This will be the longest stint for a team at the 4-H Center," said Shannon Caldwell, program director at the center. "Traditionally, we've had a team for six weeks, but this team is with us for 11 weeks. This is our seventh AmeriCorps team, and we're so lucky to have them. The impact of former teams' work can be seen across our campus."
This year's team members are from Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia. The team includes recent high school graduates, college students and recent college graduates, and reflects a wide range of interests and experiences.
One member -- Dalton Rothwell from Ohio -- was a 4-H member and showed chickens.
"We're diverse in many different ways," said Allie Wheeler, the team's leader. "Each person has skills and strengths they bring to the team, and the team wouldn't be the same without each of them."
What they all have in common, though, is a desire to make a difference in their world through service.
Wheeler of Adams, Mass., learned about AmeriCorps while studying at Lasell University in eastern Massachusetts, where she earned a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in environmental studies. During college, she worked on service projects in Tanzania and Mexico.
"Service became very important to me while I was in college," she said. "Doing service work that really benefits a community is what matters. AmeriCorps works really hard to find sponsors who we can work with to develop service projects. That way we're doing what communities need us to do."
Team member Antony Freed of Florida recently earned a bachelor's degree in social work from Florida State University.
"I hope to one day work on policy drafting, but I thought AmeriCorps would be a good opportunity to see communities with need and how they are being served," Freed said.
One of the youngest team members, Taylor Suto of Connecticut, graduated from high school this year and said he enjoyed learning new trade skills. He and fellow team members have been painting and taking apart old air-conditioning units to determine what can be recycled.
"I enjoy physical labor but seeing our impact on a community is the best part of this," he said.
To learn more about the Arkansas 4-H Center, visit thevinescenter.org. To learn more about AmeriCorps, visit https://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/americorps-programs.
Tracy Courage is with the U of A System Division of Agriculture.
