An NCCC Atlantic Region Publication

Get to the PointGet to the Point May 23, 2012May 23, 2012

Community Relations Office

Sam McKenzie,

Community Relations Specialist,

SMcKenzie@cns.gov

Tristan Fowler,

Community Relations Support Team Leader,

TFowler.Guest@cns.gov

FIND US ON

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NCCCATLANTICREGION

AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps

(NCCC) is a full time team–based residential program

for men and women ages 18 to 24. The mission of NCCC

is to strength communities and develop leaders through

direct, team-based national &

community service.

For more information about NCCC

Visit www.americorps.gov/nccc or call 1 800 942 2677

I’m an member of the Na-

tional Civilian Community

Corps, an AmeriCorps

program. N-triple-C

members are 18 to 24 and

spend 10 months getting

things done for America

while developing their own

leadership. We serve on

teams to help communities

to prepare for and respond

to disaster, build homes and

help the environment. To

learn more, or apply, visit

americorps.gov/nccc

2

Get to the Point

COVER: CENTER: M3, JUMPING, JUST BE-CAUSE, AT REBUILD TOGETHER IN BALTI-MORE. TOP; LEFT, B1, ASSIST WITH THE FLOWER PLANTING BOOTH AT AN ISP RIGHT, FF2, JER-RAMIE RIDES AN ATV BOTTOM; LEFT, B4 ASHLEY ULTIZES THOSE TOOL TRAINING SKILL MIDDLE, R2,CELEBRATE TL DAVEY’S BIRTHDAY RIGHT, M2, IESHA LAYS DOWN A CLEAN COAT OF PAINT ON THE CEIL-ING.

Raven 2, across from Philadelphia City Hall, pose for a picture in front of

the iconic “LOVE” sculpture in center city.

GET TO THE POINT ATLANTIC REGION, PERRY POINT, MD

VOL. XVIII, ISSUE 9

333 MADNESS

by Raven 2

4 4 4 PHILLY GETS SOME BROTHERLY LOVE

by Davey Parziale

ALUNMI SPOTLIGHT

666 ―DARE GREATLY‖

by Gifford Wong

7 7 7 SMILE FREELY

by Crystal Keiper

7 7 7 TEAM ISP WINNERS HAS DRAMATIC FINISH

by Tristan Fowler

QUICKIES

RESOURCE 7

THE SCOREBOARD 9

AMERISTARS 10

SHOUT OUTS 11

AMERIMAP 12

3

Get to the Point

TEAM SPOTLIGHT—RAVEN 2

Madness

by Sam Cudnohufsky

Alliteration, team dinner, Ra-

vens, madness, Monday, balls. What do

these things have in common, you may

ask? Why Meatball Madness, of course!

Over transition, some folks may have

heard the chants from the kitchen

―MEATBALL MADNESS, MEATBALL

MADNESS.‖ This can only mean one

thing: it’s Monday night and Elite Team

Raven 2 is cooking! Every Monday,

since Raven 2 can remember, there have

been meatballs for dinner. Meatball

Madness includes spaghetti, marinara

sauce, garlic bread, and sometimes Swe-

dish meatball sauce.

Meatball Madness was born the

night of team reveal, when Kelcy decided

to make meatballs. A tradition among

traditions, this has gone on every Mon-

day since. Now there have been other

―food nights‖ based on a similar recipe of

enjoyment, alliteration, and coincidence.

Such as the weeks we had Taco Tuesday,

which ended after about two or three

weeks. Or Thursdays, we had soup and

potatoes that lasted till the beginning/

middle of round 1, but died out for rea-

sons unknown.

For our first project in Bath,

Maine, we had our biggest Meatball

Madness Monday ever. The reason?

Why Jen, our heroic Unit Leader, of

course. She came up for a visit, and

Meatball Madness was on her schedule!

For this occasion, we doubled our meat-

balls and included a desert. Jen brought

garlic bread, so we even had twice as

much bread! We were sitting at the table

with Jen, waiting for the meatballs to

come out, and when they did, well let’s

just say it, was madness! What you may

have seen or heard before was nothing

compared to this. It was the greatest,

maddest, meatiest Meatball Madness of

all. The eruption from the team as we

chanted for Meatball Madness was in-

sane. Jen didn’t see it coming and Raven

2 is proud to say Jen is hooked on meat-

balls and is excited for her next visit to

Meatball Madness!

Despite the tradition and the

chants there was one week without mad-

ness. Raven 2 remembers it so clearly:

Monday, May 7th 2012. The Monday

without madness. How could Raven 2

just skip a whole week of madness may

be puzzling. ―Why it’s a tradition that

started at the beginning and is sure to go

on until the end‖ …So,what happened?

Well, we got tickets to go see the Phillies

baseball game in the mayor’s suite. Un-

fortunately, We didn’t get home until

late, so no madness happened that night

or even that week. The next week’s shop-

ping night came and Raven 2 was deter-

mined to have their weekly dosage of

madness, but this time is could have

happened on a Tuesday. The Monday

following the week without madness was

a night when we were working late and

getting food from our sponsors, so Ra-

vens 2 did what Ravens do best, we were

flexible! Monday came around and Ra-

ven 2 was prepared to go out to work but

they received a call that said the event

they were working had been canceled,

this could only mean one thing for Raven

2. Meatball Madness lives again!

Meatball Madness has been a

tradition going strong for 14 weeks and

Raven 2 intends to have it live on till

the end. Through late work nights,

different guests, rescheduled Madness,

and even the amount of balls pur-

chased, Raven 2 will work through the

difficult times to ensure Meatball Mad-

ness goes on forever. With luck, Elite

Team Raven 2 is hoping to have Mayor

Michael Nutter join them for a night of

Madness as well as the returning Jen

Horan. Maybe one day, you too can

join Elite Team Raven 2 for a night of

Madness. May the odds be ever in your

favor.

Raven 2 enjoys a Monday night tradition of “Meatball Madness” with visiting Unit

Support Team Leader Brooke Gates. The tradition began the first night after team reveal

Unit Leader Jen Horan enjoys “Meatball

Madness” during her visit to Bath, Maine.

She admits she’s now hooked on meatballs.

4

Get to the Point

Raven 2 has faced unique challenges

this round, cleaning up the dirty

streets of Philly with gloved hands

and steel-toed boots. In the course of

their work, they have faced feces, con-

doms, and bullet casings. But they are

changing the look and feel of entire

neighborhoods, inspiring residents to

come out of their homes, pick up a

shovel and lend a hand. Team Leader

Dave Parziale recaps their efforts so

far this year.

The first day of our project, we jumped

right into waist high weeds and trash.

In northern Philly, in a neighborhood

called Swampoodle, we worked with

one of our project sponsors Philly Ris-

ing, and several community members

including Block Captain Vincent Ken-

nedy to clear a few vacant lots and

build a community garden. The team

removed over two tons of debris, trash

and weeds, leveling the large lot down

to an even surface. By the second day,

we began building raised garden beds,

which residents used to plant assorted

vegetables such as corn, tomatoes and

onions for the community. The Phila-

delphia Horticultural Society had a few

extra flowers that folks didn’t need for

their ―Love Your Park‖ kick-off service

events that coming Saturday, so they

offered them to us and we took them

back to Swampoodle to plant in the

garden.

During construction of the garden, we

ran out of soil. A resident of the block

offered his services (and his pick-up

truck) to help us shuttle a large pile of

dirt from the local library. We began

to network and work with Manny Ra-

mos from Neighborhood Services

brought a dump truck each day to our

site to pick up the trash and debris that

we removed and take it to the city

dump. This is just one example of

many of how community members

came together to make a simple

project like a community garden

come to life.

Following the garden project, we

headed off for a few days of al-

leyway clean ups. We cleaned

over five alleyways and removed

easily over seven or eight tons of

debris and trash from the alley-

ways over the next three days.

In the alleyways we began film-

ing for a potential ―Dirty Jobs:

AmeriCorps NCCC‖ episode.

Not only were the alleyways

overgrown with vines and trees,

they were often filled with

mounds of trash, furniture, cin-

der blocks, dirt and poop, some-

times knee to waist high. Our findings

were everything from used condoms,

reclining chairs, tires, soiled diapers

(lots of them), dog poop (lots of it,

sometimes three to six inches thick;

We thought it was mud until the smell

hit us), needles, lots of broken glass,

bottles, clothes, bullet casings, count-

less dime bags and more. Although

the work was tough and a bit smelly at

times, the results were very rewarding

taking an alleyway that had been ne-

glected for over a decade and cleaning

it all the way.

Community members were pretty ex-

cited to see the work we were doing at

the alleyways. Most were thankful and

the occasional would buy a couple so-

das or waters and hand them out to

our team. Some, so excited, would

grab a few tools and join us or at least

do what they could to sweep the

streets.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT—RAVEN 2

Philadelphia Receives Some Brotherly Love by Davey Parziale

Before

After

(Above) A Philadelphia

alleyway neglected

after ten years. (Left)

After NCCC cleans up.

5

Get to the Point

Benefits of City Revitalization Lot clearing and community garden building

Vacant lots gather trash and

illegal items and they attract

criminal activity. Cleaning a lot

of weeds and debris allow com-

munity members to have a

more manageable site, which

they can maintain and discour-

age the negative behavior.

It takes a negative space and

creates a positive one, and pro-

vide a community with healthi-

er food, thereby addressing the

issue of food deserts. Engaged

community members investing

their own sweat equity and re-

claiming ownership on their

block will make them more

likely to remain invested in the

improvement of their commu-

nity. This follows the wisdom of

the broken window theory.

Clearing alleyways:

Fire safety. Residents need an

exit from their homes in addition

to their front door in case of fire.

Especially senior citizens, need a

safe passageway to get out. In

cluttered and overgrown alley-

ways, they would be trapped.

Visibility. Alleyways are a

popular place for criminal ac-

tivity. Criminals know the po-

lice will have difficulty follow-

ing them into the alleyway be-

cause of all the trash and de-

bris. Criminals ditch drugs,

weapons and other items into

the alleyway. Having a clear

line of site allows home-owners

to feel safer knowing what is

going on and reduces potential

for criminal activity.

Sanitation. The trash, debris

and feces is an unsanitary situa-

tion that can be harmful to resi-

dent’s health and safety.

Abandoned lots and homes,

overgrown vines and trees can

damage the structural integrity of

an abandoned home placing its

neighbors at a safety risk.

Improving Parks and con-

ducting tree surveys

Documenting live trees and potential

spots for trees to be planted

Tree surveys are part of a city-

wide campaign to increase tree

coverage to 30%

Park improvement – trimming

lower branches on trees increases

visibility in park and reduces illegal

activities such as drug dealing.

More trees can provide the same

benefits as a cleaned vacant lot.

6

Get to the Point

Alumni spotlight

Dare Greatly TL Class IV – Denver Campus, TL

Class V – DC Campus, SLC Class X, XI

– DC Campus

by Gifford Wong

SHARE A FEW STORIES? AMERI-

CORPS related? Life? Don't get me

started!

My experience in AmeriCorps,

in a word, was "complete." In a sentence,

ironically, my AmeriCorps experience

was something so utterly fantastic as to

transcend description, and yet it left me

wanting ... wanting to experience more,

see more, help more, DO more!

For years, I've said that my

experience as an AmeriCorps*NCCC

(TL) prepared me for everything else

I've done to date ... rappelling from a

hovering helicopter into a wildfire to

standing on the skid of a hovering heli-

copter practicing SAR techniques in

Antarctica to serving as an NCCC Ser-

vice Learning Coordinator at the DC

campus. The experience of working

with others in far-flung corners of

America prepared me to work and live

out of a canvas tent on the divide of the

West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The experi-

ence of traveling with your "wolfpack"

of AmeriCorps members to the work

site day in and day out prepared me for

the surprisingly (monotonous) com-

mute to the fire helibase day in and day

out with your helicopter fire crew. The

experience of serving in the wondrous-

ly diverse communities of America pre-

pared me to enjoy the similarly diverse

and wonderful communities found an-

ywhere in the world.

I joined for a number of reasons,

from the obvious to the now inconse-

quential. One reason that I remember,

actually, is my best friend and his crazy-

cool-fun tales of daring-do and adven-

turous service during his Corps Member

year at Perry Point! He said he was ap-

plying again as a Team Leader, and he

said "this is right up your alley, Giff; you

should apply." How can you deny your

best friend? We both were accepted at

the Denver Campus (Go Alann App and

the Water Unit!) as Team Leaders. That

seems like a lifetime ago (and in some

respects, it was). I learned so much that

first year ... and was fortunate enough to

apply that experience to my Team Leader

year at the DC Campus the following

year.

The program, for me, was such

an exciting blend of service, learning, and

fun. It instilled in me an over-arching

desire to "get things done" and make a

difference. I hope to "get things done" by

assisting policy-makers with the science-

side of environmental policy and stew-

ardship. I'm currently a PhD candidate

and IGERT Fellow at Dartmouth College,

and I'm very much "in the middle" of my

PhD journey. I study snow and ice and

how they chemically record the climate

history of our planet.

After the above rambling, I sup-

pose I should draw my wandering mind to

a close to somehow and quickly "get to the

point." Whether you believe it or not, this

AmeriCorps experience - YOUR Ameri-

Corps experience - will be with you for the

rest of your life. Whether you are watching

a re-run episode of The West Wing and

choke up when Toby Ziegler's character

lauds AmeriCorps or you are watching the

flick Lions for Lambs and you see two pro-

tagonists speak of "engagement" and

AmeriCorps in the same breath, you'll

smile at how you are now and forever an

integral part of a growing legacy.

If you know Teddy Roosevelt's

speech about citizenship in a republic,

know that it is YOU "who is actually in

the arena, whose face is marred by dust

and sweat and blood; who strives val-

iantly; who errs, who comes short

again and again, because there is no

effort without error and shortcoming;

but who does actually strive to do the

deeds; who knows great enthusiasms,

the great devotions; show spends him-

self in a worthy cause; who at the best

knows in the end the triumph of high

achievement, and who at the worst, if

he fails, at least fails while daring

greatly." Dare greatly while GETTING

THINGS DONE!

AmeriCorps ... for life. Gifford (at right) on his fire crew’s Sweet Hollow Pack Out - 110lb packs carried 8 miles!

Gifford at a DC park

7

Get to the Point

WE PASS EACH OTHER IN THE

streets without creating a real connec-

tion most of the time. Only occasional-

ly do we say hello or give a courteous

smile. When do we make the time to

reach out to another, to hear their sto-

ry, to offer ourselves freely? But what if

you did start to ask someone their sto-

ry? What brings them to tears? What

challenges have they overcome? Their

struggles. Their perspective on life.

What do you think you might hear?

Raven one was given the oppor-

tunity to make genuine connections at

Connecticut Mission of Mercy, a free

dental clinic. We discovered when serv-

ing patients at the dental clinic that the

amount of time spent with someone to

develop compassion for them did not

matter, but rather it was quality of time

spent. It was getting a glimpse of their

life struggles and triumphs, it was wit-

nessing the expressions on faces when it

was at last time to get their teeth cleaned

for the first time ever. It was listening to

the obstacles they faced with great cour-

age in order to make it to the clinic that

day; some camped

overnight, some

came with their

large family. Single

moms, single dads,

grandmothers, col-

lege graduates,

high-school drop-

outs, all different

ages, all different

reasons for being

there, but all beau-

tiful stories. All

expressed grati-

tude. We reached

out, we listened, we connected.

Many chose be in AmeriCorps to

serve America. We decided to give our

passion, empathy, curiosity, benevo-

lence, and fierce ambition to a world that

is hungry for justice, that needs young

people to come alive by loving others

freely. Mission of Mercy demonstrated

the power of this: they gave out over $1

million in free dental care to over 2,000

people. Dentists, hygienists and over

1600 enthusiastic volunteers from across

Connecticut and the U.S. traveled to put

their love into action unconditionally.

Upon finishing up day one of

the clinic, a gentleman walked toward

members of Raven One with a jovial

smile on his face, like it was Christmas

morning. He captured our attention, as

we were mesmerized by the distinctive

grin he exhibited. When approaching

us he said, ―I haven’t been able to smile

in a year and a half.‖ Astounded, the

natural response of the team was simp-

ly… to smile back.

Serving in AmeriCorps, you

won’t always get to hear the stories of

those you touch, you wont always

know how you are directly affecting the

community, country, and world. How-

ever, sometimes you remember mo-

ments such as these that remind us

that we are serving in a world that

needs more love, more givers, more

people to serve freely, a world that

needs more smiles.

PASS THE FIRE

Smile Freely by Crystal Keiper

RESOURCE CORNER

Receipt Wisdom: No. 1 Write numbers on receipts; make sure receipt numbers corre-late with numbers on PAR (Project Accounting Record)

No. 2 Number each sheet of paper so that all receipts/paperwork stay in order.

No. 3 A tallied total of all receipts on that page should be written on that page (e.g. Sheet 1 has five receipts that total $358.98- this amount should be written in the corner on Sheet 1)

No. 4 Organize and tape receipts on paper weekly.

No. 5 Use clean recycled paper (e.g. magazine pages, notes) to or-ganize receipts.

Extra Tid Bit For the Week:

Check your pockets, wallets, shoes, shirts and pants- Make sure you have your Spike debit card before you go shopping!

If there are any questions please do not hesi-tate to contact me at (410) 642-2411 ext. 6868 or via email cjohnson@cns.gov.

Charese Johnson

Crystal Keiper, center, Team Leader of Raven 1, assists with a dental

procedure at a free dental clinic with Mission of Mercy in Conn.

8

Get to the Point

First team to complete their ISPs ends with dramatic finish by Tristan Fowler

It was right down to the

wire. Buffalo 3 and Buffalo 4

had been battling out for

first team to complete their

ISPs, or Independent Service

Project hours, for weeks

now. At the end of the first

round, the teams were neck

and neck with a member

from each team, Buffalo 4’s

Anna Colfescu and Buffalo

3’s Rebecca Strauss , tying

for completing their individ-

ual 80 hours of required

ISPs during Round 1.

But only three weeks into

the round, Buffalo 3 put the

petal to the metal and made a

serious challenge to Buffalo 4’s

reign. While the team was in-

spired by Team Leader Tony

Wadas challenge to his team

that he would shave his head

completely if his team com-

pleted their ISPs first, Buffalo

3 knew they had serious com-

petition to overthrow the

smaller Buffalo 4.

The final call came this

past Sunday, May 20, when

both teams finished their

ISPs simultaneously. As To-

ny called his Unit Leader to

report that they had finished,

Tiffany called in. Unit Leader

Sharon Kellogg determined

it was again a tie. Each team

has about 900 hours total in,

many of the members have

over 100 hours. Congratula-

tions to both teams for your

hard work. And we all look

forward to seeing Tony’s new

dew this upcoming transi-

tion!

National News

One Year After Joplin Tornado, AmeriCorps Still Hard at Work

Joplin, Mo. – One year after a devastating tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri, the city is making a strong recovery thanks to the resilience of the Joplin people, a unit-ed recovery effort, and an extraordinary out-pouring of volunteers and AmeriCorps members who have made a powerful impact and remain hard at work today.

City leaders are preparing for tomorrow’s anniversary with events to remember and mourn those who died, but also to demon-strate unity, progress, and gratitude for the more than 130,000 volunteers who have come from across the country over the past year -- what City Manager Mark Rohr has called the ―miracle of the human spirit.‖

Coordinating volunteers and ensuring their service is focused on impact has been a primary focus of the national ser-vice program AmeriCorps, whose mem-bers arrived within hours after the torna-do and continue to play an indispensable role in Joplin’s recovery.

―The tornado showed nature at its worst, but it brought out humanity at its best,‖ said Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, Ameri-Corps’ parent agency. ―The outpouring of volunteers has been extraordinary. Thanks to AmeriCorps leadership, tens of thousands of volunteers were able to provide assistance to survivors quickly and with an immediate impact, and we remain committed to Jop-lin’s long-term recovery.‖

Spencer will be in Joplin for the anniver-sary to meet with local officials, survey progress and lessons learned, thank vol-unteers, and join community events, in-cluding President Obama’s Joplin High

School commencement address tonight and the city’s Walk of Unity tomorrow.

AmeriCorps: An Indispensable Role

The first team of AmeriCorps members arrived within hours after the nation's deadliest tornado in nearly 60 years ripped through Joplin, killing 161 people and destroying some 7,500 homes and businesses.

Members of AmeriCorps St. Louis Emer-gency Response Team were first on the scene, arriving at 2:30 a.m. They immedi-ately went to work, setting up a missing persons’ hotline and opening a volunteer center at Missouri Southern State Univer-sity to handle the 3,000 volunteers who showed up the next day.

In the year since, more than 350 Ameri-Corps members from across the nation have served in Joplin. They have removed tons of debris, provided homeowner assistance and casework, operated donation and distribu-tion warehouses, coordinated donations, and managed a large-scale volunteer opera-tion that has coordinated more than 75,000 volunteers to provide more than 520,000 hours of disaster assistance to more than 2,200 Joplin households.

Joplin city officials reported to FEMA that the city received donated resources and volunteer hours totaling $17.7 million, the largest amount in Missouri’s history and the largest amount ever recorded in FE-MA’s region VII. AmeriCorps members were instrumental in mobilizing this in-flux of volunteers and donations, which saved the city more than $17.7 million in disaster costs.

For one Joplin resident, FEMA Corps will provide an opportunity to help others who are faced with the challenges of natural disasters. Mariah Hutchinson, 17, sur-vived the tornado and began volunteering through her church shortly afterwards. When AmeriCorps members visited her school in March to talk about their experi-ences, Hutchinson immediately knew that AmeriCorps NCCC and FEMA Corps were right for her.

―I have always been the type of person who is selfless, and have always loved to help others,‖ said Hutchinson. ―Being able to wake up every day knowing I have made a difference in someone else’s life would be life changing for me.‖ Hutchinson graduated with 480 other seniors at Joplin High Commencement.

AmeriCorps members arrive within hours to

the devastated city of Joplin, Missouri

9

Get to the Point

Shout-Outs:

Raven 4 - Abby Beckley is milking her Alumni contacts, Class 17 Kyle

Lauchmen and Erin Bruhn, for everything they got. Abby arranged a

dinner with the AmeriCouple, sold them on hosting a CAP event after

the team leaves Massachusetts, and is writing an article for ―Get to the

Point‖ about the couples experience with AmeriLove. Way to go Abby!

Buffalo 4—Has posted almost 250 photos so far this year on the Facebook Media Hub! Love you guys! Keep

it up!

Moose 4— Has completed their three CAP events for the round, the first team to do so!

Updates of the Week:

Gmail Accounts—Use them! Do not use your personal e-mail for CAP events, contacts, or media rela-

tions. Sam and I can not support you or your contacts if we don’t have access to your emails. Further-

more, we use these emails as evidence of the work you do in the field during our yearly review.

Speaking of using your Gmail accounts. Send out your press releases!!! I recently check some of your

accounts and so little or NO activity with emails to newspapers. I will be calling teams this week to verify

why the press release have not been sent out.

Reminders from last Week:

Twitter, like un-official blogs, are un-official. The

username shouldn’t represent AmeriCorps in any way, and

a declaration on the profile should clarify that this twitter

account is un-sanctioned and un-associated with any offi-

cial AmeriCorps NCCC publications

Alumni Event Form Update! This form will now

include the alumni’s e-mail contact. Be sure to ask for it

during your events.

This week, vacation responders will be added to your

Gmail accounts. This way, any sender will be notified of your

lack of e-mail access. Don’t remove these!

CAP & MEDIA UPDATES

The Scoreboard Shout-outs, tips and the weekly stats. All the info you need to

stay on top of your CAP and Media work.

From Tristan Fowler

CAP

Events

Media

Hits

Alumni

Events

Elected

Officials

Buffalo 1 1 1 1 0

Buffalo 2 2 1 0 0

Buffalo 3 0 0 0 0

Buffalo 4 0 3 0 0

Moose 1 2 6 1 1

Moose 2 0 2 1 0

Moose 3 1 4 3 0

Moose 4 3 4 0 1

Moose 5 2 1 0 0

Raven 1 0 12 0 0—Log!

Raven 2 0 28 1 2

Raven 3 2 1 1 0

Raven 4 2 2 1 0

Raven 5 1 1 0 0

Phoenix 2 1 0 0 0

Fire Fox 2 1 0 0 0

10

Get to the Point

AmeriStars Each week, the Health and Well-

ness Liaisons will submit mem-bers to feature, giving every-one a chance in the spotlight.

KATERI GRUBER

from M

elrose, M

innesota

1. W

hat is your fa

vorite fo

od? Apple dumplin

gs: It

is alw

ays a centra

l dish

for b

irthday m

eals. A tra

di-

tion th

at my grandmother b

egan along with

roast

beef, mashed potatoes, h

ome baked bread and veg-

gies fresh fro

m her garden!

2. W

hat is your fa

vorite quote? “To se

e the w

orld

in a grain of sand, A

heaven in a w

ildflo

wer, hold in

finity

in th

e palm of

your hand, an eternity

in a hour.”

Willi

am Blake

3. How old are you? 24 I

can almost r

ent a car!

4. W

hat is so

mething you will

never forget? That m

y dad knows best!

Tested and proven!

Erick Tralle

from Elk River, MN

1. If you had one wish, what would it be?

If I had one wish, I would obviously wish

for more wishes….But if I only really

had one wish it would be to fly anywhere

for free for the rest of my life because

travelling is my favorite hobbie and I also

love being in airports! I would not mind living in one.

2. If you were an animal, what kind of animal would you be?

Why? I would have to be bear, most likely a polar bear. They

are majestic and strong and I want to ride one/have one as a com-

panion!

Kelcy Engstrom

fro

m Racine, WI

1. W

ho are you? Beyonce

2. W

hat’s your m

ost prized posse

ssion? M

y hus-

band

Tell us a

secret a

bout yourself.

One time I

pooped my pants t

wice in one day

4. W

hat fictio

nal character do you relate to

the m

ost? W

hy? Effie fro

m

Dream Girls

! Because “you are gonna lo

ve me”

5. W

rite your own in

spiratio

nal quote. K

eep it cute or p

ut in on m

ute

11

Get to the Point

Buffalo 1 - Special thanks to the members of Buffalo 3 who helped with our

event on Saturday. Also thanks to the staff and support team leaders at

B15 who helped us with medical shuttles, work, and our event this week.

Raven 2 - We removed over 7 tons of debris and trash from alleyways and

lots in South Philly this past week alone! Shout out to Lark and Sam from

Raven 2 for having their ISPs completed!

Moose 3 - Lina You: we miss you. Hope P2 is having a great time! Mr. Cangelosi: thanks for the trampoline. Brooke: you’re awesome and we felt it was important you knew it!

Raven 1 - “The team had a fun week with a couple frustrating moments while building frames, but we were able to manage and do what we needed. We had a nice night with Ashley for her birthday- it was great to see every-one happy and be together.. We are getting used to living in the city. Jer-ramie we are sure you are doing great but we miss you buddy”- Michael Qaddoum

Buffalo 2 - Shout out to Melvina for staying strong and standing your

ground.

Moose 5 - The warmth and hospitality of people in Camden make our lives

better.

Buffalo 3 - Buffalo 3 says hello to their roaming fire-buffalo, Chris and

Sarah. Phoenix 2 and Firefox 2 are so lucky to have you guys, but we

miss you! Be safe! Have fun!

Raven 5 - The tech”No-Nos” of Raven 5 have left us with the following in a

24 hour period: Two lost cell phones (same make and model coincidental-

ly enough); One lost cell phone on the streets of York Pa., being held for

$20 cash reward while the others vanished at the local YMCA & one week

old iPod Touch who just couldn’t swim in the washing machine and is cur-

rently healing in a bag of rice. Over all this week has been consumed with

tech talk on the work site. I fear the team might be Cylon in nature now.

Buffalo 4 - Shout out to Derek on Fire Fox 1; Keep doing great work, we

miss you!

Firefox 2: Firefox 2 LOVES flower festivals. Two weekends in a row now

we’ve been working them. First the Albany Tulip festival, and then the Pine

Bush’s Lupine Fest. Good times!

Moose 4 - Despite the destruction of Tubby’s windows, Moose 4 is adjusting well to Newburgh. We have made some lively new friends within the commu-nity. Habitat has been bombarding us with loads of food and appreciation. In other news, Terrence is sporting a new hairstyle created by the one and only Casey Ashlock.

Raven 4 - Raven 4 ISP tips….If looking for nonprofits to do ISP’s with

go to nonprofit.org or volunteermatch.org Raven 4 started an ISP log

that we post on our information hub at housing. The log is intended to

avoid overlap in contacting organizations, and also so that ISP infor-

mation is always shared with the entirety of the team.

Moose 1 - Mr. Chandler Ballentine!!!!!! We miss you and your BEAST

MODE style! Hope you are having a great time on Phoenix 2 we all

can’t wait to be reunited with you.

Moose 2 - Waiting for Memorial day

12

Get to the Point

Buffalo 1 Taft— Williamstown, NJ

Buffalo 2 Tomoyo— Camden, NJ

Buffalo 3 Tony— Schwenksville, PA

Buffalo 4 Tiffany— Angola, NY

Moose 1 Patrick—King of Prussia, PA

Moose 2 Megan— Bath, ME

Moose 3 Jami— Hamden, CT

Moose 4 Casey— Newburgh, NY

Moose 5 Toby— Camden, NJ

Raven 1 Keiper— Wilmington, DE

Raven 2 Davey— Philadelphia, PA

Raven 3 A.T.—Wells , ME

Raven 4 Millena—W Springfield, MA

Raven 5 Dan— York, PA

Phoenix 2 Emily— Suffolk, VA

Fire Fox 2 Steve—Albany, NY