Service projects are a trademark of national AmeriCorps volunteers, and the 9 members serving with the Huron Pines AmeriCorps program are keeping that initiative alive. On Wednesday, August 6th the Huron Pines AmeriCorps members dug, pulled and battled weeds to begin renovation of the butterfly garden at the Visitors Center in Hartwick Pines State Park, just north of Grayling.

You call that a party? These volunteers do, as they demonstrated their enthusiasm for protecting the natural resources of northern Michigan.

Their normal day of service would consist of tackling projects at their host site organizations. Already, throughout Michigan, they have hosted youth camps, planted rain gardens, built outreach programs, planned river clean-ups and participated in restoration projects. On this day of celebration, however, members were treated to a luncheon in their honor and recognized with awards for service.

The AmeriCorps Member Celebration is a new occurrence for this program developed by Huron Pines. Through the Huron Pines AmeriCorps program, 9 members have dedicated a year of service to help nonprofits better accomplish their mission. The program is part of the solution to help address both the natural resource and funding challenges in the region.

Members receive a stipend, health insurance, loan deferment while in service, and an education award upon completion; however, the main benefit of volunteering in this program is to develop as a leader in conservation by expanding real-world skills, increasing experience, and networking with other resource professionals, since all of these volunteers are college graduates in a natural resource, environmental or communication related field.

The host sites receive the benefit of a dedicated volunteer for one year to assist with capacity building, volunteer coordination, on-the-ground restoration improvements and public outreach.

Learn more at www.huronpinesamericorps.org.