Get Active with Serve-a-thon to Support Chicago Cares

Chicago Cares’ largest fundraiser, the17^th Annual Chicago Cares Serve-a-thon ,takes place on Saturday, June 12. Volunteers, leaders, and staff have been working hard to spread the word, recruit 6,000 volunteers and get every Chicagoan excited about the city’s largest day of service.

Every donation – no matter the size – makes a difference to Chicago Cares.

Our fundraising goal: $830,000

Our fundraising progress as of May 7: $672,000

How can you take action to help us meet our goals?

AmeriCorps Week: Honoring a History of Dedication to Service

Every year, thousands of Americans commit to serving our country through volunteerism and living a year of poverty. They are AmeriCorps. These dedicated service members are men and women, young and old, coming from all different backgrounds. They serve behind the scenes and on the front lines in the battle against poverty in the United States.

While the 1930’s saw the creation of National Service Corps with the initiation of Civilian Conservation Corps, shortly followed by AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) and Senior Corps in the 1960’s, AmeriCorps programs were not nationally recognized until President Bill Clinton signed the National and Community Service Trust Act in September of 1993. The bill established the Corporation for National and Community Service as the umbrella for all AmeriCorps programs, which now include: Learn and Serve, AmeriCorps National Direct, AmeriCorps VISTA, AmeriCorps NCCC, YCC (Youth Conservation Corps), and SeniorCorps.  One year later, the first class of AmeriCorps volunteers were sworn in. 20,000 individuals would be dedicating a year of national service in more than 1,000 communities nationwide. More than 15 years later, the AmeriCorps programs swear in more than 85,000 volunteers every year to serve and partner with nearly 2,000 community and nonprofit organizations.