Thank you Corps!

It’s March which means St. Patrick’s Day, Daylight Savings Time, free water ice from Rita’s, and our favorite of them all: AmeriCorps Appreciation Month! Every year in March, the AmeriCorps organization shows appreciation to the 75,000 members who have decided to dedicate a year of service to others. Their work does not go unnoticed!

At City Year Philadelphia, we use this month to show love to our amazing corps members and the work they do with students in 19 schools across Philadelphia. Waking up at 5 AM and enduring long work weeks for an entire year is challenging to say the least. Still, our corps members continue to get the job done and help make a difference in the lives of over 12,000 students throughout Philadelphia.

Oftentimes, the best way to show someone that they are appreciated is by simply telling them. That’s exactly what our Impact department did this year. Throughout March, City Year Philly AmeriCorps members received special messages from Impact Managers. The notes contained words of encouragement, shout outs to specific team members, team photos, thank you videos, even poems! Emily Partridge, Impact Manager at Olney Elementary School, wrote:

And the Olney team is all that I could’ve asked for,
Olney is everything I dreamed of and more,
We were the biggest team to start,
Take my word you have the biggest heart,
‘Cause Olney was made for me and you
I said Olney was made for me and you
You know Olney was made for me and youuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Over at Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School, Impact Manager Tim Schmidt, curated a thank you video that was sent to his corps members. Bethune teachers and staff gathered on camera to say thank you to their AmeriCorps team for making a daily impact at their school>.

Back at the City Year Philly office, the Development department also expressed thankfulness. Kyle Casey, Senior Director of Individual Giving, says “As a CYP alum, I know your days are long, but please believe every day is worth it. I appreciate you because you are fierce advocates for our students, and you are standing up against the education inequity that happens in our city and across our country. Thank you for your service!”

Another City Year alum and Civic Engagement Manager, Jheri Grossman, shares, “When I was a corps member, corps appreciation was a time when people would show love for all the work that my teammates and I were doing. With that said, what I appreciate most about our corps is that these are people who are choosing to do service this year. I admire anyone who has decided to spend a year of their life working with students. You might come in thinking you’re going to get a lot out of it yourself, but you’re giving a lot to others. I genuinely appreciate that they are here.”

Finally, members of City Year Philly’s Alumni Board also had a chance to join in on Corps Appreciation Month. From large bags filled with sweet treats to handwritten words of encouragement, love was shown from alumni to the current corps.

We use the month of March to recognize AmeriCorps members for the amazing work that they do. When you see someone wearing the red jacket, or an AmeriCorps patch, we hope that you’ll recognize them for the service they are committed to. They are not only helping to make our communities a better place, but also the world we live in.

City Year Philly is pleased to recognize our corps members for their hard work and commitment to our students. Thank you, Corps!!

To participate with us in thanking our corps members, use the hashtag #thankyoucorps on social media to show your appreciation.