Jason Varitek and David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox Honor Student Leaders
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact
Glenn Michaels, Volunteers of America Northern New England
(207) 373-1140, ext. 216
help@voanne.org
Fenway Park -- BOSTON, Massachusetts (June 17, 2011) -- During a day at Fenway Park prior to last night's game, Boston Red Sox Captain Jason Varitek, Alex Cora, and David Ortiz represented all Major Leaguers when they honored almost 40 Maine high school students from ten schools serving as Captains of their school's Maine Action Team. The Action Team is a service learning program in which Major League players and high school students are inspiring and training the next generation of volunteers. During the 2008-2009 school year, these Maine Action Team Captains raised awareness about the importance of community involvement among other students in their high schools and organized hundreds of other students to get involved in volunteer activities.
Administered by the Major League Baseball Players Trust and Volunteers of America, the Action Team program encourages young people throughout the United States to volunteer in their communities. To date, Action Teams of high school students and Major Leaguers have inspired more than 17,000 students across the United States to help more than 75,000 people in need by volunteering in their communities. In addition, an Action Team service-learning curriculum created by the Players Trust in partnership with The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition teaches valuable community service skills to 700,000 high school students in more than 5,000 classrooms across the country.
"We have grown this program from three Maine high schools to ten in one year, and we have even greater interest among schools for the next year and plan to double the program to twenty high schools," said June Koegel, president and CEO of Volunteers of America Northern New England. "We know that when people begin volunteering in their youth it becomes a life-long interest. The Action Team program is a tremendous way for students to see that no matter who you are a high school student or major league ball player we all have a role to play in helping out our communities."
The students supported various fund-raising and awareness-building efforts in Maine during the past year, including Camp POSTCARD, the Paul Hazelton House, the Homeless Youth program and other programs managed and supported by Volunteers of America. Student-led community events included:
The students at Edward Little High School passed cans at home basketball games to provide groceries to youth on the streets and in danger of becoming homeless.
Scarborough High School collected 175 Frisbees for Camp POSTCARD, held a St. Patrick's Day party for the Senior residents of the Paul Hazelton House and coordinated a community-wide raking day for Scarborough seniors.
Mt. Ararat students held a clothing drive and collected recreational equipment for Camp POSTCARD.
Georges Valley High School in Thomaston held a Luau at the Rocky Coast House and served the food with a complementary hula lesson complete with grass skirt.
Team Captains are identified by individual school administrators and are often those with untapped potential who learn leadership skills throughout the year. They recruit students to develop unique service projects with the guidance of Volunteers of America staff. The projects often exceed school requirements for community service. High schools participating include Biddeford, Brunswick, Central (Corinth), Edward Little (Auburn), Georges Valley (Thomaston), Morse (Bath), Mt. Ararat (Topsham), Scarborough, Thornton Academy (Saco) and York.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS TRUST
The Major League Baseball Players Trust partnered with Volunteers of America in 2002 to promote the nurturing and well-being of America's children and their families. The partnership features the personal involvement of Major League baseball players and their families with a variety of programs conducted by Volunteers of America throughout the United States. Also, together they administer the Action Team, a national youth volunteer program currently inspiring the next generation of volunteers in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Mobile, New York City, Oakland, Seattle, Philadelphia, Portland (ME), San Francisco, Tampa and Washington D.C. For more information about the Major League Baseball Players Trust, visit www.MLBPLAYERS.com.
VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA
Volunteers of America is a national, nonprofit, faith-based organization dedicated to helping those in need rebuild their lives and reach their full potential. Through hundreds of human service programs, including housing and healthcare, Volunteers of America helps more than 2 million people in over 400 communities. Since 1896, our ministry of service has supported and empowered America's most vulnerable groups, including at-risk youth, the frail elderly, men and women returning from prison, homeless individuals and families, people with disabilities, and those recovering from addictions. Our work touches the mind, body, heart-and ultimately the spirit-of those we serve, integrating our deep compassion with highly effective programs and services. For more information about Volunteers of America, visit www.VolunteersofAmerica.org.
Caption: Red Sox Player Alex Cora (right) helps recognize student leaders from ten Maine high schools on the field at Fenway Park for their volunteer leadership and community involvement.
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