Register by March 1 for the March 19-21 Church World Service Forum on Domestic Disaster Ministry in New Windsor, Maryland, and enjoy an early-bird discount of $120.

Held every two years, the forum is a unique gathering of leading scholars, theologians and practitioners in the field of disaster response and recovery. Participants and speakers come from the broad interreligious community.

Read more: Announcing the Church World Service Forum -- March 19-21

Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 8:00 AM (MT) - Albuquerque, NM

ABOUT THE FORUM

The LIBRE Initiative along with its partners seek to inform the community about how Economic Freedom is critical to our community's Economic prosperity. The Forum will focus on the principles of Free Markets, Self- Reliance and Less Government. The Forum will also address the Economic necessity of Energy to both the U.S. and New Mexico economy. Please take a moment and register for our forum in Albuquerque. You'll have an opportunity to meet and ask questions with experts on Economic Freedom and Energy.

Register Online Today @: http://economicfreedomforum.eventbrite.co.uk

Read more: Forum on Economic Freedom

The Wellness Coalition organized, planed and implemented a MLK Day service project and a community discussion around the film "The Children's March"

Service Project: Called "Smart Choices". Youth Volunteer Corps participants organized a healthy food project that helped educate youth and community members about healthy alternatives to drinking soda pop. We held a taste testing contest to select the official drink for YVC in 2012. We juiced several different types of fruits and vegetables and held a blind taste test were participants could rate and select their favorer drink. The Carrot Apple blend won hands down and was adopted as the Official YVC 2012 Drink. We will try to serve the drink during our programming during out of school time and our large Summer Block program. We will strive to offer healthy alternatives to typical youth program snacks like cookies and sweets. Letting the youth choose their favorite healthy alternatives helps with buy-in and acceptance. We had 16 youth and community members in attendance.

Read more: The Wellness Coalition "The Children's March" Event

Tools to Help Emergency Managers Meet the Needs of Latino Communities
Tuesday, February 28
2:00 p.m. ET (1:00 CT/Noon MT/11:00 PT)

Co-hosted with the National Council of La Raza, FEMA Private Sector Division and the FEMA Voluntary Agency Liaison Unit

Register/Log in

If you’re interested in increasing disaster preparedness efforts within the Latino community, then don’t miss this FREE webinar on February 28.

Register HERE is this is your first time registering for a webinar in the Community Preparedness Webinar Series.

Log in HERE if you have already registered for this webinar, have registered for a previous webinar, or if you're a HSIN.gov user.

Read more: Disaster Volunteering News - 02/12

The Commission hosted the “AmeriCorps Salutes Veterans” on February 12, 2012 at the American Legion Post 49. Over 200 Veterans and their families attended the Valentine Luncheon and learned about the importance of National Service in New Mexico. The Delta Company Fourth Reconnaissance Battalion Marie Corps opened the event with the Color Guard presentation. U.S. Marine Corps Major Christopher Lucas welcomed the participants and spoke on the importance of engaging Veterans in National Service. The Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce provided outreach materials on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. Paul Caputo, with the Marine Corps, recruited former Marines to volunteer. Judge Alisia Hadfield shared community resources for Veterans and their families. Guest were served a delicious spaghetti dinner by the AmeriCorps Members from the Rio Grande Community Farm and the American Red Cross. Veterans and their sweethearts danced to the lively music played by the all Veteran band, Driftin’ Country. AmeriCorps celebrated the service of Veterans and shared the on-going collaboration of Military Service and National Service.

Read more: AmeriCorps Salutes Veterans

The New Mexico Commission for Community Volunteerism participated in the Mescalero Apache High School Career Fair on February 8, 2012. Program manager, Virginia Chavez, met with students and explained the benefits of becoming an AMERICORPS member. Students from the surrounding communities such as Tucumcari, Capitan and Ruidoso attended the Career Fair. Local AmeriCorps programs; EcoServants and the Sovereign Nations Service Corps - Mescalero Apache Tribe AmeriCorps program also provided outreach for their National Service programs.

Read more: Mescalero Apache High school Career Fair