UWG News Item
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Second AmeriCorps Team comes to UWG

July 8, 2003

CARROLLTON, GA -The University of West Georgia has always prided itself not only on great educational offerings, but also on maintaining a beautifully landscaped campus. It is this reputation for superior landscaping that prompted UWG Landscape and Grounds to call upon the AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps to help restore and revamp the campus trail system.

For a little more than a month in May and June, an initial team of nine AmeriCorps*NCCC volunteers moved into a UWG residence hall and worked to clear unwanted vegetation, identify and correct erosion problems, and grade and level hazardous sections of the campus walking trails. Unfortunately, heavy rains slightly hindered the team’s progress and left no time no time for them to install signs along the trails, as had been originally scheduled.

But now a second AmeriCorps*NCCC team has taken up where the first team left off. Since June 19, the young volunteers have been working to complete the renovation of the previously existing trails and extend them by two miles, as well as install signage. The team will continue the project into mid-July.

The vision for the new trails is that of a peaceful, natural environment, according to James Hembree, UWG grounds superintendent. On their way to a tranquil, clear-cut area near the Little Tallapoosa River, the trails lead through a series of ornamental plantings, as well as a two-acre section of wildflower meadows and a forest of well-established pine trees.
Though under construction, the trails are still open to the public.

“We, the school, invite the community to enjoy the trails at any time,” says Hembree.

A project proposal by Landscape and Grounds invited the Southeast district of AmeriCorps*NCCC to help restore UWG’s six miles of walking trails as well as to create two miles of new trails. The trails were damaged in 2000 by a timber harvest necessitated by an infestation of pine bark beetles, the most destructive insects of pines in Georgia.

According to the Entomology and Forest Resources Digital Information Work Group, annual losses from outbreaks have exceeded $5 million since 1962. At UWG, unsalvageable trees were removed, leaving the trails barren and badly damaged.

Members of AmeriCorps*NCCC are assigned to volunteer teams of 10-12 of their peers. Young women and men ranging in age from about 18 to 24 serve their country by doing service work in such areas as environmental projects, education, public safety, disaster relief and other community needs during their 10-month terms.

Members move around the country — and sometimes abroad — to work on a variety of projects lasting one day to eight weeks. At the end of their service, they receive an education award from AmeriCorps of up to $4,725 to help pay for college or student loans.

Prior to working on the UWG project, the second group of AmeriCorps volunteers has already completed four other projects in the Southeast. After initial training in late September at the AmeriCorps*NCCC Regional Campus at Charleston, S.C., the team was ready for its first project.
With as much as they could pack in their 15-passenger van, 11 young and spirited souls drove down to the Florida Keys. The team, led by Kim Burrows, 26, of Caldwell, N.J., was ready for its first experience. For three and a half weeks, they spent many hours re-establishing the local environmental habitat. Team member Esteban Quiñones, 23, of Miami explained that it was not your ideal vacation in the Keys.

“You have to wear long sleeves and long pants to protect yourself from the poison oak in 80 or 90 degree weather,” said Quiñones.

Next, the team made a trip to Monroe County in eastern Tennessee. Here they worked
with the Boys and Girls Club and built an outdoor pavilion that holds 150 people. They also took some time to tutor and teach the young kids.

Their next mission was a week-long project in Charleston to assist at a lower-income middle school. The team worked with and tutored many at risk pre-teens and teens. They created a conflict resolution program and a junior achievement program as well.

Weeks before the AmeriCorps group teamed up with UWG, they found their way back to Florida. Partnered with Habitat for Humanity, the team built and worked on 12 different houses.
Like the first team that visited UWG, the current AmeriCorps workers are provided lodging in a UWG residence hall. Food Services provides meals on the weekdays, and on the weekends, when Food Services is closed, the Mellow Mushroom, the Maple Street Diner and Publix provide ample food for these hungry workers.

Through thick and thin, the team has stood the test of time. With only a few weeks of their 10-month stint left, all team members are still on board.

“Most teams lose at least one member,” explained team member Chad Spear, 22, of Vanceburg, Ky. “About 10 of the 30 [current Charleston-based] teams have not lost any members.”

The UWG trail project is the last for the group. At the end of July, the team members will pick up their education award checks, go their separate ways and continue with their lives. Whether they are continuing their education, looking for a job, or rejoining another AmeriCorps team, the volunteers are unlikely to ever forget this experience.

As Quiñones stated, “It’s a great eye opening experience that will change your life forever.”

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