Princeton students find volunteerism pays with new AmeriCorps service program

Having worked in Firestone library all last spring, Jessica Potts '03 had no idea that the nature of her employment would take a drastic turn when she returned to school this year.

Instead of shelving books, she will be doing community service — and she will be getting paid for it, too. Her paycheck will come from the Bonner Leader AmeriCorps Program, a Princeton-based nonprofit organization that provides education awards and a stipend in return for service.

Potts said she was never as involved in community service as she wanted during her freshman year. "I was too selfish with my own activities to do anything else," she said.

But when Potts heard of the AmeriCorps program, she decided to join. "It was a great opportunity to earn the money and do the service," she said.

AmeriCorps is a national service program that allows people to earn money to finance their educations in exchange for community service. The Bonner foundation provides matching funds and administers the program at Princeton, as well as at seven other schools in New Jersey.

Seven University students have already become involved in the campus AmeriCorps program.

According to Potts, the group's members have already begun investigating several potential service projects, such as starting a community center on Witherspoon Street with the New Jersey Department of Human Services.

Participants in the AmeriCorps Program agree to work 450 hours at $5.29 per hour during the course of the year. In addition, they receive a $1,181 education award from the program.

University students also have the option of taking full-time positions that require 1,700 hours of service per year.

The AmeriCorps program at Princeton almost never made it off the ground. When the Bonner foundation first approached the Student Volunteers Council with the prospect of starting a service scholarship program on campus, the SVC was not interested.

SVC and the Bonner foundation had collaborated on projects before — including what would become the University's Community Based Learning Initiative — according to Sue Anne Steffey Morrow, SVC adviser and associate dean of religious life.

In addition, the Bonner foundation already had experience starting service scholarship programs at 25 other colleges.

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SVC Program Coordinator Bess Jensen said the decision was made with the best interests of the SVC in mind. "[SVC] had other initiatives that we felt we needed to focus our energy on," she said.

"What we do and what AmeriCorps does are different in means," Morrow added.

Wayne Meisel, president of the Bonner foundation and a Wilson College fellow, found more success with Wilson College Master Miguel Centeno.

"What I particularly liked about the program is that it provides students with an opportunity to build programs on their own," Centeno said in an e-mail. He added that the stipend allows students who work part-time to volunteer as well.

Princeton's AmeriCorps program is now being run through Wilson College, though it accepts participants from other colleges. "I happened to pick up the ball, and that's why it's being done at Wilson," Centeno said.

Participants have yet to decide where exactly they will do their service, according to Bonner Program Coordinator Tara Hill. Nevertheless, their enthusiasm is apparent. "It could really become a big thing," she said.