WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME) today announced that the Corporation for National and Community Service has awarded the Maine Department of Education an $82,345 Learn and Serve America (LSA) School-Based Formula grant. The Maine Department of Education will fund six school districts that engage 10,000 students and 400 adults in service-learning activities over three years to address local education, environmental, health, nutrition, and public safety needs.
“This funding will facilitate invaluable service-learning opportunities for Mainers throughout our state,” Senators Snowe and Collins said in a joint statement. “Community service programs such as this greatly enrich the lives both of those being served and of the volunteers involved. We are pleased to see a program encouraging Mainers to help their fellow citizens.”
The Corporation for National and Community Service was established in 1993 to connect Americans of all ages and backgrounds with opportunities to give back to their communities and their nation. It merged the work and staffs of two predecessor agencies, ACTION and the Commission on National and Community Service. The purpose of Learn and Serve America (LSA) funds is to involve young people between the ages of five and seventeen in service-learning projects that simultaneously support student development and meet community needs. These grants are awarded to State Education Agencies based on a statutory formula that includes the population of school-age youth and the allocation to the State for the previous fiscal year. The Corporation for National and Community Service also administers grant competitions in its Senior Corps and AmeriCorps programs.