May 7, 2009
By Tony Lee
Seven local City Year volunteers crowded around tables inside the Tobin School in Roxbury yesterday, talking to students about the animal kingdom.
It was like a lot of scenes over the 20 years since City Year began by fixing up a Roxbury lot, yet a major milestone was reached. With that study session the volunteer organization had conducted 20 million hours of service.
The timing of the benchmark could not be more fitting.
“With our economic situation there is even more need for volunteers,” said City Year CEO and co-founder Michael Brown, who indicated that the current generation is more primed to offer their services after living through 9/11 and an economic collapse. “It’s not so much about the first 20 million hours, it’s about the next 20 million.”
The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act signed into law last month will expand the ranks of AmeriCorps, of which City Year is a member, and add several new service corps. This will allow City Year to maintain care for kids such as those at the Tobin School.
“I get chills when I think about the next 20 million hours,” said Tobin School Principal Cheryl Watson-Harris.
City Year volunteer Kip Jones, 20, helps out Luis Torres, 10, with his reading during an event at the Maurice Tobin School yesterday. Photo: Nicolaus Czarnecki/Metro