A team of 11 AmeriCorps, National Civilian Community Corps members, are working at Sherman Lakes YMCA camp, in Augusta, as one of five major service projects the team is carrying out by August 5th.
Since January 11th, the NCCC team has mostly been performing maintenance to get the camp ready for its spring programming. A change of pace came when the first group of children arrived from February 1st through 3rd, giving them their first opportunity to work as counselors.
“This is probably one of my favorite projects we will do,” commented Jordan Meeks, a team member from Colorado. “We’ve been chopping a lot of wood, and I haven’t minded the maintenance, but I’m excited about being a counselor. I’ve never done that before.” more
Ice sculptures—and cast-off chunks of ice—were all over the square at the Kalamazoo Mall, along Michigan Ave. as ice sculptors went to work for the Great Winter Adventure.
Unfortunately, the works of art had short lives because of the weekend’s rainy weather. Even the morning the sculptors started, water could be seen dripping from the pieces. more
Downtown Kalamazoo’s Chili Cook-Off, held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on January 23rd, had 32 stores and restaurants competing.
Split into two categories, retail and restaurant, each of the downtown businesses managed to come up with their own unique variety of chili, even if that meant resorting to the use of rather non-traditional ingredients. more
The City of Kalamazoo and the Kalamazoo County Land Bank Authority, will jointly receive approximately $15.6 million in neighborhood stabilization stimulus funding, to reinvigorate six downtown core neighborhoods struggling with foreclosures and abandoned, blighted housing. more
