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DENVER – On Monday, November 3, Wendy Angus-Anderson of Gloucester City, N.J., deployed to begin work on her first service project of the year with the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), an AmeriCorps program.

Founded in 1994, AmeriCorps NCCC is a residential national service program created to assist with disaster relief, improve the environment, enhance education, increase public safety, and address unmet human needs. This year marks its 15^th anniversary.

Angus-Anderson (photo) arrived at NCCC’s Southwest Region Campus in Denver and began training on Monday, October 6, for 10 months of full-time service with AmeriCorps NCCC. This training emphasized teamwork, leadership development, communication, service learning, and certification by the American Red Cross.

As a Corps Member, Angus-Anderson will be responsible for completing a series of six- to eight-week-long service projects as part of a 10- to 12-person team. Her first service project will end on December 19, at which time her team will break for the winter holidays and begin a new project in a new location on January 5.

Twenty-four teams composed of 257 Corps Members and Team Leaders will begin service projects this week. Fifteen of the teams will support the Federal Emergency Management Agency with continuing Hurricane Ike recovery projects in Texas. Four of the teams will travel to ongoing Hurricane Katrina recovery projects in New Orleans. The five remaining teams will stay in Colorado: one will work with Boulder Open Space, one with the American Red Cross, and three will begin training as wildland firefighters with forest service personnel.

There are three other NCCC campuses located in Perry Point, Md., Vinton, Iowa, and Sacramento, Calif., each of which is a hub for its respective area of the country, though teams will travel to other regions for disaster relief projects.

Before joining the NCCC, Angus-Anderson attended Gloucester Catholic High School and Franklin and Marshall College, which she graduated from in May 2008 with a degree in Anthropology. Angus-Anderson said, \”I want to help others and it\’s best to start in my own country. Studying abroad for a semester in Ethiopia in 2007 fueled my ambition to join a service program.\” Blake and Deborah Angus-Anderson are Wendy’s parents.

AmeriCorps NCCC Members, all 18-24 years old, must complete at least 1,700 hours of service during the 10-month program. In exchange for their service, they receive $4,725 to help pay for college. Other benefits include a small living stipend, room and board, leadership development, team building skills, and the knowledge that, through active citizenship, they can indeed a difference. AmeriCorps NCCC is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. For more information about AmeriCorps NCCC, visit the website at www.americorps.gov/nccc.