Energy Express is set to hold induction ceremony for new AmeriCorps members
MORGANTOWN, WV (WVNS) — Energy Express, a WVU Extension Service initiative in collaboration with AmeriCorps, is set to admit the 2025 AmeriCorps cohort.
According to a press release, approximately 150 college-bound students and current college students, as well as community members will serve as members in 22 counties throughout the Mountain State this summer.
Energy Express is a no-cost summer initiative aimed at literacy and nutrition for low income children and rural kids enrolled in first through the sixth grade, the release stated. Members mentor children or serve as volunteer coordinators while gaining leadership experience and career skills from experienced professionals.
Anti-rabies clinics to be held in Raleigh County
AmeriCorps members will be sworn in during a ceremony on June 8, 2025, beginning at 5 p.m. The ceremony will take place at the West Virginia University Morgantown Evansdale Campus.
Energy Express AmeriCorps members finish 300 service hours and get a $4,050 living allowance, a $1,565.08 education award, and their service can be applied toward the West Virginia AmeriCorps Tuition Waiver, the release stated.
Throughout 2024, members in the program assisted approximately 1,150 kids throughout 48 sites. Some of those sites demonstrated an 88 percent growth in reading fluency. That same year, the program commemorated its 30th anniversary.
In the last three decades, approximately 84,000 children in the Mountain State have taken part in the program, and an estimated 13,600 AmeriCorps members assisted them, the release stated. Since 2006, the program has delivered around 1,747,000 meals and 360,000 books to kids throughout the state.
Carnegie Hall announces Ivy Terrace Outdoor Concert Series lineup
AmeriCorps is a national service program in which members address critical needs in education, economic opportunity, disaster relief, environmental stewardship, brighter futures, and veterans and military families, the release stated.
Through the initiative, Energy Express falls under the guidance of the WVU Extension Service Center for Community Engagement and receives funding in part from a grant from Volunteer West Virginia. Volunteer West Virginia, state residents are encouraged to join and strengthen their communities.
For more information regarding Energy Express and to view the summer sites, visit their website. For more information regarding the AmeriCorps and service opportunities, visit their website.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Prosecutor warns of potential charges against women who miscarry in West Virginia
BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — Could women in West Virginia who miscarry at home be charged with crimes related to disposal of a body, if they flush or bury fetal remains? Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Truman said that a number of criminal charges under state code, including felonies, could be levied against a woman who flushes fetal remains, buries them, or otherwise disposes of remains following an involuntary abortion, also called a miscarriage. It was unclear if prosecutors could levy similar criminal charges against husbands or others who helped a woman during a miscarriage. Following the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade, which offered federal protections for legal abortion, a Trumbull County prosecutor in Warren, Ohio, levied criminal charges against a pregnant woman who flushed her toilet after miscarrying at home at 21 weeks. Ohio voters have since enshrined legal abortion rights in the state Constitution via ballot. An abortion ban remains in effect in West Virginia. West Virginia state code bars a woman from facing criminal charges for her own abortion. However, Truman said on Friday, May 30, 2025, that a number of prosecuting attorneys in the state have discussed with him and other prosecuting attorneys their willingness to file criminal charges against women in pregnancy loss situations, by using state law related to disposal of human remains. U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito says she would consider a national ban on abortion but doubts it will be an issue Similar to the prosecution of the Ohio woman, whether or not to file a criminal charge would be left to the discretion of the prosecuting attorney, so women may be unable to predict the outcome of each situation. 'The kind of criminal jeopardy you face is going to depend on a lot of factors,' Truman explained. 'What was your intent? What did you do? How late were you in your pregnancy? Were you trying to hide something, were you just so emotionally distraught you couldn't do anything else?' 'If you were relieved, and you had been telling people, 'I'd rather get ran over by a bus than have this baby,' that may play into law enforcement's thinking, too,' he explained. Truman added that women who miscarry at nine weeks or later could potentially face charges. ''Isn't there a difference between somebody that's eight months pregnant and nine weeks pregnant?'' said Truman. 'Those are going to be decisions that are going to have to be parsed out.' Mercer County man charged with displacement of a dead body State law does not require a woman to notify authorities when she miscarries, but Truman said that women who miscarry in West Virginia can protect themselves against potential criminal charges by reporting the miscarriage to local law enforcement. 'Call your doctor. Call law enforcement, or 911, and just say, 'I miscarried. I want you to know,'' advised Truman. Truman said he was unwilling to file charges in such cases. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
DOGE cuts concern Seniors in Service of Tampa Bay
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Anthony Sessions has been a classroom grandparent, also called foster grandparent, through the group Seniors in Service of Tampa Bay. 'When I come into the room 'grandpa, grandpa.' It's fun. A great deal of satisfaction,' Sessions said. 'M*A*S*H' actress Loretta Swit dies at 87 The organization is meant for low-income seniors who are 55 years old and older to volunteer as mentors and tutors in schools, help homebound elders, and assist other nonprofits with their missions. 'I love teaching and passing on the things that I've learned, and I'm really seeing the benefits of the kids having a foster grandparent,' Sessions said. Robin Ingles is the CEO of Seniors in Service. She spoke more about the AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent Program that's run by her organization. 'In exchange for their commitment to serve at least 15 hours per week for the entire school year in the same classroom, they receive a small stipend,' Ingles said. DOGE efforts to find waste, fraud, and abuse at AmeriCorps led to $400 million in cuts, and nearly all its federal workforce were placed on leave. 'We need the community to act and act now,' Ingles said. That means the Tampa Bay organization, and many others have gaps in grant funding to continue its programs. 'We currently don't have personnel to go to about problems with our funding through this grant and we have the potential that these grants are not going to be funded in the proposed budget for next year,' Ingles said Seniors in Service gets about half of its funding from AmeriCorps. In a 2022 return on investment study, the agency said for every federal dollar spent, it translates to about $34 given to local communities. Last year, members of congress allocated $1.3 billion to a letter to Congress earlier this month, the Trump administration said it needed Congress to reduce discretionary spending to increase defense and border security spending. The administration also said it's possible state and local governments can help organizations with funding. Ingles had a scheduled meeting with Rep. Kathy Castor's office on Friday. So far, Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, Vern Buchanan, and Laurel Lee have not responded to our requests for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Planned PEIA rate increases elicit concern from lawmakers and policyholders
BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) – Hundreds of thousands of West Virginians with PEIA coverage are set to see rate increases in the coming months. With increases of up to 16% in premiums expected to impact certain West Virginia residents as early as July according to PEIA, members of the general public along with state lawmakers have voiced concerns regarding the coverage provider. While many say a change is in order, no one can seem to agree on how to appropriately address financial concerns associated with the program. 'We keep doing things that they tell us is going to fix the problem and then it ends up not fixing the problem,' Delegate Eric Brooks told 59News. 'We'll see what the options are when we get back down there. I think the governor is really pushing for a Special Session to deal with this before January when we have our next legislative session.' A bill introduced during the most recent session of the West Virginia Legislature – House Bill 2623 – would abolish PEIA altogether, though some detractors have characterized the legislation as reckless. The bill was under consideration by the House Committee on Health and Human Resources at the time the most recent legislative session was brought to a close. Governor Patrick Morrisey told 59News he has been working with the legislature to address issues with PEIA, citing an overall need for fiscal responsibility on the state level. 'We have a lot of tough challenges ahead. I've mentioned that we have PEIA that'll be coming up in the upcoming months,' said Morrisey. 'We've been diligently working on that and are starting to have conversations with the legislature. We want to get that right because we have to make sure that we help West Virginia reach her potential.' Several delegates have said they expect to be called in for a session to address PEIA specifically, and the governor says he hopes to address the issue in the coming months, though an official call for a Special Session of the legislature has yet to be made at this time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
