News : Maple Unit volunteers join AmeriCorps campus

Nathan "Gordo" King said his friends convinced him AmeriCorps is a life-changing experience.

Sarah Gould reacts as AmeriCorps staff members sing Happy Birthday to her May 5 as she signed in.

AmeriCorps Week is coming soon, media rep Angela Sorrels makes pins to honor the occasion.

Support team member Tom Reed, in a familiar green shirt, helps David Forbes inventory his wardrobe.

Team Leader Erick Knox makes sure the key to David Forbes' new room works Wednesday in Rice Hall.

Victoria Birch, left, was born in Russia; Anya Ruvinskaya in the Ukraine. They met in Vinton May 4.

Jordan Piper and other new AmeriCorps volunteers registered on Wednesday.

Sarah Gould will always remember exactly which day she arrived at the AmeriCorps campus in Vinton. May 5, 2010, was her 21st birthday.

The AmeriCorps staff members who were checking in new volunteers Wednesday broke out in an impromptu chorus of "Happy Birthday" when one of them saw her date of birth.

Sarah is one of about 60 new volunteers who will form the first Maple Unit at the North Central Region AmeriCorps NCCC Campus in Vinton.

The Maple Unit will be a bit smaller in its debut than the Oak and Cedar Units. That works for the AmeriCorps campus, because the additional dorm rooms needed for the new members are still under construction. Approximately 60 signed in at the IBSSS gymnasium Wednesday. Those new members will temporarily sleep in the dorms used by Cedar and Oak members who are away from campus at job sites.

But by February of 2011, all three units will be on the same schedule and have the same number of volunteers: 80.

They Maple volunteers came with their belongings stuffed in backpacks and suitcases, and their minds full of a variety of thoughts and feelings.

"I feel like a freshman all over again," said one volunteer.

"My friends told me about AmeriCorps, and it seems like a life-changing experience," said Nathan "Gordo" King of Franklin, Mass.

"I think it's great," said DIanne Polaske, who accompanied her daughter, Ann, from Spread Eagle, Wisconsin, to Iowa. Like King, Ann Polaske also heard about AmeriCorps from her friends.

David Forbes learned about AmeriCorps while writing a paper on volunteerism. He arrived Wednesday from Terra Haute, Ind., and is now a member of one of the Maple Unit.

The new volunteers -- like those from the previous classes who have called Vinton their home for a few months -- came from virtually every part of America, and beyond.

Team leader Anya Ruvinskaya was especially pleased to meet volunteer Victoria Birch of New Jersey. Anya was born in the Ukraine and came to the U.S. while a teenager. Victoria was born in Russia and adopted by an American family at age 3.

The new members signed in and then went to the fitting rooms to try on the AmeriCorps uniforms. Vinton residents are familiar with the khaki pants and shorts, the grey and black t-shirts and sweatshirts, and the black boots and belts. Raincoats, gloves and other outerwear were also distributed.

Team leader Nicholas Abraham -- the one who once peddled ice cream while pedaling a tricycle -- helped the new members find clothes their size. He promised them that the clothes that would be assigned to them would be newer and cleaner than the old and worn samples they saw on the table in front of them.

Other crew leaders drove the volunteers in from the airport, or showed them to their rooms. Eric Knox of Chicago gave brief tours to each young man as he showed them to their rooms and made sure their keys worked. Knox pointed out the kitchen, laundry, study, telephone and lounge areas.

Tom Reed, a former AmeriCorps volunteer who is now a member of the support staff, showed each volunteer the inventory of his new AmeriCorps wardrobe. The old Hospital area at the Iowa Braille School is now the AmeriCorps supply room.

A dinner was held for the new volunteers Wednesday night, and a community welcome was planned for 8:30 Thursday morning.