Margaret Knapp
"I’m not part of a disaster relief team, or rebuilding homes, but I am reminded every day of the positive impact that even the simplest gestures can have on a community."
I grew up in Buffalo and went to Binghamton University for College. My senior year I decided to apply for AmeriCorps and although I’d heard about the program in passing, in all honesty I didn’t know too much about it when I applied. I considered AmeriCorps programs in other cities, but ultimately I decided that I wanted to move back to Buffalo. There was something appealing about serving the community I’d lived and grown up in.
I worked at United Way in Buffalo for a summer when I was still in college, and that experience really opened my eyes to all that could be done in the WNY community. While PeaceCorps is a great program itself, I know people in the PeaceCorps, I’m from Buffalo, and I liked the idea of staying in Buffalo and helping to develop the community.
I currently serve at the Canisius College Women’s Business Center and in the past year, I have found the biggest steps I’ve made have been the result of efforts as simple as treating a client fairly and with respect. Its rewarding to see that taking fifteen minutes out of my day to listen to someone talk about their plans for starting a business makes a difference. Its empowering to be able to help an individual who may not otherwise have the resources to accomplish her goals, or who never would have thought it was possible.
My perspective is different from when I started. More than anything, WNY AmeriCorps has taught me that service comes in all different forms. As an
AmeriCorps VISTA, my focus is indirect service.
I think it benefits Buffalo and our community having smaller businesses establish themselves in the city. It gives Buffalo a unique identity.
Tiffany Turner
“Its those small moments that make you realize that although your year of service seems like a small thing, it means a great deal in the grand scheme of things”
I was born and raised in Shreveport, LA; A great place to grow up in my humble opinion. For my undergraduate degree, I attended Dillard University, a historically black college, in New Orleans with a desire to become a teacher. It was at Dillard
when I learned about the AmeriCorps program. A classmate completed a summer service with AmeriCorps in her home state of New Jersey and expressed an interest in completing another term. I knew I wanted to teach but I felt I needed a break from the classroom to prevent burn-out.
I always wanted to come to New York, so I looked up available positions in the state. There were two agencies that grabbed my attention, Western New York AmeriCorps VISTA and Children For Children in Brooklyn, NY. I was more interested in the position in Buffalo because it called for someone to coordinate the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service event. Seriously, who does not love Dr. King? I was offered the job in the early part of October and moved to Buffalo at the end of the month. That was in the fall of 2006 and I have been serving with the program since. One of my projects was a teen room for the older students of a school. They were all excited about the room, but one student, a young girl, was particularly overjoyed to see a mini refrigerator. She would open it and close it; open it and close it as if she could not believe it was really there. It was such a small thing, but it meant a lot to her.
Because of my experience, I now have a better understanding of the importance of volunteer service and moreover the need for service. I serve in the hope of bringing a positive change to the community around me. Since honoring Dr. King is what intrigued me about national service, I feel it is only appropriate to note his opinion on the matter. “Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."