Cities of Service » Press Releases

New York City Coats Two Million Square Feet of Rooftops White

Cities of Service — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:19:07 +0000

NYC Service, the office tasked with implementing New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s high-impact service plan, and the New York City Department of Buildings recently announced that volunteers have coated more than two million square feet of rooftops white in an effort to reduce the city’s carbon footprint and lower energy costs. The NYC°CoolRoofs initiative formed the basis for a “Service as a Strategy” blueprint released earlier this year by Cities of Service and ServiceNation called Cool Roofs.

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Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Leads Largest LA River Cleanup in City’s History

Cities of Service — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:10:03 +0000

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was joined by the Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR), and more than 5,000 volunteers to lead the Los Angeles River Day of Service.

Held in conjunction with FoLAR’s annual Great Los Angeles River Cleanup, the City’s Day of Service featured over 50 community service projects and 14 cleanup locations in communities along the 51-mile Los Angeles River, making it the largest river clean up in the City’s history.

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Baltimore Mayor Rawlings-Blake Launches stepUP! Baltimore

Cities of Service — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:33:22 +0000

In keeping with a pledge made in her state of the City Address, today, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced details about a new comprehensive volunteer plan: stepUP! Baltimore. The initiative will leverage volunteer service as a strategy to address the most pressing challenges in Baltimore’s communities including, drug addiction, vacant lots, and youth violence. stepUP! Baltimore was developed with support from a Cities of Service Leadership Grant.

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Ten U.S. Cities Launch High-Impact Service Plans, Joining 11 Others in Addressing Needs Through Impact Volunteerism

Cities of Service — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:26:24 +0000

Cities of Service today announced that ten U.S. cities this month have launched efforts to strategically engage volunteers to address the most pressing needs in their communities. Seven of these cities – Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Houston, Little Rock, and Orlando – released their “high-impact service plans” this week. All ten cities are recipients of Cities of Service Leadership Grants, funded jointly by the Rockefeller Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies. The two-year grants enable cities to hire Chief Service Officers to work closely with mayors to develop and implement these service strategies.

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Orlando Mayor Dyer Launches ORLANDO CARES

Cities of Service — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:00:34 +0000

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer today launched ORLANDO CARES, the city’s high-impact service plan. The plan focuses on crime prevention and youth education. Two of the plan’s initiatives launch in March including Mayor Buddy’s Book Club and COMPACT Expansion. The other three programs launching later this spring include Preschool Ambassadors, The Garden, School Turnaround Project – Interfaith Volunteer Pilot and Path Finders.

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Austin Mayor Leffingwell Launches Serve Austin

Cities of Service — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:47:13 +0000

Austin City Hall was filled with volunteers from Travis High School preparing care packages for veterans today as Mayor Leffingwell unveiled a new citywide, high-impact service plan dubbed “Serve Austin.” Designed to increase and target volunteerism to address pressing community needs, the “Serve Austin” plan was drafted by Leffingwell and Austin Chief Service Officer Andy Mormon, in partnership with leaders from the Austin service community.

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Little Rock Mayor Stodola Launches Little Rock Serves

Cities of Service — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:37:25 +0000

Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola today announced the launch of Little Rock Serves, the city’s high-impact service plan that leverages citizen service strategies to address three priority community needs: childhood obesity, neighborhood stabilization, and environmental sustainability.

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Atlanta Mayor Reed Launches Forward Together

Cities of Service — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:45:15 +0000

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, along with several philanthropic, government, and business leaders, on Tuesday announced the launch of the city’s new strategic service plan to encourage more Atlantans to participate in focused community service activities. Made possible by a Cities of Service Leadership Grant, funded jointly by the Rockefeller Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies, Forward Together outlines the Mayor’s vision to mobilize and channel volunteers towards what he describes as the city’s greatest areas of need — developing our youth and beautifying our communities.

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Baton Rouge Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden Launches Baton Rouge Proud

Cities of Service — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 22:54:57 +0000

Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden today launched “Baton Rouge Proud,” the city-parish’s high-impact service plan that matches volunteers with service initiatives that address some of the city’s priority areas: revitalization of blighted neighborhoods and preparation of disadvantaged pre-K youngsters for success in school.

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Houston Mayor Parker Launches Houston SERVICE

Cities of Service — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 22:50:39 +0000

Mayor Annise Parker announced today the launch of Houston SERVICE, a comprehensive, high-impact service plan that leverages service and volunteerism to address three areas of need in Houston: youth development, veterans’ affairs, and CPR readiness. In addition, Houston SERVICE is launching www.HoustonSERVICE.org to provide details on the service plan, its initiatives, and other ways for Houstonians to become involved in volunteer activities.

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