'An incredible resource.' AmeriCorps Cape Cod marks 25 years of service

FALMOUTH — Mark Kasprzyk, Falmouth Conservation Department land manager, looked impressed as he stood at the edge of a parking lot off McCallum Drive, where an old farm road cuts across a grassy field dotted with grazing sheep.

The day was still young at Peterson Farm yet a team of AmeriCorps Cape Cod members in day-glow orange and yellow hard hats had cleared a wide swath of invasive plants at the entrance to the property's network of old access roads and trails. They also made short work of removing tangles of vines from invasive locust trees scheduled for felling — providing easy access for the DPW workers in charge of that task.

"The amount of work that's been done already is amazing," Kasprzyk said, surveying the area on a late November morning. "Now I'm rushing around and like "Oh, God, I've got to find more stuff for them to do!'"

For about 10 years now, Kasprzyk's department, and in particular this piece of land that's been worked for more than three centuries, have benefitted from the efforts of AmeriCorps members.

"It's an incredible resource and I just can't say enough about the members," he said. "I'm sure the other towns will tell you the same thing."

And there is much to appreciate and celebrate. This year marks the 25th anniversary of AmeriCorps Cape Cod — a quarter century of service across the Cape, working on the region's environmental and disaster preparation and response needs.

AmeriCorps was created in 1993 under President Bill Clinton, according to the organization. It was then known as the Corporation for National and Community Service and was formed "as the government agency for national and community service," bringing together several service organizations into one agency.

"We are very excited to celebrate year 25," said AmeriCorps Cape Cod Program Manager Kat Garofoli, a corps member for eight years, as she oversaw the group's work day at Peterson Farm last month.

AmeriCorps Cape Cod members provided $26 million worth of services

Over those years, she said, the service — operating through Barnstable County — has "made a dramatic impact on the environment and communities of Cape Cod."

The work by members in the region tallies to more than $26,265,000 in value, according to the organization, to towns, state and federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations.

For the next several months, the Year-25 members will dedicate more than 32,000 hours of service on Cape Cod. They follow in the footsteps of more than 585 alumni who have served 990,122 hours since the program began in 1998.

"We're going to hit one million hours served to the Cape Cod community this year," Garofoli enthused.

New AmeriCorps Cape Cod class started in September

The agency welcomed its 2023-2024 members on Sept. 5. After five weeks of training, the team's service schedule started in mid-October. Besides their work at Peterson Farm, they've helped manage invasive plants at Mill Pond Valley with the Orleans Conservation Trust, and helped Cape Cod Trout Unlimited clear vegetation along the Quashnet River.

As a group, their work between now and July will include putting their elbow grease into a range of activities, from shellfish propagation to clearing herring runs, reducing wildland fire fuels (grasses, shrubs, dried leaves and pine needles, etc), dolphin stranding response, environmental programs for school children, coastal erosion control and habitat restoration.

On top of that, the members have all begun individual service with programs and town departments around the Cape.

'This is exactly what I want my life to look like.'

AmeriCorps members come from all over the country, and they're filling a niche, Garofoli said.

"Many of them are coming to us right after college or during a gap year to help address really critical needs around our environment and our local disaster concerns," she said.

Hannah VanDivier, a native of Boerne, Texas, has what she calls a "meet cute" story about how she came to the AmeriCorps Cape Cod service.

"I came up to the Cape to work as an outdoor educator in April," she said, stowing her soil-stained work gloves in her hard hat while taking a break at Peterson Farm. "One day we saw this giant IFAW van and saw all these AmeriCorps members releasing dolphins. I said, 'I have to do this!'"

She is assigned to individual service with the Barnstable Land Trust and the town of Barnstable, planting trees in Hyannis as part of the state Department of Conservation and RecreationBureau of Fire Control and Forestry'sGreening the Gateway program. But she knows as a member of the AmeriCorps team "if there's a mass (dolphin) stranding, we're all basically on call to go."

VanDivier is an alumna of the National Civilian Corps, another branch of the national AmeriCorps program, and said the work is something that's captured her heart.

"This is exactly what I want my life to look like. This program offers so much. I'm constantly advocating it for anyone who wants to listen," she said.

Fellow member Sophie Gallagher, from Sandwich, is new to AmeriCorps service. She and her parents came across AmeriCorps Cape Cod on Facebook while researching activities she could do during her gap year.

While she's interested in a future doing something with art, she said she was keen to join up.

"I love hiking, I love the outdoors, so I was like, 'This is going to be awesome,'" she said.

And, so far, the Sandwich High School grad has not been disappointed. She particularly enjoyed her introduction to shellfishing — an activity she hadn't been exposed to despite living on Cape for 13 years.

"I love just being able to get out and use my body in a way that helps the environment and seeing (a project through) from start to finish. Like, say, clearing a field — it's just crazy, you're like, 'Oh my gosh, I actually did something that people can see!'"

Grace Vachon, of Somersworth, New Hampshire, heard about the service at a job fair at the University of New Hampshire, where she earned a wildlife and conservation degree last spring.

"I hadn't been to Cape Cod at all and I was like, 'Okay, this might be fun,'" she said.

And it has been so far. In addition to all-Corps activities like the Peterson Farm project, Vachon is working with the Waquoit Bay Research Reserve in Falmouth and the Friends of Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge.

"I help them with their newsletter," she said, referring to the Friends group. "They'll assign me articles. They have a Creature Feature article where you pick an animal that's found in the refuge and then you write about it."

Another of the 25th-anniversary members, Sam O'Neill, comes to the service from Attleboro.

"I didn't go to school for environmental science or anything like that, but I've always really liked working outside and working with my hands," he said. "Being able to do that while doing something that helps the community is something that I've always been interested in."

O'Neill is assigned to the region's Red Cross for his individual service, scheduling and installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors for residents who request the service through the Red Cross Home Fire campaign.

He likes the diversity of the work and the chance to develop new skill sets.

"One day you're working in an office doing administrative work, the next day you're in a creek somewhere scrubbing oyster bags," he said.

AmeriCorps Cape Cod recruitment strong

The Cape Cod program tends to fare better than most, when it comes to recruitment, although last year it had the smallest corps in its history with 11 members, two of whom left before their service was up, "which happens," Garofoli said.

"Over the last 18 months, AmeriCorps nationally has had a real issue with recruitment. But we (on Cape Cod) have found that our recruitment efforts are a little bit easier because we provide housing," she said.

This year she's pleased to have 19 members on board.

"We generally recruit for up to 24. I'm really looking forward to kicking off next year's recruitment with the hopes that we'll be at a full 24," she said.

Member recruitment for each service year starts in January.

What does the ideal candidate look like?

"For us, you do not necessarily have to have an environmental background or a disaster response background. We're looking for people who are willing to experience new things, and we're looking for people who are adaptable and want to work as a team," Garofoli said. "As long as you are open to learning and are flexible, then you would be a good fit with us."

The Cape's municipal departments and nonprofit organizations are pleased with the help they receive.

Falmouth's Kasprzyk said his department has "had some incredible people" come to work with them, and they've done outstanding work. About seven years ago AmeriCorps members inventoried all areas in Falmouth where there is public access to water. It remains a seminal document for the conservation department, and has been used to "branch off and make better maps."

Wellfleet shellfish constable Nancy Civetta is another fan. She said she's applied for an individual placement member to come work with the Wellfleet Shellfish Department every year since the 2018-2019 season, the year after she started her job.

"It's been incredible. They really are offering extra hands on deck," she said, which is a godsend because "we have almost year-round propagation activities."

As the 25th year progresses, Garofoli said there will be several events to celebrate all that the program's members have accomplished on Cape. The team can be followed on Facebook for updates and announcements.

Heather McCarron can be reached at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on X @HMcCarron_CCT

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: AmeriCorps Cape Cod to reach 1 million hours of service in 25th year