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When it comes to community service, Allegheny College students and alumni move to the front of the line, and the 2020–21 Lake Effect Leaders cohort demonstrates that pointedly.

This year, the Lake Effect Leaders AmeriCorps VISTA Project accepted 23 VISTA members. Five of those positions are in Meadville and 18 are in Erie. Of those positions, eight (34.8 percent) were filled by Allegheny College graduates. They include Andrew Sipple ’15, Emily Scanlon ’19, Ramona Myers-Cohen ’19, Ashlyne Lawrence ’20, Cody Baumeister ’20, Jared McHale ’20, Josef Thorne ’20 and Sarah Young ’20.

Lake Effect Leaders is an intermediary sponsor for AmeriCorps VISTA projects in northwest Pennsylvania. They work with nonprofits, government agencies, and institutions of education to create anti-poverty projects in the focus areas of education, economic opportunity, healthy futures, and veterans and military families. Representatives from Allegheny College, Mercyhurst University, Gannon University and Penn State Behrend collaborate to support the project. VISTA members specifically work behind the scenes to expand the scale, reach, effectiveness and/or efficiency of an organization’s initiative.

“This is an astounding contribution from Allegheny grads and shows how Allegheny’s commitment to a holistic education and developing students who go on to serve their communities is working,” said Ben Helkowski, Allegheny’s Americorps VISTA program coordinator. “These numbers could not be possible without the hard work of the faculty and staff at the College. Allegheny strives to develop a sense of civic responsibility in their students, and this is highly reflective of the College’s efforts.”

The project began with two VISTAs, both Allegheny graduates, in 2003–04. Since that time, over the 18 years, there have been at least 85 VISTA year-long positions held by Allegheny graduates.

Sarah Young, from Statesville, North Carolina, signed on for VISTA service following graduation from Allegheny in May. “I decided to do a year of service with AmeriCorps VISTA because it was an opportunity to continue doing work that I love while also being able to live in a new community and build new relationships,” she said. “I have always been passionate about serving my community and was able to do it throughout college. When the opportunity came up to serve with the Erie Promise Program, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to continue doing this work.”

The Erie Promise Program is a part of the Better Together initiative in Erie and helps remove barriers for Erie high school students in accessing higher education. “So far, I have been working on researching already existing Promise Programs. There are several all over the country. This research will help inform the structure of the Erie program. We will start the decision-making process of this soon,” said Young, who was part of Allegheny’s Bonner Program for four years.

“As a Bonner, I had the opportunity to serve with different organizations in the Meadville area, including Forest Green Estates and America Reads at First District Elementary School,” said Young. “I also had the opportunity last year to serve as one of the Bonner Program senior interns, which allowed me to help in developing and facilitating training for our program, work with our first-year students and work alongside an amazing team. I loved the work that I did through all three of those roles, from the people I worked alongside to getting to know Meadville on a deeper level, and I knew I wanted to continue doing this type of work.”

Cody Baumeister is from Idaho but now calls Meadville his home. “At first when I moved here from Idaho I missed my home state a lot. However, now it feels like this area is always going to be a home to me. I am very excited to work in an area that I already have come to enjoy and love,” he said.

Baumeister’s primary project is creating a virtual youth-mentoring program, but he also helps with existing volunteer-based programs through Allegheny along with other community partners.

“The biggest influence for joining was the connections I made throughout the years at Allegheny,” Baumeister said. “I got to meet a lot of people who chose to take a service year and they encouraged me to apply. After reading about the program and hearing about it through these individuals, I knew it was going to be a great experience for me.”

He is eager for the year of service ahead, “and I am excited to see how much I grow as a person and what new skills I get to develop,” said Baumeister. “I learned a lot through my Allegheny education, and now I am ready to see it put to the test.”