For Immediate Release                        Contact: Doug Svetnicka, DCA PIO 505-827-4378
January 6, 2010                                  Centennial Office 505-795-1088

Governor Bill Richardson Announces New Centennial Initiative to Get New Mexicans Involved in their Communities

We Serve/New Mexico will link volunteer organizations across the state in preparation for New Mexico’s 100th Anniversary in 2012

SANTA FE – Governor Bill Richardson today announced a new statewide initiative called We Serve/New Mexico that will work with communities across the state to prepare for New Mexico’s 100th anniversary. We Serve/New Mexico will be made up of volunteers that will lead community clean-ups, graffiti and weed eradication, beautification projects, repairs and restorations, recycling projects, educational projects and services to youth and elders over the next two years.

“Linking volunteers from across the state through We Serve/New Mexico will help prepare New Mexico for the 2012 Centennial and is a great way for New Mexicans to get involved in their community and their state,” said Governor Bill Richardson.

Over the next two years, We Serve/New Mexico hopes to organize 500 community projects and to engage 30,000 volunteers of all ages, to give back to their cities and towns. New Mexico will commemorate its 100th anniversary as a state in 2012, and citizens statewide are invited to set the stage for the commemoration year by taking on community projects that will keep New Mexico strong and beautiful for the next one hundred years.

We Serve/New Mexico will focus on four annual service days:

• Martin Luther King Day, January 18
• Cesar Chavez Day, March 31
• 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance, September 11
• Make a Difference Day, October 30

 
Centennial volunteers are also invited to take part in clean up projects during the annual Great American Cleanup (March 1 to May 31); and Trek for Trash (August 1 to October 31).  During these periods, communities are invited to engage volunteer groups and schools in “low-cost/no-cost” projects that serve their area best.
 
“We Serve/New Mexico sets the tone for a commemoration of New Mexico’s statehood and is a great way for New Mexicans to get involved,” said Stuart Ashman, Chair of the Centennial Task Force.  “This initiative encourages New Mexicans to work together to improve their community and is a great way to be a part of New Mexico’s centennial celebration.”
 
We Serve/New Mexico is a collaboration among the Centennial Task Force and Steering Committee, the NM Commission on Community Volunteerism, New Mexico Clean and Beautiful, the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Public Education Department.
 
To get your community involved or to volunteer your time, contact the Centennial Office. Volunteers are encouraged to tell their story at www.nmcentennial.org.

 
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VISTA Volunteers preparing to do community service at Carlos Gilbert Elementary School in Santa Fe, following the Statehood Day festivites at the State Capitol on January 6, 2010.