The Third Goal: Bringing Peace Corps Home
The Third Goal: Bringing Peace Corps Home
Although we have finished our Peace Corps assignments, we will always be Volunteers at heart. Our task now is to help other Americans to better understand the people and cultures of the countries where we once served.
Education/Cultural Exchange
Speakers- We invite inquiries from interested schools, community service groups, and other organizations who would like speakers, information, or other services which we may be able to provide. Each year in March, over 50 RPCV members speak at local schools for Peace Corps Day. CRPCA is currently updating its speaker listings. Organizations have requested talks on a number of Peace Corps topics in the past and our organization has been able to supply presenters. If you have a desire to share your Peace Corps experience (and show those slides you haven't looked at in years) with various groups please join the Speakers' Bureau. Call or e-mail Richard Ireland, (503) 246-0479, Rireland88@aol.com
Portland Rose Festival Starlight Parade- Winners of the 1999 Best Community Float, CRPCA members and friends help kick-off the Rose Festival each June by strolling garbed in clothing from their respective countries of service. Come and join the fun!
Fundraisers
Annual Fall Dinner- Serving up familiar country of service dishes and Peace Corps humor, this annual dinner raises money for a wide variety of projects. Past dinners have raised funds for Sierra Leonean refugees in camps in Guinea and benefited the Museum for the Peace Corps Experience.
Calendars- Each year since1990 during the holiday season, CRPCA has sold the international calendar created by the Madison,Wisconsin RPCV group. We are one of the top-selling groups in the country. Proceeds are donated to local organizations such as literacy associations, migrant and refugee programs, and energy projects. This year's 2003 Committee for a Museum of the Peace Corps Experience (CMPCE) and African Sports Outreach International (ASO) in our annual project to sell Peace Corps calendars. ASO provides sporting goods and instruction to children throughout West and Southern Africa. It also organizes cultural exchange projects for at-risk youth in Portland, with Rainbow Family Services. CMPCE puts on exhibits of the Peace Corps experience and has the ultimate goal of opening a national Museum of the Peace Corps Experience in Portland, Oregon.
Service
Recruitment- CRPCA members regularly act as a resource to the Regional Peace Corps Recruitment Office by doing slide presentations and speaking with those interested in applying for Peace Corps Service. Springtime regularly brings one of our largest soirees with prospective volunteers and RPCVs gathering for a night of questions, answers, slides and stories at the Lucky Lab.
Volunteer- The word Volunteer is still special to us. As a group we have participated in various activities such as supporting newly arrived refugee families, tree planting, developmental education, OPB pledge drives, home weatherization crews and beach clean-ups. It is estimated that over 78% of RPCVs have formally volunteered their time to causes since their return.
