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As part of the AmeriCorps organization's "National Day of Service"—set for Friday, Sept. 11 this year—AmeriCorps members at Western Illinois University are collecting baseball gloves and baseballs to send to U.S. troops stationed overseas. The boxes are located in the front lobby of Macomb City Hall, in downtown Macomb at the Free Range Yoga building or on the WIU campus at the entrance of Currens Hall and at the WIU Veterans Resource Center. The boxes will be available for donations until Friday, Sept. 11.
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Local Gloves4Troops Effort Organized by WIU Student, AmeriCorps Member

September 8, 2015

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MACOMB, IL — As part of the AmeriCorps organization's "National Day of Service"—set for Friday, Sept. 11 this year—AmeriCorps members at Western Illinois University are collecting baseball gloves and baseballs to send to U.S. troops stationed overseas.

According to Ella Lehmann, an AmeriCorps member and political science graduate student in Western's Peace Corps Fellows (PCF) Program in Community Development, she was motivated to tackle a "Gloves4Troops" project as a tribute to her brother, Major Abraham Lehmann, who is currently serving overseas.

"The National Day of Service for AmeriCorps falls on Sept. 11, so it is a fitting time to remember and support our troops. Gloves4Troops was started by baseball player Vance Albitz in 2012, when Vance learned about a soldier's only wish during his deployment, which was to be sent a baseball glove to help him remember home. Since then, Vance and his organization, Gloves4Troops, have been supporting our troops through America's national pastime. We've made donation boxes with signs on them stating what the project is and will be placing them around campus and downtown Macomb," Lehmann explained.

Lehmann said the boxes are located in the front lobby of Macomb City Hall, in downtown Macomb at the Free Range Yoga building or on the WIU campus at the entrance of Currens Hall and at the WIU Veterans Resource Center. The boxes will be available for donations until Friday, Sept. 11.

The Gloves4Troops project at Western is funded by the Serve Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, which announced $8.6 million in Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) federal grants last week.

"We are in our 14th year managing an AmeriCorps State Program, in partnership with the Serve Illinois Commission," said Karen Mauldin-Curtis, program manager for the PCF Program in Community Development at Western. "This year, in honor of the 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance, our members are excited to participate in the Gloves4Troops drive as a way of reaching out to our service men and women overseas. We encourage community members to contribute to the effort," she added.

For more information, contact Lehmann at ER-Lehmann@wiu.edu.

Posted By: Teresa Koltzenburg (WIUNews@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing