May 2013 is National Community Action Month
Toolkit Now Available!

Just click here to download

The 2013 National Community Action Month Toolkit—“Community Action: Catalyst for Excellence-Advocate for Equity”—is designed to help Community Action Agencies prepare to commemorate National Community Action Month in May.

This toolkit contains information and sample materials and news releases that can be customized to best reflect the messages your Community Action Agency wants to communicate and target audience you want to reach during May. You can also feel free to draft your own materials based on what will work for your Community Action Agency and community.

Use National Community Action Month to showcase your sustained effectiveness helping America’s low-income people and communities achieve economic security. If you didn’t celebrate National Community Action Month in 2012, we encourage you to do so this year so we can all emphasize together that now, more than ever, Community Action is essential for struggling Americans who want to enter the middle class.
 
Please email copies of your National Community Action Month media coverage to Lisa Holland, lholland@communityactionpartnership.com.

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National Community Action Month in May was created by the Community Action Partnership to reinforce Community Action Agencies' role helping low-income families achieve economic stability. 

During National Community Action Month, Community Action Agencies truly make the Promise of Community Action—to help people and change lives—come alive by hosting events that help put a "face" on the families living in poverty and the dedicated individuals who are helping them escape it.  Success stories are honored and personal achievements are recognized.  Some governors and mayors even proclaim May "Community Action Month" in their states and cities.

Community Action Agencies also use National Community Action Month to call attention to poverty-related problems.  As Community Action Agencies are showcasing their programs, they are also giving local residents-many who are unaware of the poverty in their communities-a first-hand look at the struggles low-income families face and how Community Action programs help these families achieve financial security.

Nominate your outstanding program participants and volunteers for the Community Action Partnership's Sargent Shriver Achievement and Jayne Thomas Grassroots Volunteer Recognition Awards.



The Sargent Shriver Achievement Award was established by the Community Action Partnership in 1995 to recognize and honor achievements by individuals who, with the assistance of a Community Action Agency, have changed their lives and achieved independence. The Award is named for Sargent Shriver, the first director of the Office of Economic Opportunity.

The Sargent Shriver Achievement Award represents what Community Action is all about: Helping people and changing lives. Community Action Agencies have been honoring "achievers" by opening doors and leading the way from poverty to independence. Every CAA has success stories of program participants. With this award, the Community Action Partnership seeks to honor those individuals who have turned hope into reality.

The Jayne Thomas Grassroots Volunteer Recognition Award was established by the Community Action Partnership in 1988 to acknowledge exemplary achievements in support of Community Action. The Award is named after Jayne Thomas, who was an outstanding community action leader with Total Action Against Poverty in Roanoke, Virginia, and the Community Services Block Grant director for that state. The Jayne Thomas Grassroots Volunteer Recognition Award is given to an individual each year who has shown outstanding dedication and made extraordinary contributions to a Community Action Agency.