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Celebrating the 50th: A Day of Service with India Group 28
By Kevin Quigley on Tuesday, October 18th, 2011
India Group 28 (1966-78) pitches in at Food and Friends during the National Peace Corps Association's Day of Service
The 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps was about more than celebrating the accomplishments of the past.
It was also about keeping the values of service and understanding front and center.
To help do this, as part of the capstone anniversary events in Washington, DC, September 22-25th, Friday September 23rd was set aside as a Day of Service. That day, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) streamed into the NPCA offices to pick up their t-shirt and a coupon for a scoop of ice cream courtesy of Ben and Jerry’s before heading to their sites. In fact, there was such overwhelming interest from our community, that we weren’t able to place all those that wanted to volunteer! Still, more than 200 individuals volunteered with 12 DC-based charities.
The overcast sky and persistent rain didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of Peace Corps community members who wanted to celebrate the 50th by spending some time doing what Volunteers do best: serving others.
I was very fortunate to join 18 members of India Group 28, who served in India 1966-68.
We spent the morning and Food and Friends, a DC-based food bank, packing meals for clients of Foods and Friends.
We were divided into two assembly-lines and packaged a variety of nourishing meals. The arrangement was perfect for talking with this fabulous group of RPCVs and learning a bit about their volunteer service and lives since. We worked hard and efficiently, but also had fun.
Later in the morning, NPCA Board Janet Greig and her husband Wylie, who are also members of Group 28 joined us.
Thanks so much to Linda and Don Goetzinger who took this picture of us in our stylin’ NPCA Service Day T-shirts and to all of the India 28ers for giving me the privilege of spending the morning in service with you.
Did you take photos during the September 50th anniversary celebrations? Would you like to see what others did while they were in Washington, DC? View and share them via our Flickr group created just for this purpose! www.flickr.com/groups/peacecorpsseptember2011/
