EDGECOMB — Jacob Atkins recently began a 10-month term of service in the National Civilian Community Corps, an AmeriCorps program. Atkins, based out of the AmeriCorps regional campus in Denver, Colo., was formally inducted into the program on Nov. 8.

Atkins is a graduate of Brunswick High School and a former WoRD staff member.

In October, Atkins arrived at his regional campus to begin a month of training. This training, which prepared more than 300 corps members for full-time service with Ameri- Corps NCCC, emphasized teamwork, leadership development, communication, service learning and included certification by the American Red Cross.

NCCC teams of 10 to 12 people will complete a series of six- to eightweek long service projects. Atkins’ team will conclude its first service project this month, break for the holidays, and begin a new project in a new location in January.

Before serving in NCCC, Atkins attended Brunswick High School and the University of Southern Maine where he studied communications and political science.

“Numerous people have informed me that the NCCC is considered to be the ‘domesticated’ version of the Peace Corps,” Atkins said. “Comparatively speaking, the Peace Corps is a humanitarian program in which I have always wanted to join, for I have a dual-passion for traveling and collaboration. As this will be my second AmeriCorps experience, I ultimately decided to pursue this 10- month program in hopes of working alongside fellow progressively-minded individuals; people who are mutually striving to stimulate positive changes within the United States of America. In the long run, I look forward to assisting and collaborating with a variety of communities in states I have never been to.”

AmeriCorps NCCC supports disaster relief, the environment, infrastructure improvement, energy conservation, and urban and rural development.

Fifty-six teams with more than 600 corps members and team leaders began service projects in November throughout the Pacific and Southwest regions, based in Sacramento in Denver respectively. There are three additional NCCC campuses located in Perry Point, Md., Vinton, Iowa, and Vicksburg, Miss., each of which is a hub for its respective area of the country.

AmeriCorps NCCC members, all 18 to 24 years old, complete at least 1,700 hours of service during the 10- month program. In exchange for their service, they receive $5,550 to help pay for college. Other benefits include a small living stipend, room and board, leadership development, team building skills, and the knowledge that, through active citizenship, they can indeed make a difference.

For more information about AmeriCorps NCCC, visit the website at www.americorps.gov/nccc.