Community Initiative “Give Back, Nac’ coming to a close

The City of Nacogdoches joined the national network of Cities of Service, in September, 2010. The nationwide mayoral initiative is designed to develop and implement a high-impact service plan to leverage citizen service as a tool to achieve impact on local challenges. The use of Impact Volunteerism, with the guidance of the city’s Chief Service Officer, is designed to give municipal government a helping hand in using public-spirited residents and service organizations to meet identified challenges thereby making local government more effective.

The focus of “Give Back, Nac!” the City of Nacogdoches’ service plan is the “Color Me READ” Readers’ Club, an initiative aimed at improving reading literacy in kindergarten through third grade, with emphasis on parent education and bullying. The initiative began on June 7th and will end Thursday, August 9th , with an awards ceremony for the kindergarten through third grade participants. The awards party, planned from 6 until 7 pm Thursday, August 9th , at the Judy B. McDonald Public Library, will recognize students who attended the summer sessions with awards, certificates of attendance, and a pizza party.

City leaders, city staff, and citizen volunteers who participated in the summer program as story time readers and parent mentors are invited to attend and enjoy visiting with the students and enjoying some of the highlights of the summer program. The Mayor and City Council recognize the value of the volunteers who helped to make the Cities of Service Community Initiative a positive success for the students and parents and are appreciative of their participation in the program. For more information regarding the initiative, please contact Linda Flores, Chief Service Officer at 936-559-2577. To view the City of Nacogdoches’ service plan, go to http://www.ci.nacogdoches.tx.us/pdf/csgiveback.pdf.