BY JOE SCOTCHIE
jscotchie@antonmediagroup.com
AmeriCorps, a national service organization, was created by the federal government in 1993 as a loosely-defined domestic version of the Peace Corps. New Hyde Park resident Puja Panchal, a recent graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, has found the organization, especially the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Corps congenial to her future career plans. After graduating from Northeastern University in 2015, Pancal served a 10-month term with FEMA Corps as a member at the North Central Region Campus in Vinton, IA
This summer, she is serving as a team leader, a title given to only 10 FEMA workers in the Atlantic Region’s FEMA Corps class. FEMA Corps is a track of the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), an AmeriCorps program.
Panchal is currently stationed in Baltimore, MD, where she is on call to work on needed projects throughout the country. Panchal’s second tour of duty with FEMA will last for 11 months, ending in May 2017.
As a team leader, Panchal and her team will work on a variety of projects focusing on disaster response and recovery efforts. She may work with FEMA regional and joint field offices, as well as the Red Cross and other emergency management organizations.
After her 11-month tenure, Panchal will graduate from FEMA Corps next May with an education award of $5,775, which can be used to continue education or pay back student loans.
“I enjoyed the fact that it was team-based,” Pancal told The New Hyde Park Illustrated News, speaking of his first tour. “It was a good challenge to work in a team setting. I enjoyed the emergency management aspect and working with survivors and doing community outreach.”
When asked about her motivation to serve, Panchal added, “I like to work with people and see that I am helping them to persevere through hard times.”
A 2011 graduate of New Hyde Park Memorial High School, Panchal received a B.A. degree in History from Northeastern. The time working on the FEMA Corps has broadened her horizons and the first tour was so successful that Panchal now takes on an important leadership position in this vital program.
FEMA’s mission is to support the citizens and first responders. AmeriCorps NCCC is a full-time, residential, national service program in which 2,200 young adults serve nationwide each year. During their 10-month term, corps members–all 18 to 24 years old–work on teams of eight to 12 on projects that address critical needs related to natural and other disasters, infrastructure improvement, environmental stewardship and conservation, energy conservation, and urban and rural development. On being inducted into AmeriCorps, the members take the following pledge:
I will get things done for America—to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier.
I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities.
Faced with apathy, I will take action.
Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.
Faced with adversity, I will persevere.
I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.
