FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cindy Deppe, media relations, 641-269-4834

Nov. 1, 2007

GRINNELL CORPS ADDS NEW ORLEANS TO SERVICE SITES FOR GRADS

Grinnell Corps, Grinnell College's college-funded service corps, will add New Orleans to the list of sites to benefit from Grinnell graduates' commitment to community service and social justice.

Grinnell Corps offers selected new graduates one-year fellowship opportunities to volunteer in New Orleans and six other domestic and international locations, in exchange for nominal living expenses funded by the college. Grinnell Corps volunteers are currently serving in established programs in Lesotho, Africa; Namibia, Africa; Thessaloniki, Greece; Nanjing, China; Macao, China; and Grinnell, Iowa.

"When we began looking for another Grinnell Corps domestic site, New Orleans was an obvious choice," said Doug Cutchins, associate director of post-graduate service and scholarships at Grinnell College. "Grinnell students are already very committed to service in this troubled area, through alternative break activities and fundraising, so we knew that we could fulfill the New Orleans fellowship easily."

Grinnell Corps has established a relationship with the Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rebuilding neighborhoods and affordable home ownership in New Orleans. The first Grinnell Corps fellow will begin work in summer 2008 on projects ranging from grantswriting and client support to mapping and brownfield redevelopment.

Jericho Road Executive Director Brad Powers said, "We welcome Grinnell Corps' participation in and support of the great needs here in New Orleans. This will be an exceptional opportunity for a new graduate to literally help rebuild a city." Jericho Road's focus is the Central City Neighborhood of New Orleans, where half of the community lived in poverty prior to Hurricane Katrina.

Grinnell Corps is open only to Grinnell College graduates during their first year following graduation. Students apply in early February and are notified in March prior to their service commitment the year following graduation. For more information about Grinnell Corps, go to http://www.grinnell.edu/Offices/SocialCommitment/grinnellcorps/

Grinnell College is a nationally recognized, private, four year, liberal arts college located in Grinnell, Iowa. Founded in 1846, Grinnell enrolls 1,600 students from all 50 states and from as many international countries in more than 25 major fields, interdisciplinary concentrations, and pre-professional programs.

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