LAX can Wait: Drake Alum Signs up for AmeriCorps

Benjamin Cranna is taking a break from the good life to help others.

Cranna, a Drake High grad who earlier this year completed his junior year at UC Santa Barbara competing on the lacrosse team, has signed up for the National Civilian Community Corps.

Cranna, a psychology major, will bring his smarts and athleticism to the pursuit of helping others during a 10-month stint with the NCCC.

The NCCC is part of the AmeriCorps program. 

“I chose to do a term of service to give back to my country and to gain valuable experience before starting a career,” Cranna said in a prepared statement.

He began work on his first of four long-term service projects on Nov. 12. 

Cranna arrived at AmeriCorps NCCC’s Southwest Region Campus in Denver on Oct. 24 to receive training for 10 months of full-time service with the program. 

This training emphasized teamwork, leadership development, communication, service learning, and certification by the American Red Cross.

As a Corps Member, Cranna will be responsible for completing a series of six- to eight-week-long service projects as part of a 10- to 12-person team.   His first service project will end on Dec.19, at which time his team will break for the winter holidays and begin a new project in a new location in January.

AmeriCorps NCCC, founded in 1994, is a residential national service program that supports disaster relief, the environment, infrastructure improvement, energy conservation, and urban and rural development.

Over the past 20 years, 820,000 Americans have served over 1 billion hours across the family of AmeriCorps programs.  About 80,000 people serve in AmeriCorps programs nationwide each year, about 2,500 of whom serve with AmeriCorps NCCC. 

NCCC assignments vary widely. They include working for Habitat for Humanity, nature reserves and children’s hospitals and disaster relief efforts.