Next Upcoming Event:

New Year Coffee Kick-Off
Saturday, January 7 (10am-12pm) - Click here for more info!

One-Stop Holiday Shopping!

By buying SBPCA items, you not only get really cool stuff,
you also help fund our Mini Grants program!
Right now we have tote bags, t-shirts, calendars, and
personalized RPCV license plate frames available.
You can't beat the prices at only $10-$15 per item!
Click here to shop!

Event Photos!

Click here to see newly added photos from our recent events.
And if you took photos at any of our events, we'd love to get copies!
Just send them via email in .jpg format.

News to Note

Sargent Shriver,
Founding Director of Peace Corps,
dies at 95

"Shriver helped establish the corps as the fastest-growing peacetime agency in U.S. history, sending more than 14,500 volunteers to 55 countries by 1966. He embraced his role as the leader of a band of idealistic volunteers, enduring endless jeep rides and at least three cases of dysentery as he traveled more than 350,000 miles to visit outposts in dozens of countries." To read the full Washington Post article, click here.
To read the Peace Corps' press release, click here.
For more info on Sargent Shriver & the Peace Corps, click here.

President Obama on Peace Corps

During his remarks at the University of Michigan Commencement on 5/1/10,
President Obama called Peace Corps, "one of the most successful
service projects in American history." He also highlighted
President Kennedy's speech at the University 50 years ago that led to
the creation of Peace Corps and spoke about the importance of serving.
(Click here to watch Obama's speech or to read the transcript )
(Obama starts at 1 min 40 sec; his comments re: Peace Corps start at 28 min 30 sec)

California Ranks #1 By Far as the
2010 Top Peace Corps Recruiting State!

On the cusp of Peace Corps’ 50th anniversary in 2011, Peace Corps announced the top Peace Corps volunteer-producing states & metropolitan areas. More Americans are serving as Peace Corps volunteers today than any other time in the last 40 years, and many new metropolitan areas topped the list. To read more, click here.

Peace Corps Ranking Up There!

Peace Corps ranks 8th as Best Place to Launch a Career according to
Bloomberg BusinessWeek. This is the 5th year in a row Peace Corps has ranked
in the top 100 in the annual survey of college students. Employers have observed that
recent grads are globally minded and that grassroots international experience makes
Peace Corps Volunteers attractive job candidates when they return home.
(To read more, click here)

Peace Corps has also recently been named
one of the Federal Government's "Best Places To Work"
(To read more, click here)

Peace Corps News Releases

Read the lastest news releases issued by the Peace Corps.
Some releases of interest over the past few months:

Peace Corps Ranked as a Top Ideal Employer by College Students
and Young Professionals in Universum Survey (3/23/11) (read it here)
Peace Corps Commemorates 50 Years on March 1st (3/1/11) (read it here)
Peace Corps & EPA Sign a Memorandum of Understanding (12/14/10) (read it here)
Peace Corps Releases Comprehensive Agency
Assessment Report (6/22/10) (read it here)

Peace Corps Journals

Follow current Volunteers around the world in real time as they blog
and post photos & videos about their experiences, including recent UCSB grads:
C.J. Cintas in Senegal
Sonia Morhange in Rwanda
Jennifer Deangelis in Albania
Ben Vuong in Madagascar