Ready to Serve: Hope in Action
Annual Giving Campaign

With your help, we can meet the Hope in Action Challenge! All NEW or INCREASED gifts will be matched - up to $30,000. Thank you to the William F. Siedhoff Foundation and the Rohan Nosko Family for their generous matches.  

Every gift, no matter the size,  transforms hope into action. The Ready to Serve campaign supports necessary expenses for  more than 78,000 hours of service in the community this year. A gap of $2,800 per Member  remains after federal funding sources. Please consider making a donation today—and don’t  forget to ask your employer to match your gift.

The Ready to Serve Fund also supports the MKB Center, providing weekly shower services and emergency overnight winter shelter to unhoused individuals in our community.

We may not always see the full impact of our contributions, but we know this: hope, practiced together, changes lives. Thank you for standing with us and believing in what’s possible.

Donate Today

Testimonials

  • “My year as a member of ERT definitely left its mark on me. I learned skills I never thought I was capable of and I joined a community that has continued to impact my life for the better. Being part of the Corps was such an important experience for me, but also because the service ERT does is truly incredible and it's something that everyone should know about.”

    Louise Haupert, 2021-2022 AmeriCorps Member

  • "I've done many things I've never thought of in my life until being a part of this program. I feel as if I'm finally helping both the people of this country, and the wellness of the earth. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve with AmeriCorps St. Louis and I am always excited for the next undertaking it throws upon me."

    Kalan Cole, 2021-2022 AmeriCorps Member, current crew member, Midewin Interagency Hotshots

  • “Serving in this program has helped me to figure out my path in life, both with conservation and non-profits. I am pumped to put what I've learned to use in the next big thing! This year had changed my life in so many ways, and I only feel that throughout all the highs and lows, I have emerged a stronger person, and on that note, what else could I ask for?”

    Jordan Oppolo, 2020-2021 AmeriCorps Member, current Assistant Superintendent at Castlewood State Park- Missouri Department of Natural Resources

  • “National Service has forced me to challenge my preconceived ideas of the world. Through my three years of AmeriCorps, I have learned more about patience, perseverance, compassion, and empathy-more than I could have learned if I decided to go straight to the workforce after college. I have grown more confident in myself and my abilities thanks to AmeriCorps.”

    Heather McSherry, 2017-2019 AmeriCorps Member, career with All Hands & Hearts and Long Island Cares Foodbank

  • "In my year I gained a lot of confidence in myself and my abilities as a leader, friend, team member, and overall human. I know what I want to pursue in life and now have a network of friends to support me. I look forward to living in St. Louis and being connected to the ERT family. I really appreciate what this program has given me and I hope to see it continue flourishing.”

    Margaret Gerker, 2018-2019 AmeriCorps Member, current Operations Manager at Earthdance Organic Farm School

  • I'm incredibly grateful to have played a role in ACSTL's mission in the field and office alike, and more grateful still for the many mentors who shaped my time there-- y'all have changed my life. I go forward with a deeper love for and connection to the lands we inhabit, many models of service ethic to mirror, an uncommonly precise knowledge of southern Missouri, playlists full of folk and bluegrass music, and a talent for starting (and ending) fires. Thank you ACSTL!

    JP Reppeto, 2021-2023 AmeriCorps Member
    Project Assistant - The Atlantic Council