We've been tracking news coverage of the role our national service participants have played in the Hurricane Sandy relief and recovery effort for the last few months. Here are some of the latest stories, including two personal reflections by AmeriCorps members.

St. Louisan On the Front Lines of Hurricane Sandy Relief
Fox 2 Now (Missouri), Dec. 23, 2012
It's been quite a homecoming for Katherine Wiley, 21, a recent college graduate from St. Louis, who just returned from the front lines of the Hurricane Sandy relief effort in storm-ravaged New York.

That tortured place where flood gave way to fire and all hope seemed lost became home to Wiley and her team of 10 fellow AmeriCorps volunteers.The things they did and saw in their 5 weeks of work have stuck deep in their minds, but they also saw things the rest of us perhaps missed;like ‘stars' school and church groups crafted and hung on utility poles with messages like ‘Don't Stop Believing' and ‘Never Lose Hope.'

Shore Cleanup Project ‘The Right Thing to Do'
The Daily Record (New Jersey), Dec. 24, 2012
Amanda Goldstein, of Arizona, volunteers with AmeriCorps a nonprofit agency helping to organize and match the folks who want to help with those who need the help. AmeriCorps representatives Sunday manned a table at the Union Beach municipal building where they accepted applications from people who want to get help. The group matches volunteers with skills to do specific jobs.

AmeriCorps Workers Still Helping Tear Out Debris From Sandy-Damaged Homes
Press of Atlantic City (New Jersey), Dec. 21, 2012
Local homeowners who thought their homes had survived Hurricane Sandy intact are now facing the reality that mold is eating their houses from the inside out.

AmeriCorps workers and volunteer groups are still answering the call, ripping up floors and tearing down drywall to give homes a chance to dry out before they are repaired. “We want to get in before the homes become uninhabitable,” said Zola Pineles, an AmeriCorps coordinator.

MY TURN: Responding to Sandy's Call
Kitsap Sun - Online (Washington), Dec. 21, 2012
Courtney Smurdon is a graduate of Occidental College who is serving an 11-month AmeriCorps service term with the American Red Cross Serving King and Kitsap Counties. She describes her experience in New York during the Sandy relief effort.

When I began my 11-month term at the American Red Cross as a Washington Service Corps (AmeriCorps) member in September, I was looking forward to serving families in the West Sound who were recovering from disasters such as a house fires or flood as a Client Services Coordinator. I had no idea I would have the opportunity to be a part large national disaster recovery project.