Volunteer. Make a difference. Give back.

These powerful mantras resonated with us as we decided to dedicate a year of service through the NYC Service initiative, the NYC Civic Corps. In response to President Barack Obama’s call to service, Mayor Michael Bloomberg began NYC Service in April 2009 to make New York City a model of how volunteerism can influence people to become leaders in their communities. Led by Diahann Billings-Burford, the nation’s first chief service officer, NYC Civic Corps is the largest NYC Service initiative tasked with strengthening the key areas of education, environment, health, emergency preparedness, and strengthening the city overall. The nearly 200 Civic Corps members have been placed at 60 agencies in the five boroughs to address the capacity gap at the local level.

Director Carlos Laboy is not letting a little thing like money stop him from putting on his eighth annual theater performance with Stagekids, a program he created and runs out of the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC) in Norwood.

As they say in the business: The show must go on!

A listing of programs, services, events and announcements for our readers in the Bronx and beyond.

Longtime Norwood resident and Montefiore Medical Center employee Patricia Klass was honored during the recent homecoming event at Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Epiphany in Norwood.

With former Chairman Greg Faulkner moving on to become new Councilman Fernando Cabrera’s Chief of Staff, longtime Community Board 7 member Paul Foster will step into the leadership void.

A listing of arts, entertainment and recreational events for our readers in the Bronx.

In late February, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has plans to tear up seven miles of roadway from the north to the south Bronx. During construction, the DEP will install an underground force main, a pipe six inches in diameter, from the future site of the Croton Water Filtration Plant in Van Cortlandt Park to the Hunts Point Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Sometimes, the leader you become depends on the times you live in. Ruben Diaz, Jr., is learning that firsthand. His arrival coincided precisely with the final innings of a community battle over the Kingsbridge Armory.