Gov. swore in more than 10,000 members of the 2026-2027 California Service Corps on Oct. 7, his office said, bringing the number of people who have served in the paid state program since 2019 to more than 50,000.
Members serve through three flagship programs run by the Governor's Office of Service and Community Engagement, known as GO-Serve: College Corps, the California Climate Action Corps and the Youth Service Corps. They tutor and mentor students, distribute food, work on climate projects and help communities prepare for and recover from disasters, earning money while they serve. College Corps students can earn up to $10,000 for completing 450 hours of community service, according to the release.
The new class has a specific assignment this winter. With California preparing for what the governor's office called the strongest El Niño season on record, Newsom directed California Volunteers to get ready to mobilize volunteers and trained service members to support state and local preparedness, response and recovery.
The corps has done disaster work before. In 2025, the state deployed 320 Service Corps members to help with the Los Angeles wildfire response, where they received donations, distributed food and clothing and helped families affected by the fires, the release said.
“Ten thousand Californians are starting their service today, and each one is empowered to make a difference,” GO-Serve Director Josh Fryday said.
The governor's office says the corps has logged nearly 26 million service hours and calls it the largest state-level service force in the nation, larger than the Peace Corps. From 2018-19 through 2024-25, it reported, members tutored or mentored more than 608,000 students and distributed more than 313 million pounds of food. Those figures come from the state and were not independently verified.
The expansion comes as federal support for national service shrinks. The release noted that California, Attorney General and a coalition of states went to court in 2025 when the Trump administration moved to dismantle AmeriCorps.
Newsom also launched a California Service Corps Alumni Network on Oct. 7 to connect people who have served through AmeriCorps California, College Corps, the Climate Action Corps and the Youth Service Corps with career-development, networking and job opportunities. More information is at CAServiceCorps.com.
State
Gavin Newsom
Governor · Democrat
Named 5 times in this story.
Portrait: Official portrait
State
Rob Bonta
Attorney General · Democrat
Named once in this story.
Portrait: Official portrait
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