The second year of Gov. Wes Moore’s signature public service and jobs program for mostly young Marylanders started Wednesday much like its first — an enthusiastic pep talk, a marching band and hundreds of participants wearing matching red shirts, eager for a new opportunity.

Over 600 people are part of the program’s second class and will spend most of the next year earning at least minimum wage while working for a nonprofit organization, company or government agency.

The new cohort packed into the University of Maryland’s Reckord Armory for an act of service on their first day — working on the anniversary of 9/11 alongside National Guard service members, AmeriCorps members and volunteers to put together first-aid kits and packages for kids.

“This is not a moment. This is a movement,” Moore told the group while wearing a black T-shirt reading “Maryland Tough, Maryland Serves” in bold white letters, a new version of the “Maryland Tough, Baltimore Strong” shirt he started wearing in the aftermath of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in March.

The Democratic governor has made the program a priority and public service in general a hallmark of his administration.

In a characteristically enthusiastic speech Wednesday, he evoked familiar themes of service not only for the work it produces but as an antidote to political divides.

“For all those people who want to delve into skepticism, for all the people who want to live in cynicism, for all the people who want to spend their time and energy telling us how divided we are … You all are the ones who are raising your hands and saying, ‘Not here. Not today.’ And service will save us and we will lead the way,” Moore said.

About 84% of the 280 members of the inaugural group that started last October finished the program in July. The expansion this year was required under the law establishing the program that Moore sponsored during his first year in office.

The same law requires it to grow to 2,000 annual participants starting in 2026, though Moore has frequently talked about wanting to make it available to every recent high school graduate in a state where about 10,000 graduates each year typically do not immediately go to college.

Officials have acknowledged the balance that will be needed to grow the program while the state faces multibillion-dollar deficits in the coming years.

Though some of the roughly 150 host organizations are picking up part of the tab for participants’ salaries — mainly larger for-profit companies — the state is paying most of the wages, which must be at least $15 per hour, as well as $6,000 stipends for each participant who completes nine months of work.

In Maryland’s roughly $63 billion budget this year, $56 million was allocated for the Department of Service and Civic Innovation, a new agency Moore launched last year and that runs the service initiatives.

Sarah Flammang, the agency’s deputy secretary, said officials were still working with employers to determine how much each can pay of the wages for their participants this year. A majority of the hosts are nonprofits and government agencies, though a full list wasn’t available Wednesday.

The participants are divided into two primary programs — Maryland Corps, with about 100 people of all ages, and the “Service Year Option” aimed at individuals within three years of high school graduation or similar education. Both programs were launched on the same timeline with the same financial incentives for participants.

A new component of the Service Year Option this year is the “climate corps,” a subset of about 40 participants who will work for environmentally focused organizations like the Chesapeake Bay Trust, Baltimore City’s Office of Sustainability and the nonprofit Howard Ecoworks in Howard County.

Jabria Ford, 22, of Baltimore, said she will be among that group during her work with the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative nonprofit in Baltimore.

A 2023 graduate of the Harbor City High School Achievement Academy, Ford said she heard about the opportunity through a friend’s parent and thought it would be a chance to learn something new and meet people before continuing her education. The environmental option appealed to her because she’s concerned about pollution and the food deserts in Baltimore, she said.

“I wanted to be a part of something positive,” Ford said.