Today the White House celebrated President George H. W. Bush’s leadership of service and presented the 5,000th daily Point of Light award, underscoring the history of strong bipartisan support for service. Today’s award went to Floyd Hammer and Kathy Hamilton, a retired couple and farm owners from Union, Iowa, whose nonprofit organization delivers free meals to children suffering from hunger in more than 15 countries, including the United States.

President Obama also announced the creation of a new interagency National Service Task Force, co-chaired by Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Munoz and Corporation for National and Community Service CEO Wendy Spencer, and released a Presidential Memo instructing agencies across the federal government to develop strategies that will leverage national service to meet critical challenges facing the country in a cost-effective way, as well as to create new talent pipelines.

This milestone represents an exciting and important step forward on the path to expanding national service opportunities for the hundreds of thousands of people who are waiting for a chance to put their energy and idealism to work for the common good. Please help us thank President Obama by tweeting a message to him (@BarackObama) using the hashtag #ServiceWorks.

Yours in Service,

AnnMaura Connolly
President, Voices for National Service
@AnnMaura

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For Immediate Release  
Thursday, January, 2013
Sandy Scott, CNCS
pressoffice@cns.gov; 202-606-6724

Mayor Nutter Announces Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service on April 9

More than 90 mayors already signed on to recognize impact of national service

(Washington DC.) – Mayors across the country will participate in a national day of recognition this April 9 to highlight the impact of national service in their cities and thank individuals who serve, Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter, President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, announced today at the group’s annual winter meeting.

As part of his president’s report, Mayor Nutter told the assembled mayors that more than 75 of their colleagues across the country have already signed onto the effort, the first-ever Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service.

“National service is a vital resource for America’s cities,” said Mayor Nutter.  “By unleashing the power of citizens, AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs have a positive and lasting impact – making our cities better places to live. I invite mayors across the country to join me on this day to thank those who serve and recognize the passion, idealism and cost-effective problem-solving that comes from national service programs in our cities.”

The initiative will be led by U.S. Conference of Mayors President Michael Nutter, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), Cities of Service, and other organizations.

“Mayors are leaders who get things done, responding every day to needs in their cities,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS.  “I commend Mayor Nutter for his outstanding leadership, and thank all those mayors joining in this important effort to recognize the impact of national service on the critical challenges facing our cities.”

As the federal agency for service and volunteering, CNCS annually engages more than four million citizens in service at more than 70,000 sites across the country through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and other programs.  CNCS leverages federal and private funds to support organizations that achieve measurable results where the need is greatest. A significant portion of this investment is focused on cities.  CNCS has investments in more than 500 cities with a population of at least 30,000. Last year, CNCS leveraged more than $1 billion in investments for organizations operating or based in these cities. National service also plays a key role in many smaller cities and towns and rural areas.

The initiative has already gained support from a diverse range of mayors including big cities (Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, Vincent Gray of Washington, D.C., Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles,  Rahm Emanuel of Chicago), to mid-size cities (Mark Stodola of Little Rock, Richard Berry of Albuquerque, NM; Jim Suttles of Omaha, NE; and Scott Smith of Mesa, AZ; U.S. Conference of Mayors Vice President) and smaller cities (Walter Maddox of Tuscaloosa,  AL; Robert Macdonald of Lewiston, ME; and John Engen of Missoula, MT).  A full list is available here.

On the Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service, mayors will participate in a variety of activities, including visiting national service programs, hosting roundtables at City Hall, issuing proclamations, and communicating about national service through social media. Participating in the day will highlight the importance of citizen service, show support for nonprofit and national service groups, recognize the role national service members play in focusing community volunteers and inspire more residents to serve in their communities.

For more information on the Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service, including background and participating mayors, visit www.nationalservice.gov/mayorsforservice.

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The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, Social Innovation Fund, and other programs, and leads President Obama’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.