Penn State Brandywine students Christopher Bakey, engineering, and JacQuita Lessane', HDFS, have been chosen to receive the AmeriCorps Education Award and a Presidential Volunteer Service Award for their unwavering dedication to volunteerism. As campus representatives to Scholars in Service to Pennsylvania, AmeriCorps' Education Award program, for the last year, they were each required to volunteer 450 hours throughout the academic year. However, both students went above and beyond, with Bakey completing an additional 379 volunteer hours and Lessane' an extra 211 hours.
In exchange for their efforts, Bakey and Lessane' will receive an education award that can be used to pay for any legitimate educational expense at Penn State University or to pay for future educational expenses. And to reward them for going well above the required volunteering hours, both have earned a President's Volunteer Service Award.
Lessane' has earned the Silver Level of the Presidential Volunteer Service Award, and Chris has earned the Gold Level of the award. Both students will receive an official President's Volunteer Service Award lapel pin, a personalized certificate of achievement, a congratulatory letter from the President of the United States, and a letter from the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.
The President's Council on Service and Civic Participation created the President's Volunteer Service Award program as a way to thank and honor Americans who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service.
Recognizing and honoring volunteers sets a standard for service to others. It encourages a sustained commitment to civic participation and inspires others to make volunteering a central part of their lives. The President's Volunteer Service Award recognizes individuals, families, and groups that have achieved a certain standard -- measured by the number of hours served over a 12-month period or cumulative hours earned over the course of a lifetime.
To date, the President's Council has partnered with more than 76 Leadership Organizations and more than 14,000 Certifying Organizations to bestow more than 400,000 awards to the Nation's deserving volunteers. Penn State Brandywine is registered as a certifying organization.
To learn more, please visit the AmeriCorps' Web site, http://www.americorps.org/, or the President's Volunteer Service Award website: http://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/index.cfm.