FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                
April 17, 2007                                                           

Norris P. West
202-606-6840, nwest@cns.gov

Emergency Preparedness, Five Other Service Projects
To Highlight National Volunteering Conference in July

Philadelphia – Eagles President Joe Banner and Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen today announced that the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, scheduled for July 16-18 in Philadelphia, will include community service projects to benefit city residents and the Gulf Coast.

The conference will bring 3,000 volunteer leaders from across the country to the Pennsylvania Convention Center and showcase community action in a city with a deep history of civic engagement. Keynote speakers include former President George H.W. Bush and Alma Powell, a co-founder of America’s Promise. Information about the conference is at www.volunteeringandservice.org.

The announcement detailing the conference comes as America observes National Volunteer Week, April 15-21, which honors the 61.2 million people who gave 8.1 billion hours of service last year, and it focuses attention on recruiting more people to get involved.

“I look forward to a conference that will inspire greater civic engagement, connect people to one another and build a stronger chain of prosperity for all citizens,” said Cohen, who announced details of the conference with Banner and national volunteer leaders today at City Hall. He said the conference theme, “The Power of We,” draws on Philadelphia’s heritage and signaled a call for collective action to solve today’s civic challenges.

One of the six service projects that will take place in conjunction with the conference involves assembling emergency preparedness kits for frail elderly. Banner said conference participants, in partnership with Independence Blue Cross, American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, will assemble the emergency preparedness kits. The Red Cross will conduct training sessions on preparedness for staff and volunteers serving the region’s most vulnerable population.

Banner said conference participants also will:

Clean up along Fairmount Park’s East Boxer’s Trail near 33rd and Oxford Streets with the Fairmount Park Commission, the East Park Revitalization Alliance, and Friends of East Park for the park cleanup;

Construct a house frame with volunteers from the YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School and YouthBuild USA. The house frame will be shipped to Gulfport, Mississippi to aid hurricane disaster recovery;

Build a playground playhouse with the YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School for donation to an area recreation center or homeless shelter;

Lead a book drive with Philadelphia Reads to collect new and gently used children’s books for distribution to city pre-school programs and homeless shelters; and

Collect items for newborns and other children in the Greater Philadelphia area with Cradles to Crayons volunteers. The new and gently used items for children will be distributed to low-income children and homeless shelters.

“The conference and the service projects will fill immediate needs and inspire more and better ways for all of us to help our neighbors,” Banner said.

David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a co-convener of the national conference, said the event provides government, business, nonprofits and the faith-based community a key opportunity to brainstorm better ways to engage and retain volunteers. A new corporation study found that although volunteering is near a historic high, one-third of volunteers leave annually.

“Many people think of volunteering as something nice to do, but we are driving home the message that committed involvement is the solution to difficult problems,” Eisner said. “This conference enables everyone interested in volunteering and service to draw on 231 years of this nation’s best ideas for engagement in the city where it all began.”

Robert Goodwin, former president of the Points of Light Foundation, the other co-convener of the national conference, thanked Philadelphia-area businesses and community organizations for supporting the event.

“More than ever before, we need the spirit of volunteerism to grow stronger and produce better outcomes for our citizens and our communities,” Goodwin said.

###