Murray Announces Grant to Support Volunteerism and Community Service in Washington State

(Washington, D.C.) – Today,
U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) announced that the Washington Commission for
National and Community Service has been awarded a $178,950 grant to recruit,
manage, and retain more volunteers to address pressing social challenges. The
grant was awarded by the Corporation for National and Community Service, through
its Volunteer Generation Fund, a new program authorized by the Edward M.
Kennedy Serve America Act. The Volunteer Generation Fund, which
Senator Murray worked to include, will help local organizations gain more
volunteers by funding the recruitment and management of volunteers and
volunteer opportunities, including for special days of service such as Martin
Luther King Jr, Day and the 9-11 Day of Service and Remembrance. This fund
will also work to better direct volunteers to projects that fit community needs
and the volunteer’s schedule and abilities.

“This award will give
Washingtonians the opportunities and resources to serve their local communities,” said Senator Murray. “I worked to include the
Volunteer Generation Fund in the Serve America Act because paving a path to
public service will bring hundreds of volunteers to the low-income and senior
communities that need them most.”

The Washington Commission for
National and Community Services will use five different program models focused
on recruiting skill-based volunteers, volunteers from low-income and senior
communities, and veterans as volunteers, a creative program model that is
relevant to the Volunteer Generation Fund with a strong focus on expanding
opportunities to serve.

“Service is how we tap into
the best of the American character,” said
Patrick A. Corvington, CEO of the Corporation. “Although Americans are
volunteering more than ever, we must provide organizations with the tools and
resources they need to attract and retain volunteers to solve the critical
issues in their communities.  The Volunteer Generation Fund will provide
those critical resources.”

The Corporation for National
and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million
Americans in service through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve
America and leads President Obama’s national call to service initiative, United
We Serve.