President George W. Bush will meet Franklin and Carol-Ann Heller when he arrives in Wells, Maine, on Thursday, April 22, 2004. The Hellers are active volunteers with the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Earlier this year, the USA Freedom Corps – President Bush’s initiative to engage all Americans in service to their neighbors and their nation by volunteering two years or 4,000 hours over the course of their lifetime – celebrated its second anniversary. Since January 2002, President Bush has met with more than 270 individuals around the country, like the Hellers, who are answering the call to volunteer service.

For the past five years, the Hellers have volunteered with the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve, helping with maintenance and clerical duties. The Hellers volunteer every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from October to May. Together, they volunteer over 500 hours of service each year. Franklin serves in the maintenance department, where he provides services such as snow removal, painting, meeting setup, and construction. Carol-Ann types minutes from the meetings, updates databases, orders supplies, and helps organize personnel and volunteers. The Hellers also volunteer with the University of Maine’s “Sea Grant” program, collecting beach profiling data.

President Bush created the USA Freedom Corps office at the White House to foster an American culture of service, citizenship and responsibility. Through the USA Freedom Corps, President Bush wants to help every American answer the call to service by strengthening and expanding service opportunities to protect our homeland, support our communities and extend American compassion around the world. Interested volunteers can find information on the USA Freedom Corps at www.usafreedomcorps.gov or by calling 1-877-USA-CORPS.

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