President George W. Bush will meet Cal Steele when he arrives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Friday, July 30, 2004. Steele, a World War II veteran, is a mentor with the Journey Youth Mentoring Program in Grand Rapids.

President Bush has called on all Americans to volunteer two years or 4,000 hours over the course of their lifetimes, and hecreated USA Freedom Corpsto help foster a culture of service, citizenship, and responsibility. Since January 2002, President Bush has met with hundreds of individuals around the country, like Steele, who are answering the call to volunteer service.

Since 2002, Steele has been a mentor for the Journey Youth Mentoring Program, a collaborative effort between Michigan State University Extension and Ottawa County Family Court/Juvenile Services. Volunteers are trained to mentor adjudicated youth who often lack a positive, caring adult role model. Steele was matched with a teen who he meets with for an average of six to eight hours a week. They participate in a variety of activities together, and recently collected $1,800 worth of aluminum cans for a fundraiser to support the mentoring activities at Journey. Steele is an advocate for mentoring and often recruits others to become a part of the program.

USA Freedom Corps has launched “A Call to Summer Service”, an initiative to encourage Americans to spend a part of their summer in volunteer service. Through “A Call to Summer Service,” citizens are reminded that the summer months are an excellent time to answer the President’s Call to Service, strengthen their communities, and extend the compassion and greatness of America. Interested volunteers can find ideas for summer volunteering and information on how to get started at www.usafreedomcorps.gov.

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