President George W. Bush presented the President’s Volunteer Service Award to eight outstanding individuals in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on May 26, 2005. The ceremony, part of a White House celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, was also attended by President Yudhoyono of Indonesia. (Click here to read a full transcript of the President’s remarks.)

The President's Volunteer Service Award was created at the President’s direction by the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation and administered by the Corporation for National & Community Service. The Award is available to youth ages 14 and under who have completed 50 or more hours of volunteer service; to individuals 15 and older who have completed 100 or more hours; and to families or groups who have completed 200 or more hours. For more information about the Award, please visit www.presidentialserviceawards.gov.

Recipients of the President’s Volunteer Service Award follow:

Daniel Theodore Ling Kent of Carmel, Indiana

Kent is a 16-year old sophomore honor student at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis. He is the Founder and President of “Senior Connects,” a nonprofit corporation that supplies senior citizens with computer equipment and skills. For several years, Kent taught both seniors and elementary school students how to use computers and the Internet, and one day he realized many seniors lacked the mobility or transportation to come to his classes. When he discovered there were no programs in his area to address this need and that local senior facilities welcomed such a program, Kent founded "Senior Connects." Kent volunteers about 400 hours a year.  (Photo)

Kathleen Nguyen of Huntington Beach, California

After the Tsunami disaster, Nguyen led a disaster relief effort by raising money in the Asian American communities in California and Texas. She raised approximately $1 million by devoting 40 volunteer hours per week toward fundraising efforts in the first eight weeks following the tsunami. The money was donated to the American Red Cross and to the fund established by former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton (is there an official name for this fund?), and she presented a large portion of the funds to former President George Bush at his office in Houston, Texas. In the subsequent weeks, Nguyen devoted at least two hours per day to promoting tsunami relief awareness and fundraising. Prior to working on Tsunami relief, Hguyen spent over 20 hours per week raising funds and providing education and awareness about human trafficking of women in Southeast Asia.

Dayalan Sanders and Diyana Sanders of Gaithersburg, Maryland

Dayalan Sanders founded the Samaritan Children’s Home in 1994 in the small fishing village of Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. On the morning of the tsunami, Sanders was alerted to the waves and saw a 30-foot wall of water rushing toward the orphanage. He shouted at the top of his lungs for the children to climb aboard a small launch with an outboard motor. Loading the 28 children of the orphanage into a small boat, he sped into an adjacent lagoon at the same moment the waves slammed into the orphanage, destroying the buildings. Nearly capsized from the huge waves, Dayalan and the children survived.

At home in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Dayalan’s sister Diyana Sanders was awakened by a phone call that a tsunami had hit Sri Lanka. Learning that her brother and the children survived the tsunami but the orphanage had been destroyed, Diyana began telling her brother’s story over and over in hopes of raising the $400,000 needed to rebuild the orphanage, which operates on donations. She has since opened a foundation fund and held open house fundraisers in hopes of collecting donations.

Junior Seau of San Diego, California

Seau established the Junior Seau Foundation in 1992 to raise money and resources for programs that inspire young people to face life’s challenges with enthusiasm, hope, and dignity. Seau spends over 40 volunteer hours per week giving back to the youth of San Diego.

An NFL linebacker, Seau played 13 years with the San Diego Chargers before being acquired by the Miami Dolphins in 2003. Among the many charitable causes he spearheads through the Junior Seau Foundation are the “Shop with a Jock” program and the Thanksgiving dinner event. Seau cites the “Shop with a Jock” program as his most important endeavor. Through this program he has recruited 200 professional and collegiate athletes to give a grant of $100 to a needy child during Christmas time and to help the child shop for presents for his or her family. Seau also raises funds for his annual Thanksgiving dinner. Each Thanksgiving, he gives a turkey dinner to over 650 underprivileged families. He is an extremely active participant in all the foundation’s initiatives, and spearheads the vast majority of them in his own personal time.

Ranee and Peter Selufsky of Gerrardstown, West Virginia

Ranee Selufsky and her husband Peter were shocked when the most destructive tsunami in the last century hit Southeast Asia. Two weeks later, the Selufskys, both nurses from the Winchester Medical Center in Winchester, Virginia, answered the call to volunteer when Project HOPE put out a request for medical volunteers to serve on the U.S. Navy’s hospital ship, the USNS Mercy. They joined Project Hope's two-month humanitarian aid mission to Banda Aceh, Indonesia. This collaboration between the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy and Project HOPE involved 200 healthcare professionals from across the U.S in support of Operation Unified Assistance.

While aboard the Mercy, the Selufskys provided thousands of Indonesians with access to desperately needed medical care. In total, the medical volunteers evaluated and treated more than 9,200 patients and performed 17,000 medical procedures in the aftermath of the tsunamis. On the heels of the humanitarian aid mission, another tragedy struck the region when, an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia brought further destruction to an already devastated Nias Island. Once again Project HOPE set out to coordinate a quick aid response. The Selufskys and 48 additional volunteers joined a repeat mission aboard the Mercy. Throughout the month of April 2004, Project HOPE volunteers treated more than 3,000 patients.

Joann Yoon of Atlanta, Georgia

Yoon volunteers at My House, an emergency shelter for medically fragile babies. She has been a volunteer three hours per week for the past four years. My House is a foster care center for babies who are medically fragile due to deprivation, abuse, or neglect.

The first time Yoon volunteered at My House, she went home and cried because she was sad to see so many suffering children, from newborns to three-year olds. But she was also uplifted by the interaction between the children and the staff and volunteers. Each week, Yoon plays with the children, gives them attention, and makes sure they feel cared for. Yoon is fulfilled by her volunteer service at My House because she is able to impact the children at a point in their lives when there is still so much hope and potential for their futures despite the backgrounds from which they have come.

Visit www.usafreedomcorps.gov or call 1-877-USA-CORPS to find an existing volunteer service opportunity in your area or to find more information about service programs, including national service programs such as the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Citizen Corps. USA Freedom Corps is also highlighting youth volunteer service. Visit www.usafreedomcorpskids.gov for games and ideas designed to show how America's youth are making a difference.

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