NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. – Desiree T. Sayle, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of USA Freedom Corps, delivered remarks today at the New York City kickoff event for the 21st Annual Keep America Beautiful's Great American Cleanup. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was also in attendance at Times Square’s Military Triangle to unveil the new anti-litter campaign – STOMP OUT LITTER – and encourage city residents to get involved. The kickoff included a performance from the cast of STOMP, the percussion sensation that has become a worldwide phenomenon.

As part of the event, Sayle presented the President's Volunteer Service Award to two outstanding volunteers from the New York City area:

Carl Berner
Middle Village, NY

In 1938, Berner and his wife became members of the Eliot Avenue Civic Association, which is the precursor of the Juniper Park Civic Association. For 68 years, Berner has helped maintain the Caldwell Avenue CSX bridge area and several “Greenstreets” locations in Middle Village - including one named after him on 81st Street near Long Island Expressway. Berner, 104-years-old, still regularly attends meetings of the Juniper Park Civic Association.

Raymart Dinglas
Flushing, NY

Dinglas, a student at the High School for Environmental Studies, has contributed 100 hours during the past year to cleaning up in and around his school community. Through his school’s Recycling Club, he has helped educate classmates about recycling and how it can benefit the environment. Recently, he helped his school win the Golden Apple Award for the best citywide recycling program. Dinglas is currently working on a screenplay with a recycling theme.

The Great American Cleanup, the nation's largest annual community improvement program, is Keep America Beautiful's signature event. More than 2.5 million people are expected to volunteer more than 8 million hours to improve more than 15,000 communities during 30,000 events in all 50 states. The events are scheduled from March until May.

For the forth consecutive year, President George W. Bush is serving as Honorary Chair of the Great American Cleanup. For the second year, Mrs. Laura Bush joins him as an Honorary Chair.

Keep America Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation's largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. This national nonprofit forms public-private partnerships and programs that engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments. The Great American Cleanup is one of its many programs that encourage people to care for communities through volunteer participation. For more information, visit http://www.kab.org.

The President's Volunteer Service Award, an initiative of the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, was established by President Bush in January of 2003 to recognize individuals and organizations that have made a sustained commitment to volunteer service. To date, more than 12,000 organizations have honored 312,000 individuals and groups with this award. To find out more about the President’s Volunteer Service Award, or how your organization can become a certifying organization, visit www.presidentialserviceawards.gov.

USA Freedom Corps, an office of the White House, was created by President Bush to strengthen and expand volunteer service by Americans. For more information about getting involved in the President’s Call to Service, please visit http://www.volunteer.gov or call 1-877-USA-CORPS.

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