(Washington, D.C.) —Volunteers with the United Service Organization (USO) Metro were honored with the President’s Volunteer Service Award last Friday during a ceremony in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

“USO volunteers provide crucial services to our nation’s military personnel,” said Mary Jo Myers, Member of the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. “It’s a privilege to honor three volunteers whose selfless deeds are representative of USO volunteers across the country – each of whom shows compassion and generosity when our men and women in uniform need it most.”

The USO volunteers receiving the awards were Carlo DePorto, USO Airport Services volunteer; De Ann Malone, USO Hospital Services volunteer; and Susan Pulscak, USO Care Packages volunteer. DePorto, who retired from the Army after 31 years of service, has volunteered 9,652 hours with the USO since 1990 at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport. His wife, Bette, was a USO volunteer when he met her at a USO dance in 1942. Malone has volunteered a total of 735 hours with the USO since 2004, serving at Reagan National Airport, as chairwoman of the Virginia Volunteer Fundraising Committee, and stuffing packages for troops deployed to areas of conflict. Pulscak, a USO volunteer since 2004, has never missed a stuffing party where she is an integral part of keeping the assembly line going.

Myers, the wife of General Richard B. Myers, the recently retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Kathy Wills Wright, Deputy Director of USA Freedom Corps were on hand to make the presentations.

The USO was chartered by Congress in 1941 to meet the human service needs of United States Armed Forces personnel and their families. The USO ensures the welfare of the men and women of the Armed Forces in exchange for the protection and freedom they provide. By manning booths at airports welcoming weary troops back home, providing community centers that encourage intercultural understanding in new posts, and bringing entertainers to lift the spirits of those in distant and sometimes unstable locations, the USO serves as a front line of compassion for our first lines of defense.

USO-Metro’s geographic service area includes Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Northern Virginia, a region with one of the largest concentrations of United States military personnel in the world. USO-Metro serves over 500,000 people annually.

Administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, together with the USA Freedom Corps, the Council brings together leaders from the worlds of business, entertainment, sports, education, government, nonprofits, and the media to promote their efforts. To learn more about the Council, its members, and the President’s Volunteer Service Award Program please visit http://www.volunteer.gov.

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