View and listen to the Public Service Advertisements

During a National Press Club speech on the role of community volunteers in homeland security, national service chief Leslie Lenkowsky today unveiled a new PSA campaign to encourage citizens to serve their communities and country through Senior Corps and AmeriCorps.

The "Americans Give Back" campaign features real Senior Corps volunteers and AmeriCorps members who are already serving through national service programs and are now challenging others to get involved.

"After September 11, I knew I wanted to do something to make a difference, so I joined AmeriCorps," said Ericka Tapia, an AmeriCorps member from Brooklyn who is featured in the television PSA. Tapia recently signed up for a second year of AmeriCorps. "I really enjoyed helping people in my community, and I wanted to do more."

The bilingual public service announcements, distributed to more than 7,000 television and radio outlets, direct viewers to a toll-free recruitment number (800-424-8867) and to www.nationalservice.org, where potential volunteers can search for AmeriCorps and Senior Corps opportunities and apply online. The spots are available in 15, 30 and 60 second formats and are customized for use in each state and territory.

"When Americans serve their communities, they strengthen our country," said Lenkowsky, the CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that administers AmeriCorps and Senior Corps. "For Americans who have been asking what they can do, this campaign has an answer: Get involved in your community. In time of war, a democracy's greatest asset is an engaged citizenry."

In his State of the Union address in January, President Bush called on all Americans to dedicate at least two years of their lives the equivalent of 4,000 hours over a lifetime to volunteer service. He also created the USA Freedom Corps, a broad-based White House effort to encourage volunteerism, of which the Corporation for National and Community Service is a proud part. Since the State of the Union address, online applications to AmeriCorps have increased by 90 percent, while visits to the Senior Corps Web site have increased 57 percent.

More than half a million Americans age 55 and over meet community needs through Senior Corps' three programs: Foster Grandparents, Senior Companions, and RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program). AmeriCorps engages more than 50,000 Americans each year to meet critical needs in education, public safety, public health, and the environment; members serve with thousands of small nonprofit and faith-based organizations nationwide, as well as nationally prominent groups such as Habitat for Humanity, City Year, Teach for America, and the Student Conservation Association.

To get a copy of the "Americans Give Back" PSA or to find out how Senior Corps volunteers and AmeriCorps members are making a difference in your community, contact Jacqueline Aker at (202) 606-5000 ext. 304 or jaker@cns.gov. The radio and television ads can be played at www.nationalservice.org/news/psa/nsv.html.

###

Created in 1993, the Corporation for National and Community Service engages more than 2 million Americans annually in improving their communities through three programs: AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and Learn and Serve America. For more information, visit www.nationalservice.org/about.

###