Washington, D.C. - Many participants in national service programs sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service will spend Veterans Day doing what they do year round -- serving veterans. Corporation programs that focus on serving veterans are planning events to honor those they serve for their dedication and commitment to our country in time of need.

Because the debt we owe our nation’s military service men and women is so huge, it is appropriate that many of the programs funded by the Corporation focus on veterans and the families of active military personnel,” said David Eisner, Corporation CEO in a Veterans Day message to Corporation staff. “On Veterans Day - and indeed throughout the year - we should never forget that our way of life would not be possible without the great sacrifices made by generation upon generation of military personnel who have protected our freedoms for more than 200 years.”

U.S. Vets, Inc., an AmeriCorps grantee that helps homeless veterans become independent and productive, will honor veterans with activities including a brunch served by staff and AmeriCorps members in Honolulu, a festival and awards program in Houston, and a ceremonial opening of a 400-unit apartment-style community for homeless veterans in Phoenix. With support from the Corporation for National and Community Service -- including more than 200 AmeriCorps members serving at 10 sites this year, U.S. VETS has become the largest provider of services to homeless veterans in the nation, reaching 20,000 veterans each year.

Throughout the year, national service programs provide a variety of support to veterans and their families. Examples include:

• As part of the National Guard’s 100% Contact Campaign, RSVP volunteers in Cranston, R.I., have built a call network to support families with loved ones deployed overseas. The campaign is designed to keep help ensure that family’s needs are met by the National Guard’s Family Readiness Office. RSVP volunteers make phone call at least once per month to local community members who are participating in the program.
  

• For the past decade, members from the AmeriCorps *National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) Northeast Region campus in Perry Point, Md. have engaged in service projects assisting residents of the local Veterans Administration Medical Center. Members assist hospital staff in providing care to residents, organize recreational activities, conduct arts and crafts shops, and help bridge the generations between youth and elderly. NCCC members serve in the Alzheimer’s unit; physical therapy rooms; chronic illness centers; psychiatric units; and even in the outside community, helping soon-to-be-released patients readjust to their new lives.
  

• Learn and Serve America is involved in a variety of service projects across that nation that involve veterans, including a number of oral history projects in which the students interview veterans and record or transcribe their memories of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and more recent conflicts. In many cases, the resulting books and tapes have been presented to the veterans as well as sent to state archives or the Library of Congress. In some cases, oral history projects are components of U.S. History or Social Studies courses, and some combined with visits to veterans’ hospitals and/or the development and execution of ceremonies honoring local veterans.
  

• In Alabama, the Athens-Limestone County RSVP volunteers are partners in a project called Moms on a Mission which helps to collect and package items such as batteries, travel pillows, socks, toiletries, sun screen, eye saline, calling cards and non-perishable food for troops abroad. They also address cards to soldiers and send special care packages during the holidays. The program was started by one mom who received a letter from her son, a soldier stationed in Iraq, requesting these everyday supplies. Similar program are conducted by the RSVPs in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Manchester, N.H.

In a veterans appreciation day event at the Corporation’s headquarters this afternoon, CEO David Eisner highlighted the many ways national service programs assist veterans and thanked the more than 50 Corporation employees who had served in the Armed Forces.

The Corporation for National and Community Service provides opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country, primarily through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs. Together with the USA Freedom Corps, the Corporation is working to build a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility in America. For more information, visit www.nationalservice.org.