President George W. Bush will present the President’s Volunteer Service Award to Ashley Knight when he arrives in Olathe, Kansas, on Thursday, May 29, 2008. Knight, 25, is a volunteer with Students Take Action and YouthFriends. To thank them for making a difference in the lives of others, President Bush honors a local volunteer when he travels throughout the United States. He has met with more than 600 volunteers, like Knight, since March 2002.

Knight, a student at the University ofMissouri-KansasCity, School of Dentistry, is a volunteer withStudents Take Action (STA), a program started by dental students to promote compassion and comradeship through community service. Knight organizes and recruits volunteers to perform screenings and dental care at the Kansas City Free Health Clinic andOlathe Clinic.She organized Shear Madness, an annual STAfundraiser to send children with cancer to Camp Quality summer camp, free of charge. Through this program,dental students, faculty and staffraise funds by accepting bids to cut their hair or shave their heads.This year the program collected $11,000and Knightdonated 10 inches of her hair to Locks of Love.Knightalso participates in dental screenings with Score One for Health, Operation Breakthrough, and TeamSmile, and was awarded a grant to start Tots-N-Teeth, a dental screening and oral healthcare program for parents of young children. In addition, Knight is a volunteer with YouthFriends and serves as a mentor to a third-grade student at Longfellow Elementary Magnet School.

In his January 2002 State of the Union Address, President Bush called on all Americans to make a difference in their communities through volunteer service. He created USA Freedom Corps, an Office of the White House, to strengthen and expand volunteer service. Americans are responding to the President’s Call to Service. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 61 million Americans volunteered in 2006. Go to www.volunteer.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.volunteerkids.gov for games and ideas designed to show how America's youth are making a difference.

The President's Volunteer Service Award was created at the President’s direction by the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. 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.

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