President George W. Bush will meet Jerome Harvey when he arrives in Rapid City on Thursday, August 15, 2002. Harvey is an assistant fire chief and emergency management coordinator with the Lead Fire Department and has served as a volunteer firefighter since the age of 13.

In his State of the Union address, President Bush called on all Americans to dedicate at least two years of their lives—the equivalent of 4,000 hours—in service to their communities, our country and the world. President Bush is recognizing individuals around the country who are answering the call to service, and will recognize Harvey as an example of the dedication to service he is hoping to instill in all Americans through his USA Freedom Corps initiative.

Following in his father's footsteps, Harvey has been a volunteer firefighter for more than 20 years. His volunteer work with the City of Lead Fire Department led to a full time job in 1987, and Harvey now volunteers on incident management teams throughout the United States, responding to wild fires and other disasters. For the past five years Harvey has also volunteered with the Lawrence County Search and Rescue team, and for the last fifteen years Harvey has volunteered with the local ambulance service as an emergency medical technician, and with the Northern Hills Fire Prevention Team, teaching people about fire prevention.

In 1993, Harvey formed the Fire and Emergency Service Explorer Post 911 for local the Boy Scout troop, and he still serves as co-advisor. In addition, Harvey is active in the Northern Hills Amateur Radio Club, providing communications options in times of emergency.

President Bush created the USA Freedom Corps office at the White House to foster an American culture of service, citizenship and responsibility. Through the USA Freedom Corps, President Bush wants to help every American answer the call to service by strengthening and expanding service opportunities to protect our homeland, support our communities and extend American compassion around the world. Interested volunteers can find information on the USA Freedom Corps at www.usafreedomcorps.gov or by calling 1-877-USA-Corps.

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