President George W. Bush will meet Robin Black when he arrives in Huntington, West Virginia, on Friday, April 2, 2004. Black is an active volunteer with the Huntington West Virginia Housing Authority, spending time with the self-sufficiency programs that assist families and the elderly.

Earlier this year, the USA Freedom Corps – President Bush’s initiative to engage all Americans in service to their neighbors and their nation by volunteering two years or 4,000 hours – celebrated its second anniversary. Since January 2002, President Bush has met with more than 270 individuals around the country, like Black, who are answering the call to volunteer service.

For the past ten years, Black has been an active volunteer with the Huntington West Virginia Housing Authority’s self-sufficiency programs that assist families and the elderly as they attend employment and training programs. Black is a former resident of Marcum Terrace, a housing community aided by the organization, and in 1996 she went to beauty school. Black gives makeovers to participants in the program before job interviews, providing an extra surge of confidence at an important time. She also gives makeovers to single mothers and students who are preparing to enter the workforce. During the holidays she volunteers long days giving facials, makeup lessons and haircuts to those less fortunate, sometimes giving over 100 haircuts in one day. As a success story of someone who was involved in the program and was able to enter the workforce, Black often gives speeches to the job training students at the Housing Authority. Black is also a volunteer with the Welfare Department and the Teenage Mother Program.

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.

###