President George W. Bush will meet Lisa Gibney when he arrives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, September 3, 2004. Gibney is a trained first responder volunteerwith a number of public safety organizations in her community.

President Bush has called on all Americans to volunteer two years or 4,000 hours over the course of their lifetimes, and hecreated USA Freedom Corpsto help foster a culture of service, citizenship, and responsibility. Since March 2002, President Bush has met with more than 300 individuals around the country, like Gibney, who are answering the call to volunteer service.

For the past eight years, Gibney has volunteered with the Linn County Emergency Management Agency. She is on-call as a first responder for any local emergency, and in non-emergency situations, she spends 15 hours a week providing resources to keep the facility in a state of readiness. Gibney is part of the Storm Watch Severe Weather Response Team and helps gather and relay information and sound public warnings during tornados and other emergency weather situations. She is also a member of the Disaster Response Team, the Homeland Security Crisis Action Team, the Citizen Corps Council, and the Medical Reserve Corps Advisory Team. Last year, Gibney received the President’s Volunteer Service Award for devoting over 500 hours to voluntary service in emergency management.

Through 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 at www.usafreedomcorps.gov or by calling 1-877-USA-CORPS.

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