President George W. Bush will meet Theresa Bunker when he arrives in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Tuesday, September 14, 2004. Bunker is a volunteer with the Las Vegas National Guard Family Support Center, and became actively involved when her son’s National Guard unit deployed to Iraq in March 2003.

President Bush hascalled 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 Bunker, who are answering the call to volunteer service.

During the 777^th Engineer Utility Team’s 14-month deployment, Bunker led a support group for family members, organized social events, and kept in contact with spouses and family members. Bunker used e-mail to stay in touch with the members of the 777^th EUT, and she helped them with administrative tasks and family issues, wrote letters of encouragement and support and sent care packages to Iraq. During the 2003 Veteran’s Day parade in Las Vegas, Bunker helped secure a float to honor the sacrifice of military family members. The unit returned to Las Vegas in May and Bunker continues to support the families during their readjustment time. In addition, she is ‘adopting’ another National Guard unit which is preparing to deploy to Iraq.

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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