President George W. Bush will present the President’s Volunteer Service Award to Katya Lyzhina when he arrives in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Friday, February 4, 2005. Lyzhina, 15, and a ninth-grader at North Little Rock High School, East Campus, is an active volunteer with a number of 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 he created USA Freedom Corpsto help foster a culture of service, citizenship, and responsibility. Since March 2002, President Bush has met with more than 400 individuals around the country, like Lyzhina, who are answering the call to volunteer service.

Lyzhina was born in Yekaterinburg, Russia. She was adopted when she was 11 years old and arrived in the United States malnourished and unable to speak English. For the past three years, Lyzhina has earned the President’s Volunteer Service Award for youth. She devoted more than 400 hours to volunteer service in 2004. Lyzhina helped collect more than two tons of pasta to help feed the homeless through local food banks and she helped collect 4,000 books to build libraries for after-school programs in Little Rock. In August 2004, Lyzhina started a program called Hope’s Miracle to help raise funds to assist families with adoption costs. She sent letters explaining her adoption story and the need to help other children have a permanent home. By the end of January 2005, Lyzhina had raised $3,000.

The President's Volunteer Service Award, an initiative of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, is available to Americans of all ages who have demonstrated their dedication to volunteer service. More information about the award is available at www.presidentialserviceawards.gov.

Through USA Freedom Corps, President Bush wants to help every American answer the Call to Service by strengthening and expanding service opportunities. Interested volunteers can find available service opportunities in their communities at www.usafreedomcorps.gov or by calling 1-877-USA-CORPS. For information designed to show elementary and middle school students how they can start making a difference by volunteering, visit www.usafreedomcorpskids.gov.

At the direction of President George W. Bush, USA Freedom Corps is also working with former President George Bush and former President Bill Clinton as they lead a nationwide charitable fundraising effort to encourage private donations to the tsunami relief effort. Americans are asked to donate money to the organizations listed at www.usafreedomcorps.gov.

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