Secretary Spellings today made the following statement on the celebration of National Volunteer Week:

Ever since the first child walked into the first one-room schoolhouse, volunteers have been vital to American education. This year's National Volunteer Week (April 23-29) is a great time to thank someone you know for giving our students a helping hand. Whether donating supplies to hurricane-displaced students, mentoring at-risk children, or simply participating in a bake sale or magazine drive, volunteers are the glue that holds our public education system together.

I am especially proud of our Department of Education family for giving so selflessly over the past year. After Hurricane Katrina hit, Department employees coordinated relief offers with hundreds of schools. Many went to the Gulf Coast region themselves to help the recovery effort. Department employees also shipped tens of thousands of books to low-income schools, read to thousands of District of Columbia children under the "Everybody Wins!" Program, and tutored students in the after school Horton's Kids program.

These and countless other examples of giving help define the character of our country. I hope they will inspire all Americans to choose to serve this week and every week.

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