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Dear National Service Colleagues,
August 29th will mark the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I visited the Gulf coast last week and was deeply moved by the tireless efforts of our staff, partners, and participants, as well as the dedicated volunteers from across the country. In the first year since Katrina, 550,000 volunteers showed up to help, and this year that number has increased. A remarkable 1.1 million volunteers have contributed 14 million hours of service toward rebuilding Gulf coast communities. (See “More than 1.1 Million Volunteers Have Responded to Katrina; More are Needed”)
National service has played a key role in managing volunteers. This was part of the reason that the volunteer numbers stayed so high this past year. We should be especially proud that 93,000 participants in national service programs have given more than 3.5 million hours of service and recruited and managed 262,000 volunteers—a quarter of the total volunteer force. (See new fact sheets, Volunteers Respond and National Service Activity In Response to Hurricane Katrina)
The unprecedented outpouring of volunteer support in this second year since Hurricane Katrina has already garnered some great media attention. On Wednesday night, I hope you’ll tune in to CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 to view a live special on Katrina that will be taped with AmeriCorps members at Habitat for Humanity’s Camp Hope in New Orleans.
Hurricane Katrina remains a defining moment for national service and volunteering. We have seen a nationwide shift in how volunteers are incorporated into disaster relief efforts. In this past year alone, national service members and volunteers have been integral to recovery efforts after tornadoes in Kansas and Florida, fires in the West and South, and floods in the Midwest to name just a few, even as the Corporation has embraced disaster services as a strategic initiative.
On behalf of the Administration, the Board of Directors, and your Executive Team, please accept our special thanks for your commitment to rebuilding the Gulf region and your tireless devotion to restoring hope to the many lives that have been shattered by the worst natural disaster in American history. We are honored to serve alongside you.
In service,
David Eisner
CEO
Corporation for National and Community Service
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