JA volunteers inspire local students and encourage community service.
Colorado Springs, Colo. Today, the Presidents Council on Service and Civic Participation announced that 16 Junior Achievement partners are recipients of the 2009 Presidents Volunteer Service Award. Symbol of a national program that has recognized more than 1.3 million people for their commitment to service since 2003, the award serves as a commendation of Americans who contribute significant amounts of time to volunteer activities. In 2006, JA Worldwide became an official certifying organization for the award, and was authorized to honor corporations that provide classroom volunteers to teach JAs educational programs.
JA Worldwide, or Junior Achievement (JA) as it is better known, is the worlds largest organization dedicated to educating students about work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs. Junior Achievement programs help prepare young people for the real world by showing them how to generate and manage money, attain job skills that contribute to business and community growth, and apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace.
The JA partners selected to receive the prestigious award for volunteer service include the following:
* Gold Level (15,000 volunteer hours or more): AT&T,Capital One,General Electric, HSBC,University of Central Florida
* Silver Level (10,000 volunteer hours or more): Citi,Deloitte,Wells Fargo
* Bronze Level (5,000 volunteer hours or more): Accenture, Bank of America, Best Buy, Ernst & Young,JPMorgan Chase, MassMutual Insurance, PricewaterhouseCoopers,State Farm
Volunteers are the backbone of Junior Achievement. As role models, mentors and program facilitators, they are JA in action, taking the message of opportunity and boundless potential to local classrooms, and motivating students to stay in school and develop the skills and ethics needed to create success in their professional and personal lives, said Sean C. Rush, president and CEO of JA Worldwide. The Presidents Volunteer Service Award is a wonderful way to acknowledge JAs corporate partners and their employee-volunteers, who demonstrate community commitment and encourage others to make service a part of their lives.
Recognizing and honoring volunteers sets a standard for service and fosters civic participation, said Jean Case, chair of the Presidents Council on Service and Civic Participation and CEO of the Case Foundation. The Council leads a massive nationwide effort to not only recognize the dedication of Americas 65 million volunteers, but also to help ensure that all Americansno matter their backgroundhave an opportunity to give back. Central to this work is shining a spotlight on everyday heroes who are working to address some of the most pressing social challenges of our time.
About Junior Achievement (JA)
Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy. Through a dedicated volunteer network, Junior Achievement provides in-school and after-school programs for students which focus on three key content areas: work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. Today, 129 individual area operations reach more than four million students in the United States, with an additional 5.7 million students served by operations in 121 other countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.ja.org.
