Senate Passes Resolution Recognizing Senior Corps Volunteers Serving 50 Million Hours in 2018
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), the Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, and Angus King (I-ME) announced that the Senate unanimously passed a resolution to recognize the 220,000 Senior Corps volunteers who collectively provided 50 million hours of community service in 2018. This resolution was cosponsored by a bipartisan group of 21 Senators, including Senators Collins and King.
“Throughout the country, thousands of seniors — including more than 2,000 volunteers in Maine — make significant contributions through Senior Corps programs,” said Senators Collins and King in a joint statement. “We thank Senior Corps volunteers for their efforts to address the unmet needs in our communities, and we congratulate them on reaching this significant milestone.”
The Corporation for National and Community Service is the federal agency that runs Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and other service in grant-making initiatives. There are three Senior Corps programs: Senior Companions help homebound seniors maintain independence in their homes; Foster Grandparents mentor young people with exceptional needs; and RSVP volunteers provide a variety of services such as tutoring youth, responding to natural disasters, renovating homes, and protecting the environment.
Over the past year, more than 2,000 Mainers volunteered through Senior Corps, and RSVP volunteers benefitted 140 local organizations throughout the state.
In March, Senators Collins and King announced that Catholic Charities of Maine had been awarded $100,000 through the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Senior Corps RSVP program. This funding supported 165 Senior Corps volunteers in Kennebec and Somerset counties.
Earlier this year, Senator Collins met with Tess Scannell, a board member of Senior Corps in Maine and a former National Director of Senior Corps, in her Washington, D.C., office. Ms. Scannell was visiting our nation’s capital to receive the National Service Advocate of the Year Award at the 2019 Friends of National Service Awards.
Click HERE to read the resolution.
