Senator Collins to Receive Award for Support of AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors
Washington, DC – In recognition of her strong support for AmeriCorps, Voices for National Service announced today that Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) will receive the Edward M. Kennedy National Service Lifetime Leadership Award at the 20th Annual Friends of National Service Awards.
Voices for National Service, which turns 20 this year, is a diverse coalition of AmeriCorps programs, state service commissions and individual champions, who deliver critical services to Americans in communities across the country. Voices for National Service advocates for programs on the front lines of our communities, responding to the country’s most immediate and pressing challenges.
“Senator Collins has been a vocal and longstanding champion for AmeriCorps as a common sense solution for strengthening communities, addressing pressing needs, and developing leaders,” said AnnMaura Connolly, President, Voices for National Service. “For decades, she has supported bipartisan legislation to expand and strengthen AmeriCorps so that Americans of every background have the opportunity to serve. It is our immense privilege to award her Voices for National Service’s highest honor.”
Senator Collins is a longstanding member of the National Service Congressional Caucus and she has cosponsored legislation to exclude the AmeriCorps Education Award from federal income tax. As a member of the Senate Aging Committee for 25 years, Senator Collins has been particularly concerned about the effects of isolation and loneliness on seniors. As Committee Chair, she examined this rising epidemic and explored solutions like AmeriCorps Seniors that ensure older Americans can put their expertise to good use, which research has found leads to improved mental and physical health and social connectedness of volunteers.
“AmeriCorps provides thousands of Americans the opportunity to make significant contributions in communities that might not otherwise have them. In Maine, approximately 2,700 members are responding to the state’s most immediate and critical needs at more than 200 locations across the state,” said Senator Collins. “From education to health care to conservation, volunteers across the nation are making a positive difference every day. I am grateful to have received this recognition and delighted to be joined by so many champions of AmeriCorps who selflessly dedicate their time and efforts to improving the world around them.”
A short video featuring voices from Maine highlights how Senator Collins has helped to raise public awareness of AmeriCorps and elevated service as a solution to some of the nation's most pressing problems will be available following the event, here. You are welcome to embed the video in any coverage.
Annually approximately, 2,700 members of AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors are serving in Maine, responding to the state’s most immediate and critical needs. They are serving at more than 200 locations across the state including schools, food banks, homeless shelters, health clinics, veterans facilities and other local nonprofit, faith-based and community organizations. The AmeriCorps agency has invested more than $6.3 million in federal funding to support cost-effective community solutions in Maine, working hand in hand with local partners to empower individuals to help communities tackle their toughest challenges. Through this public-private partnership, every $1 Congress invests in AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors returns more than $17 in benefits to our country.
Collins joins a bipartisan group of distinguished leaders in government being honored this year including Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Edward Markey (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Todd Young (R-IN), and Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA), Tom Cole (R-OK), Garret Graves (R-LA), Derek Kilmer (D-WA), and Gwen Moore (D-WI). Previous recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award include Senators Barbara Mikulski, Thad Cochran, Chuck Schumer, John McCain, Chris Coons and Orrin Hatch, Representatives John Lewis, Rosa DeLauro, David Price and Doris Matsui, and General Colin Powell.
Event Details
WHAT: 20th Annual Friends of National Service Awards, hosted by Voices for National Service
WHEN: Wednesday, April 26, from 6:30 – 8:30pm ET
WHERE: Hilton Washington, DC Capitol Hill, 525 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
RSVP: Media that wishes to attend should RSVP to ranit@schmelzerstrategies.com
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Voices for National Service, which turns 20 this year, advocates for programs that respond to the country’s most immediate and pressing challenges and elevates AmeriCorps as a powerful strategy for tackling unmet needs. Founded in 2003, Voices for National Service has built strong bipartisan support among our national’s leaders for AmeriCorps, the public-private partnership that yields more than $17 in benefits to our country for every $1 invested by Congress and enables the 200,000 members of AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors to support local nonprofit, faith-based and community organizations on the front lines of our communities – an effort that unites our country and deepens civic character.
