VA Galvanizes Efforts of Youthful Volunteers

Philadelphia, PA — The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is supporting the Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future here April 27-29 with a pledge to increase by 50 percent the number of young volunteers serving in VA facilities.

The summit, organized at the initiative of the Corporation for National Service and the Points of Light Foundation, will bring together federal agencies, local officials, companies, nonprofit organizations and more than 1,700 participants representing every state to promote mentoring, coaching and tutoring of 15 million young people.

The summit will develop plans for expansion of opportunities for them to serve their communities through partnerships of business, government, media concerns, social service agencies, and religious and educational institutions. Other summit goals include fostering safe places and structured activities for America’s youth to learn, grow and acquire marketable skills.

Local and national leaders as well as nonprofit organizations will use the summit as a forum to announce new commitments to mobilize young people into action. VA will join more than a dozen agencies in unveiling a variety of programs that combine opportunities for education and service at the federal level.

VA currently counts approximately 10,000 youths among the nearly 100,000 volunteers who annually contribute nearly 14 million hours of service to the nation’s veterans.

The presence of volunteers primarily is felt in VA medical care, where they escort patients at medical centers, assist with recreation activities, and serve veterans in home-based programs. Many also assist at national cemeteries in such roles as helping care for the grounds, and some provide their time and services at regional benefits offices.