Background

The President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) is a prestigious national honor offered in recognition of volunteer commitment, encouraging citizens to live a life of service through presidential gratitude and national recognition. Established in 2003, the award recognizes, celebrates, and holds up as role models Americans making a positive impact as engaged and deeply committed volunteers committed to volunteer service over the course of 12 months.

We are pleased to announce that DragonSprouts is now recognized as an Official Certifying Organization (CO) for the President’s Volunteer Service Awards Program. As a Certifying Organization, we can nominate potential recipients, identify eligible recipients, verify their service hours, and distribute the award to those who meet or exceed the award criteria.

The President’s Volunteer Service Award is issued by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. To learn more about this award visit www.PresidentialServiceAwards.gov or email nihao@dragonsprouts.org.

Eligibility

Hours are measured over a 12 months period and awards are designated based on cumulative hours. The awards are offered in multiple levels and are designed to recognize each milestone of your service achievement. Levels include bronze, silver, gold.

** Award is open to anyone aged 5 and above **

Along with the ultimate honor of presidential recognition, recipients will receive a personalized certificate from the president of the United States. All costs are paid by DragonSprouts.

What's included

The official President’s Volunteer Service Award package includes a personalized certificate of achievement.

** All costs are paid by DragonSprouts **

How to Apply

1. Print Volunteer Service Hour Log to track and record your volunteer hours.
2. When you served the required number of hours and ready to apply for award, submit the completed service log to request Presidential Volunteer Service Award to nihao@dragonsprouts.org.
3. We will verify your hours and notify you of award details.
4. DragonSprouts recognizes all volunteer service hours starting September 17th, 2022.
5. Volunteer hours can accumulated on a rolling 12 months basis.
6. Volunteer service hour log submitted will be reviewed.
7. Students are responsible for keeping track of own hour log and obtaining supervisor signatures upon completion of each service activity throughout the year.

Volunteers can sign up for the PVSA program with DragonSprouts. You will need to track your hours and service for the organizations with which you volunteer. It is fun to watch your hours grow towards each milestone award. DragonSprouts will approve your hours and award you with a PVSA.

With the highest honor of recognition comes the responsibility of upholding the integrity of the Office of the President of the United States, the PVSA and all your fellow PVSA recipients. As an individual volunteer, you are required to meet the following criteria to receive an award.

Criteria:

• Recipient(s) must be a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States (i.e., green card holder).
• Recipient(s) must be a student of Los Angeles Unified School District.
• Awards are issued for service hours served within a 12-month time period.
• Awards are issued for volunteer service
• Awards are issued by approved Certifying Organizations.
• Service must be with an organization that is legally established in the U.S., the commonwealth of Puerto Rico or one of the territories.

Eligible Service:

• Unpaid acts of volunteer service benefitting others.
• Service through National service programs that provide a stipend (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) may count towards the Lifetime Achievement Award*, but not for the annual Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards).
• Travel stipends, transit/parking passes, membership passes, expense reimbursements, and other nominal volunteer support do not impact service eligibility.

Eligible Service does not include:

• Donating funds.
• Political lobbying (Non-partisan voter registration is an eligible activity).
• Religious instruction.
• Conducting worship service.
• Proselytizing.
• Volunteer service performed as part of court-ordered community service.
• Serving only family members.

FAQ

1. What if I’m a volunteer but I am not yet a United States citizen?
   Per federal program rules, only U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents (i.e., green card holders) may be awarded the PVSA.
2. What if I had a birthday which increased my volunteer hourly category?
   Age category is determined by the age a volunteer is for at least 7 months out of a designated 12- month award period.
3. What if my organization is a United States organization but volunteers complete all of their hours outside of the United States?
   If your organization is registered as a United States business, government, or nonprofit, your volunteers may receive the PVSA if they are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent resident. Sources can be from multiple volunteer service sources (any location, even international; profit or non- profit, etc) but each must be verified via signature, printed name, and their contact information for each volunteering organization.
4. Why do you only accept volunteer hours for the past one year for the President’s Volunteer Service Awards?
   We want to ensure the volunteer work is current; therefore, the PVSA program will accept hours from the past one year only. For example, if you started volunteering in July, you will have until July the following year to complete your hours.
5. Which 12 months I should use?
   Most students chose a calendar year; however, you may select your own 12-month fiscal year such as school year as long as the majority of hours encompass the year you apply for. DragonSprouts will not certify prior years. Whatever 12-month period selected, make sure to keep it going forward.
6. What are all the eligible services?
   To learn more about eligible services for volunteering, visit the official elgibility requirements: here.