ABINGDON, VA (January 31, 2017) – After an extended application process, United Way of Southwest Virginia has been selected and approved as an official Certifying Organization for the President’s Volunteer Service Award.

The national President’s Volunteer Service Award program was created by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation as a way to thank and honor Americans who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service.

United Way received comments from Senator Mark R. Warner. “I want to congratulate United Way of Southwest Virginia for being chosen as a certifying organization for the President‘s Volunteer Service Award. United Way of Southwest Virginia joins a select group of organizations that recognize individuals as winners of the President’s Volunteer Service Award for spending time giving back to their communities,” said Senator Warner. “Every day, United Way of Southwest Virginia demonstrates firsthand the positive impact that volunteers can make in their own communities. I look forward to seeing them undertake this important responsibility with the same professionalism and dedication to service that has always characterized their mission.”

To qualify for the President’s Volunteer Service Award, a volunteer must record volunteer hours online through United Way’s Volunteer Center, but United Way staff members say that hours do not have to be only for volunteer work in support of United Way. A volunteer must meet service hour requirements over a 12-month period (January – December 2017). Minimums to qualify for the award are: 26 hours for children (5-10), 50 hours for teens (11-15), 100 hours for young adults (16-25) and adults (26 and older), and 200 hours for families and groups.

Debby Loggans, Volunteer Center Manager for United Way of Southwest Virginia, said, “We are extremely proud to be able to honor our most outstanding volunteers with the President’s Volunteer Service Award. Volunteers are critical to our organization’s success – and our region’s success – and they’re a vital part of our mission. Volunteers donate their time, energy, and talents to bring us closer as a region and a nation, and they make helping others a central part of their lives. Together, we can Unite Southwest Virginia – one hour at a time.”

Winners of the award will receive a medallion, certificate of achievement, and a congratulatory letter from the President of the United States. The winners will be notified in January 2018 for volunteer service completed in 2017 and recorded through United Way of Southwest Virginia’s Volunteer Center by December 31, 2017.

For more information about volunteering across Southwest Virginia or signing up with United Way of Southwest Virginia’s Volunteer Center, visit volunteerswva.org or contact Debby Loggans, Volunteer Center Manager, at dloggans@unitedwayswva.org or call 276-628-4101.

United Way of Southwest Virginia fights for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in Southwest Virginia by forging unlikely partnerships, finding new solutions to old problems, mobilizing the best resources, and inspiring individuals to create lasting change in the lives of over 350,000 residents from all walks of life. United Way of Southwest Virginia mobilizes thousands of people to give, advocate and volunteer across 5,860 square miles (approximately 15% of the state of Virginia) in the counties of Bland, Buchanan, Carroll, Dickenson, Giles, Grayson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, and Wise, and the cities of Galax and Norton. For more information about United Way of Southwest Virginia, visit netnswvarelief.wpengine.com.

United Way of Southwest Virginia’s Volunteer Center brings good people & good causes together. Through an online database of volunteer needs across the region, the Volunteer Center makes it easy for organizations to post volunteerneeds and allows people to connect to those meaningful volunteer opportunities. Promoting volunteer management standards and raising the awareness of the value volunteers bring to our community, the Volunteer Center serves as a hub of collective impact opportunities and is available to all organizations and individuals in the counties of Bland, Buchanan, Carroll, Dickenson, Giles, Grayson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise, and the cities of Galax and Norton. For more information about United Way of Southwest Virginia’s Volunteer Center or to see opportunities available across the region, visit netnswvarelief.wpengine.com/volunteer.

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