Washington, D.C. – More than 830 mayors from all 50 states are standing together in support of AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs by participating in the first-ever Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service. Together, these mayors represent nearly 100 million citizens or one-third of Americans. The first-ever Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service is being led by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), Cities of Service, the National League of Cities, and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Mayor Nutter spoke about the Day of Recognition this morning during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” CNCS is the federal agency for national service and volunteering that administers AmeriCorps and Senior Corps. “It is a testament to the effectiveness of AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs that nearly one-third of Americans will have their mayor participating in this first-ever Day of Recognition,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS.

“We’re proud to stand with this bipartisan group of mayors. These leaders are shining a bright light on the impact of AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers as they improve neighborhoods and transform lives across the country.” Spencer will join Mayor Nutter in Philadelphia as he presents the Mayor’s Award for Distinguished National Service. The program also will include remarks from former CNCS CEO Harris Wofford, a champion for national service and volunteerism who in February received the Presidential Citizens Medal, the nation’s second-highest civilian honor. Spencer will return to Washington, D.C. where Mayor Vincent Gray will recognize national service programs at this evening’s Washington Nationals baseball game. CNCS annually engages more than five million citizens in service at more than 70,000 locations in 8,500 cities across the country through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and other programs. “As President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, I work with mayors from both sides of the aisle to find practical solutions to the problems we face in our cities,” said Mayor Nutter. “My colleagues and I agree that there are few resources more cost effective than America’s national service programs. AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers are central to the fabric of Philadelphia.

Day after day, they roll up their sleeves and get to work addressing education, food insecurity, community revitalization and more. Simply put, in these challenging economic times, their service is essential to the current and future success of our city and our nation.” “Today makes it clear that there is broad, bipartisan support among our nation’s mayors for programs like AmeriCorps and Senior Corps,” said Katie Leonberger, who manages the Cities of Service coalition. “National service members are key to mobilizing citizens to get important work done on the ground and we are thrilled to see so many mayors honor and support their efforts.” “NLC is proud to serve as a co-sponsor of this inaugural day commemorating national service, and we are thrilled to see the high levels of participation and excitement from so many of our communities across the country,” said Mayor Marie Lopez Rogers, President of the National League of Cities. “National Service participants touch the lives of our residents every day, and are integral to the success of countless programs and services in our communities. Today we honor these selfless individuals for strengthening cities and towns across the country.”

Participating mayors will conduct site visits, roundtables, proclamations, and celebrations. These events are designed to highlight the impact of national service in cities, including helping kids learn to read and stay in school, rebuilding communities after disasters, connecting veterans to services, restoring city parks, building homes, focusing the efforts of community volunteers, and bringing life back to forgotten neighborhood. All events focus on the three groups that benefit AmeriCorps and Senior Corps: the recipients of service, the people who serve, and the larger community and nation. The initiative has already gained support from a diverse range of mayors. A full list can be found . In addition to the service recognition event in Philadelphia with Mayor Nutter, other mayors who hold national leadership positions are marking this Day of Recognition. In addition to these cities, mayors in other communities are commemorating national service in a number of ways:

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Social Innovation Fund, and Volunteer Generation Fund programs, and leads President’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit . Founded in September 2009 in New York City by New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and 16 other mayors from across the nation, Cities of Service is a bipartisan coalition of mayors committed to addressing critical city needs through impact volunteering. American cities face serious challenges and many mayors want to take advantage of every resource available to them – including the time and energy of public-spirited residents – to address those challenges. But in cities across America today, citizen service is often an underutilized or inefficiently utilized strategy by municipal governments. By leveraging citizen service strategies, Cities of Service helps mayors address local needs and make government more effective. The National League of Cities is dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages, representing more than 218 million Americans.

Samantha Jo Warfield
Phone: 202-606-6775
Email: sjwarfield@cns.gov