President Obama welcomed the man who launched the modern service movement, President George H. W. Bush, now in a wheelchair and 89 years old, back to the White House Monday for a ceremony honoring the 5,000th recipients of his Point of Light award. The two presidents lauded Kathy Hamilton and Floyd Hammer of Union, Iowa for stepping up to fight hunger and improve the lives of children worldwide.
Nearly 10 years ago, Hamilton and Hammer participated in a volunteer mission to Tanzania to help renovate an HIV/AIDS hospital there. Startled by the starvation they saw, the couple started Outreach, Inc., which has engaged thousands of volunteers in packaging and distributing 230 million free meals to children in more than 15 countries, including the United States.
The elder President Bush helped launch a nonprofit – Points of Light – that has become the largest organization in the world dedicated to volunteer service and he instituted a daily presidential recognition with his Points of Light Award.
“While he didn’t originate the notion of helping our fellow man,” according to the White House Blog, “he reasserted it as a national priority and insisted that ‘there can be no definition of a successful life that does not include service to others.'”
Nominate someone you know for a Daily Point of Light Award at pointsoflight.org.
(WATCH the video below, or LEARN more (and watch full ceremony) at the White House Blog)
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