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Agency Volunteers for ‘United We Serve’
FrontLines - October 2009
By Ashtar Analeed Marcus
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Fier, Albania’s February 8 neighborhood park and playground was inaugurated in June. Dozens of volunteers from the U.S. Embassy painted faces, installed playground equipment, and brought American cakes, cookies, and pies. The USAID-supported project brought together local businesses, community organizations, and residents to benefit 350 families.
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Weng Vasquez of USAID’s office in the Philippines paints Tetuan Central Elementary School in Zamboanga City.
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On Sept. 11—eight years after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon—hundreds of USAID volunteers gave blood and donated books to members of the U.S. military.
The event marked the closing day of President Barack Obama’s United We Serve volunteerism initiative, which started June 22 with federal government leaders setting the example.
"On this first National Day of Service and Remembrance, we can summon once more that ordinary goodness of America," Obama said, "to serve our communities, to strengthen our country, and to better our world."
At USAID, books from every literary genre were stacked high against a wall. USAID employees donated about 1,000 books plus DVDs, CDs, board games, puzzles, and electronic games and consoles such as PlayStation.
Employees came to the Legislative and Public Affairs Bureau where they fulfilled soldier wish lists with books and DVDs contributed by the work force over the previous two months. Others penned emotional letters of gratitude to the soldiers for inclusion in each outgoing box.
USAID Acting Administrator
Alonzo Fulgham attended the Books For Soldiers drive.
As an independent organization, Books For Soldiers delivers books, magazines, DVDs, and other media materials to soldiers worldwide.
Fulgham also hosted the Armed Services Blood Program at the Agency’s Washington headquarters where military personnel collected blood from employees for shipment to soldiers in need.
Agency field offices around the globe participated in activities including painting, children’s games, and donation drives for needy communities.
Other USAID activities in Washington, led by Nancy Ruppel of the Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA) Bureau, included:
- The Global Health Bureau hosted a food drive for Food
and Friends.
- The Office of Human Resources sponsored a back-to-school supplies drive for needy elementary school students.
- The Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade Bureau sponsored a drive for suits and other professional clothing for Washingtonians looking for work.
- The Office of the Chief Operating Officer tutored and mentored people at the Hubbard Place Tenant Association.
 |  | Photo at left: Betty Chung, deputy assistant general counsel for legislation and policy (center left with dark glasses), and over 20 members of the McLean Bible Church reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro at 19,330 feet on July 1 to raise awareness for The Last Well, a faith-based nonprofit organization whose goal is to provide Liberia with clean water. Their climb, which raised more than $35,000, followed a week of service activities, including sports camps for the children of Arusha, Tanzania (right, with Chung), working alongside MANNA Worldwide. |
- DCHA assembled HIV/AIDS prevention kits for distribution throughout Washington.
- The Europe and Eurasia Bureau sponsored the food drive for McKenna’s Wagon-Martha’s Table; and helped out with Street Soccer USA, playing and spending time with young athletes.
- Others at USAID teamed up with charities during the three-month initiative:
- The Latin America and the Caribbean Bureau and the Office of Development Partners jointly sponsored three charitable organizations: Girls Inc., Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network, and Jobs for Homeless People.
- The Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, the Management Bureau, and DCHA hosted D.C. Public School Beautification Day this year.
- The Management Bureau also sponsored an Our Daily Bread Food Program drive.
 
USAID’s office in Albania and U.S. Embassy staff organized a school event in Gorican that included planting trees along the front sidewalk. They also donated computers from a recently closed USAID project and worked with a farmer’s association to purchase and rebuild volleyball, basketball, and soccer areas.
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In July, volunteers from the Europe and Eurasia Bureau helped out as teams of homeless youth and adults from various cities competed in Washington to represent the United States in the Homeless World Cup in Italy in September. USAID volunteers served food and water, manned information tables, cleaned up trash, and cheered teams on. Left to right: Caleb Drown, Abigail Lackman, Lori Rakoczy, Emily Suarez-Harris, Yireh Mercado, Luis Mercado, and Robin Phillips
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Acting Administrator Alonzo Fulgham, right, volunteered at Our Daily Bread Inc., which helps low-income residents in Fairfax, Va. The USAID Bureau for Management sponsored a food drive that collected over 800 pounds of food donations. Also pictured, left to right: Lynn Winston of the Bureau for Management, and Christina Garris and Mike Kledzik of Our Daily Bread Inc.
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Five boxes of school supplies worth $1,000 were collected by the Human Resources Office and delivered to the Washington, D.C., public schools.
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USAID’s Office of Development Partners and the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean provided turkey sandwiches, apple sauce, fruit juice, and dessert for the Arlington Street People’s Association Network in August. Pictured: Todd Kirkbride of ODP
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"On a day when others sought to sap our confidence, let us renew our common purpose," said Obama at a Pentagon Memorial wreath-laying ceremony. "Let us remember how we came together as one nation, as one people, as Americans, united not only in our grief, but in our resolve to stand with one another, to stand up for the country we all love."
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