Business Professionals of America local chapters and members do more than prepare for successful careers. When it comes to serving the community, BPA members are on the front lines, pouring thousands of hours into making their community and world a better place.
Officially, Business Professionals of America encourages and recognizes these efforts through a variety of programs. The Torch Awards program, the Service Learning Individual award, the Special Olympics, Community Service, Environmental Action/Awareness and Safety Awareness awards all help our members and chapters identify areas of need and take action to improve their community.
Business Professionals of America and its members will continue to lead the way in this area. We are proud to announce that Business Professionals of America has been selected and approved as an official Certifying Organization for the President's Volunteer Service Award.
The President's Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) is a national award created by the White House. The President's Council on Service and Civic Participation (the Council) was established in 2003 to recognize the valuable contributions volunteers are making in our communities and encourage more people to serve. The Council created the President's Volunteer Service Award program as a way to thank and honor Americans who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service.
The President's Volunteer Service Award recognizes individuals, families and groups that have achieved a certain standard and is measured by the number of hours of service over a 12-month period as well as cumulative hours earned over the course of a lifetime.
Business Professionals of America members are eligible for this award and can be approved for it via Business Professionals of America as their Certifying Organization. Members can begin their pursuit of the award by tracking their volunteer hours utilizing the provided PVSA Workbook Template below. The hours do not have to be only for volunteer work in support of BPA; they can be for a wide range of projects and service.
"We applaud your commitment to volunteer service," a representative of the President's Council on Service wrote in a message to Business Professionals of America. "We look forward to assisting you in recognizing volunteers through the Presidents recognition program."
BPA is proud to be a part of the crucial task of encouraging and recognizing BPA members for their dedication to a better world.
For more information on PVSA, visit https://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/
The deadline to apply for the President's Volunteer Service Award is on March 1st annually. Eligible activities must take place between March 2nd to March 1st of the award year.
1) Download and save the PVSA Workbook document immediately. For File name, use "PVSA - [Your Name]". For Save as type, select "Excel Workbook". Always save the document after recording each service activity as well.
2) Complete the member information on the top of both the "Instructions" and "Activities" tab.
3) Utilize the "Activities" tab in the Excel workbook to record your service activities.
4) Each activity should be recorded within its own row on the "Activities" tab.
- Column A ("Date"): List the date on which the service activity took place. NOTE: date ranges are not accepted. The exact date of the service activity must be reported. Even if you perform the same volunteer activity over the course of several, consecutive days, you must report each day individually.
- Column B ("Benefitting Organization"): Provide the name of the person or entity that you volunteered for (ex. Main Street Soup Kitchen).
- Column C ("Activity Description"): List the volunteer activity in a full sentence (ex. I volunteered at a soup kitchen as a dish washer.). NOTE: generic volunteer descriptions are not accepted. Each volunteer activity must be fully described. Ineligible services can be found here.
- Column D ("Hours"): List the number of hours you volunteered for this specific activity (i.e. 3, 2.25, 4.5, etc.). NOTE: The number of hours should not exceed that in a day.
- Column E ("Verification Information"): Provide the Name and Contact Phone Number or Email of the individual you reported to.
5) Once all activities are recorded, upload the completed workbook using the form found on this webpage.
*Deviation from these instructions may result in disqualification from award consideration.