National Youth Service Day

NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY -- (Senate - April 12, 2005)

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise in support of S. Res. 105, a resolution designating April 15, 2005, as National Youth Service Day. S. Res. 105 acknowledges the remarkable community service efforts that our Nation's youth are making in communities across the country on April 15 and every day, and encourages all people to recognize and support the significance of these contributions.

National Youth Service Day is a public awareness and education campaign that highlights the extraordinary contributions that young people make to their communities throughout the year. On this day, youth from across the United states and the world will carry out community service projects in areas ranging from hunger to literacy to the environment. National Youth Service Day is the largest service event in the world that brings millions of youth and over 50 local, regional, and national partners together to support and promote youth service.

In Alaska, the following groups will engage youth in community service activities on April 15:

(1) Anchorage's Promise, along with 70 other youth/family organizations from Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley, will mobilize all sectors of the community to build the character and competence of Anchorage's children and youth by fulfilling the Five Promises: caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, marketable skills, and opportunities to serve. This year's National Youth Service Day celebration in anchorage hopes to engage at least 7,000 youth in service-learning projects throughout the city.

(2) Cook Inlet Tribal Council Youth Center will prepare and serve traditional Alaska Native dishes to 75-100 homeless people in downtown Anchorage.

(3) As part of the Anchorage Youth Make It Better Project, the mountain View Boys and Girls Club, Alaska Division of Juvenile Justice, members of the Boy Scouts of America Venturing Program, interested AmeriCorps/VISTA volunteers, and the Alaska Points of Light Youth Leadership Institute Student Alumni association will organize and conduct a Youth Make A Better Community essay contest involving 50 Anchorage fifth and sixth grade students. The students will write about how they would improve the community. In addition, 25 middle and high school students will design and paint an outdoor mural in Mountain View highlighting important social issues and traits of good character.

(4) In Koyukuk, young people will be helping elders with household chores they cannot do for themselves.

(5) In the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Communities In Schools Mat-Su has organized 25 students from the Mat-Su Youth Facility School and students from the Chickaloon Tribal School to work on building a Chicken Coop for the tribal sustainability project.

Many similar and wonderful activities will be taking place all across the Nation.

I thank my colleagues--Senators AKAKA, ALLEN, BAYH, BINGAMAN, BOXER, BUNNING, CLINTON, COCHRAN, COLEMAN, COLLINS, CONRAD, CORNYN, CRAIG, DEWINE, DODD, DOMENICI, DORGAN, DURBIN, FEINGOLD, FEINSTEIN, GREGG, HAGEL, ISAKSON, JOHNSON, KERRY, LANDRIEU, LIEBERMAN, LEVIN, LOTT, MARTINEZ, MIKULSKI, MURRAY, NELSON, REED, SALAZAR, SANTORUM, SCHUMER, SESSIONS, SNOWE, SPECTER, STABENOW, STEVENS, BUNNING and THUNE--for co-sponsoring this worthwhile legislation, which will ensure that youth across the country and the world know that all of their hard work is greatly appreciated.

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