Governor Charlie Crist accepted the Outstanding National Service Advocacy Award in a ceremony at Union Station’s East Hall. The ceremony celebrated and honored members of the United States Congress, state governors and private citizens, who have worked to protect and expand national service opportunities for all Americans. Governor Crist was also a featured speaker at the event.

“I believe there is no higher calling than to serve others,” Governor Crist said. “I am humbled and grateful for this award and the opportunity to serve my fellow Floridians. Engaging as many citizens as possible in civic life is among my core values, and I appreciate all volunteer service programs are doing to draw hundreds of thousands of Americans each year into public service.”

Governor Crist joined the ranks of state governors, including Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Governor Edward Rendell of Pennsylvania and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, who have also received this prestigious award.

National Service programs in Florida include AmeriCorps, also called the Domestic Peace Corps, Senior Corps and Learn and Serve grants for K-12 student learning programs. Funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency, and administered in part by the Governor’s Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, AmeriCorps Florida programs focus on education, the environment, human needs, disaster response, public safety and homeland security.

View Governor Crist's acceptance speech. (Quicktime, 13.7MB)
To view this file, you must have Quicktime installed on your computer.

Download Governor Crist's acceptance speech to your iPod/iPhone. (m4v, 30MB)

On MLK Day 2008, Florida State University School received a brand new playground, courtesy of some spectacular volunteers. Over the four-day weekend, volunteers along with AmeriCorps*NCCC members worked tirelessly to complete the playground.  By building the playground themselves, in the spirit of an old-fashioned barn-raising, the cost was significantly less than purchasing pre-fabricated structures—plus it was custom-designed from artwork by the schoolchildren.  By working together as a school and as a community, they showed that with determination and teamwork dreams can come true!  To find out more visit www.fsusplaygroundproject.org.