The Corps Network Honors U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer for her support of Youth Service and Conservation Corps in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act
Sen. Barbara Boxer accepts The Corps Network 2013 Congressional Champion Award. Pictured with staff of Civicorps (Oakland, CA) and Brandon Penny, a 2013 Corpsmember of the Year from Civicorps (third from right)
For Immediate Release
2/28/13
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In recognition of her support for the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), Senator Barbara Boxer of California was awarded one of The Corps Network’s highest honors, the Congressional Champion Award, at a ceremony in the Cannon House Office Building on Wednesday, February 13, 2013.
Every year, The Corps Network presents the Congressional Champion Award to elected officials whose work promotes and encourages the growth and sustainability of America’s youth service and conservation corps. As a result of Senator Boxer’s leadership and support, the recently passed MAP-21 Act includes language that encourages state and regional transportation planning agencies to utilize qualified youth service and conservation corps to complete projects under the National Scenic Byways Program, the Recreational Trails Program, the Transportation Alternatives Program, and other initiatives. This language allows Corps to work on more and different kinds of fee-for-service projects. In turn, Corps are able to engage more young people and provide them with a greater variety of job skills.
“We wish to thank Senator Boxer for her support of new ‘Youth Corps-friendly’ provisions in MAP 21. They will help many young people gain valuable work experience and develop job skills while improving trails, bike paths, and other alternative transportation routes in their states and communities. These provisions will lead to a combination of positive outcomes that we can all appreciate,” said Mary Ellen Ardouny, President and CEO of The Corps Network.
Staff and Corpsmembers of several California-based youth service and conservation corps presented Senator Boxer with her award at her office in the Hart Senate Office Building.
In addition to the recipients of the Congressional Champion Award, the February 13th ceremony also recognized The Corps Network’s 2013 Corpsmembers of the Year and 2013 Projects of the Year. The six Corpsmembers of the Year are young men and women who have stood out as leaders and role models in the corps movement, while the three Project of the Year recipients represented some of the most innovative programs at Corps throughout the country.
Service and conservation corps are comprehensive youth development programs that provide their participants with job training, academic programming, leadership skills, and additional support through a strategy of service that improves communities and the environment. Today’s corps are a direct descendant of the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps, through which three million young men dramatically improved the nation’s public lands while receiving food, shelter, education, and a precious $30-a-month stipend.
About The Corps Network
The Corps Network is the voice of the nation’s 143 Service and Conservation Corps. Currently operating in 44 states and the District of Columbia, Corps annually enroll more than 29,000 young men and women in service every year. Corps mobilize approximately 226,000 community volunteers who in conjunction with Corpsmembers generate 21.3 million hours of service every year. For more information, visit corpsnetwork.org or contact Levi Novey at [email protected] or 202.737.6272.
Media Contact:
Levi Novey
The Corps Network
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Phone: 202.737.6272
Fax: 202.737.6277
Email: [email protected]