What is PVSA?

This is the PVSA website

https://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/

PVSA is the Presidential Volunteer Service Award. The Presidents Volunteer Service
Award recognizes, celebrates and holds up as role models Americans making a positive
impact as engaged and deeply committed volunteers. The Award enables community
organizationsas Certifying and Leadership Organizationsto amplify their gratitude by
joining with the President of the United States to thank their most dedicated volunteers.
In 2003, the Presidents Council on Service and Civic Participation launched the
President's Volunteer Service Award in 2003 to recognize the importance of volunteers
to America's strength and national identity, and furthermore, to honor the deeply
invested volunteers whose service is multiplied through the inspiration they give others.

Today, the program continues as an initiative of the Corporation for National and
Community Service, managed in partnership with Points of Light, an international
nonprofit with the mission to inspire, equip, and mobilize people to take action to change
the world.

Along with the ultimate honor of presidential recognition, recipients will receive a
personalized certificate, an official pin, medallion or coin and a congratulatory letter from
the President of the United States!!

Who can get the PVSA award?

Recipient(s) must be a United States citizen or a lawfully admitted permanent
resident of the United States.
Awards are issued for service hours served within a 12-month time period or over
the course of a lifetime.
Awards are issued for volunteer service only; additional levels of participation
with the organization (i.e., charitable support) are not a factor considered for the
award.
Awards are issued by approved Certifying Organizations. (iCERV will be
approving all hours and submitting them for the youths)
Service must be with an approved Certifying Organization that is legally
established in the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or one of the
U.S. territories.
How do I become eligible?
Hours are measured over a 12-month period and awards are designated based on
cumulative hours.

Only up to 50% of hours can come from internal service.

Hours by Award Bronze Silver Gold

Kids (5-10) 26 49 50 74 75 +

Teens (1115) 50 74 75 99 100 +

Young Adults (16-25) 100 174 175 249 250 +

Adults (26 and older) 100 249 250 499 500+

Families and Groups* 200 499 500 999 1,000+

Presidents Lifetime Achievement Award: Individuals who have completed 4,000 or

more hours in their lifetime

* Two or more people, with each member contributing at least 25 hours toward the total
Whats the difference between external and internal service
and why does it matter?

Internal service is any service done for the Jamat. This would include youth volunteers,
REC, Mosaic, etc. Internal service hours do count towards PVSA, however only up to
50% of an individuals hours can come from internal service.

External service is any service done for the external community. Most i-CERV events
will contribute to external hours, and this is one of the main roles of i-CERV. External
events can include volunteering at a blood drive, soup kitchen, food bank, etc. External
service can also come from outside of i-CERV such as through school organizations or
an individual going out on their own and volunteering.

For example: Lets say you completed 150 hours through Camp Mosaic through training
and camp week. This would be counted as internal hours. Youve also completed 25
hours through i-CERV events and 25 hours through school organizations, both of which
count as external hours - together 50 hours of external service. You may ONLY USE 50
hours from Mosaic towards PVSA, since internal hours can only be 50% or less of your
total hours.

Another example: Lets say youve completed 12 hours of volunteering through REC,
which would count as internal hours. Youve also completed 250 hours through school
organizations and iCERV events, which would count as external hours. You can use
ALL of your external hours AND all 12 of your REC hours. This is because your internal
service hours are less than 50% of your total number of hours.

The reason we have this rule is to encourage EXTERNAL service towards our local
communities. i-CERV is a huge part getting the Ismaili community involved locally
through community service.
What is the process?
***Volunteers will no longer be registering on their own!***

The process is now much simpler:

1) Each Jamatkhana team will track all hours that all members complete through
i-CERV. Hours will be inputted on a pre-made spreadsheet (made by regional
team) that includes every members personal ID (which includes full name,
birthdate and Jamatkhana). Hours will be inputted after every event.
2) For all hours outside of i-CERV (internal and external), members will complete
the PVSA log sheet. This will be used to verify the volunteer actually was at an
event. Each form has space for a number of events to be logged. Therefore this
should consolidate the number of forms we will receive.
**Please make sure members know the process from the very
beginning, so they can begin logging all hours as the year goes on.**
3) At the end of the 12-month period, members will submit their PVSA log sheets to
the local leads in each Jamatkhana.
4) Local Jamati teams will then look through log sheets and make sure all hours
logged are legitimate and that only up to 50% of hours are internal service hours.
5) Local Jamati teams will then log all i-CERV and non-i-CERV hours onto a
pre-made spreadsheet (pre-made by Regional team) with the members
individual ID, how many hours they completed, and other information.

What is the timeline for PVSA?

1) Hours for the 12-month period START: May 30th of last year
2) Hours for the 12-month period END: May 30th of this year
3) Members must submit their hours to the local teams by: May 30th of this year
4) Members will receive their awards for the previous 12-month period by: TBD

All hours completed by the youths on their own must be submitted by the deadline
mentioned above to be considered.