For Immediate Release
Jan. 17, 2019
Media Contact:
Marci Manley
Deputy Chief of Communications
501-320-6036
Gov. Asa Hutchinson to Present Arkansas Volunteerism Commendation at the State Capitol
(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) — Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson will present a letter of commendation recognizing the 45thanniversary of the Office of Volunteer Action Programs (VAP) Tuesday, January 22, 9:30 a.m. at the Arkansas State Capitol.
State Sen. Jane English and Rep. Fredrick Love will speak during the ceremony. English is an alumna of Vista while Love is an AmeriCorps alum. Both Vista and AmeriCorps are national service programs.
“Gov. Hutchinson presenting Arkansas’s volunteers with an official letter of approval is a true honor,” said Shana Chaplin, Department of Human Services (DHS) deputy chief of the Office of Community Engagement. “Sen. English and Rep. Love are outstanding and have lots of insight on Arkansas’s storied history of community service. The Community Engagement VolunteerAR team is eager to build upon that legacy of volunteerism by continuing to connect people in every region of the state to volunteer opportunities.”
In 1974, then Governor Dale Bumpers established VAP making Arkansas the first state to have a department that specialized in organizing community service opportunities. That department is under the DHS umbrella of the Office of Community Engagement VolunteerAR.
Last year, nearly 700,000 Arkansans participated in a volunteer activity for a total of 72.9 million hours of service. Almost half the state’s residents donated at least $25 to a charitable cause in 2018, according to VolunteerAR data.
For more information about AmeriCorps, the VolunteerAR team, and volunteer opportunities in Arkansas go to https://www.volunteerar.org/.
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