President’s Volunteer Service Award

Parnassus Preparatory Academy is an approved Certifying Organization (CO) for the President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA). The PVSA is a prestigious national honor offered in recognition of volunteer commitment. Established in 2003, this award honors individuals and groups who have demonstrated a sustained commitment to volunteer service over the course of 12 months. Service hours can be accumulated on a variety of projects throughout the year. You can read all about it at www.presidentialserviceawards.gov.

The PVSA is awarded annually at the Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels. For many, earning one or more awards will be a noteworthy honor on future college or scholarship applications.

Simply log your dates and hours of service with each organization where you serve. Then have a supervisor sign your log to verify your hours. Log your hours from May 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023. Submit your hours to Parnassus Preparatory Academy by email or in-person by April 30, 2023, in order to receive your award at our annual awards ceremony. You can print your log here.

What Counts as Volunteer Service?

Type of Community Service
Volunteers may perform any type of community service that they wish. Major service categories suggested by PVSA include: education, healthy futures, environmental stewardship, veterans and military families, economic opportunity, disaster services, and more.

Double Dipping/Double Counting Service Hours
Community service hours counted towards the PVSA do not need to be uniquely earned for this award. Hours completed through, or required by, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Eta Sigma Alpha, church, or similar civic or community initiatives, may be applied towards a PVSA award, even if they are performed towards earning another award or recognition.

Self-Organized Work
Community service work does not need to be done through an organization or established program. Self-initiated service work such as an individual’s or family’s commitment to cleaning up a park or stream, can be counted for this award. PPA may ask for additional details or documentation on self-initiated projects.

What Does Not Count as Volunteer Service?

Court-Ordered Service
Volunteer service mandated by the court cannot be counted.

Unused/Rollover Hours
Volunteer hours must be completed in the 12 month award period. Unused hours may not be “rolled over” to the next award period. The exception is the Lifetime Achievement Award which is cumulative across multiple years.

Paid Work
Volunteers must not receive any compensation or stipend for the community service hours.

Monetary/In-Kind Donations
Monetary or in-kind donations to an organization do not have a volunteer hour equivalency and cannot be counted.

Unpaid Student Work
Not all unpaid student work can be counted as volunteer, community service work. Unpaid work in a for-profit place of business, such as an office or medical practice, is considered an internship experience and shall not count as volunteer work because the student’s effort would benefit a business rather than a charitable effort. Read below for exception for volunteer sports/dance teaching assistants.

Teaching Assistants/Junior Coaches/Counselor in Training (Dance, Martial Arts, Camps, etc)A student who serves as a junior or assistant instructor, coach, or camp counselor may be able to count time spent teaching classes to younger students, even if the studio/camp/sports organization is a for-profit business, if there is no in-kind compensation. The student coach/teaching assistant/counselor must not receive any benefits such as free or reduced tuition/class fees, belt testing, or other no-cost benefits. Any student who submits volunteer instructor/coach hours of this type as volunteer work must also submit a letter from the studio/camp signed by the owner or head coach stating that the volunteer did not receive any of the benefits list above or similar in exchange for his/her volunteer work.

Work for Family
Unpaid work for family is usually not counted as volunteer work. Mowing the lawn for your parents, babysitting for a family member, or washing a car for your grandparents is considered a contribution to your own family and not volunteer work that benefits the community. Work in the family’s business is not usually considered volunteer work. If you believe that there should be an exception, contact the PVSA administrator through Compass.

Live-In Exchange Student
Activities and interactions with an exchange student who is living in your home is generally not considered volunteer work. Eating, running errands, taking trips, going on outings, and doing ordinary activities of daily life when accompanied by an exchange student does not transform such activities into a volunteer role (since you would likely be doing these things anyway, without an exchange student.)

Fostering Animals
Activities related to the direct care and keeping of foster animals, such as feeding, watering, bathing, exercising, grooming, accompanying to vet appointments, or cleaning up after the animal can count toward the PVSA award. Activities related to adoption services for foster animals, such as creating promotions or working at adoption events, can be counted. However, if the applicant is sheltering a foster animal(s) at home, he/she cannot count ALL hours that the animal is sheltered or housed as volunteer time. For example, fostering an animal for 7 days does not yield 168 hours of volunteer time because not all hours of the day are devoted to the care and keeping of the animal.

Marches, Rallies, Protests
Participation in marches, rallies, or protests shall not count as volunteer hours.

Religious Instruction, Worship Service
Performing religious instruction, conducting a worship service, and proselytizing shall not count as volunteer hours. For example, service as Sunday school or religious education assistant or work as an alter boy may not be counted. Work that is done as a regular, participating member of a congregation cannot be counted, similar to the limitations of attendance/participation in an organization (below). Community service done through a place of worship such as food drives, meals for the homeless, soup kitchens, clothing collections, etc., can be counted.

Attendance/Participation in an Organization
A student’s attendance at regular meetings or participation in events of an organization that he/she is a member of, such as a Girl Scout meeting or 4H field trip, are part of being a member of that organization but do not count as volunteer hours. However, service projects or charitable work done through one of these organizations, such as a youth group visit to a nursing home or Boy Scouts cleaning up a park, can be counted.

Fundraising
Hours spent on fundraising activities for a member’s own organization cannot be counted as service. For example, time spent earning money through the sale of Boy Scout popcorn, Girl scout cookies, honor society pizza day, etc., cannot be counted as community service. However, efforts expended to raise money for another charitable organization, such as a car wash or lemonade stand to raise funds for the animal shelter or cancer society, could be counted.