Volunteers are the lifeblood of any nonprofit organization. This is certainly true for San Diego Writers and Editors Guild. We are able to provide benefits such as the Manuscript Review Program, the Guilded Pen Anthology, representing the Guild and our members at Festival events, and much more because of the large number of members who volunteer.
In 2023, the Guild plans to take part in the President's Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) program to recognize members who volunteer significant numbers of hours on the Guild's behalf. PVSA was established in 2003 by the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation to recognize the important role of volunteers in America's strngth and national identity.
The PVSA has continued under each administration. To participate, organizations that rely on volunteers must become Certifying Organizations to use the program to recognize their most exceptional volunteers.
In December of 2022, the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild became a Certifying Organization for PVSA through demonstrating it meets all the organizational eligibility requirements. SDWEG must recertify each year to ensure those administering the program understand both the organization’s responsibilities and the eligibility requirements of volunteers.
To be eligible to receive PVSA recognition, volunteers must be US citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States, be at least five years old, and complete eligible service within a 12-month period for Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards. The number of hours of service required at each of those levels depends upon the age of the individual. The chart below indicates the levels for each annual level.
| Hours Required to Earn Awards in Each Age Group: |
| Age Group |
Bronze |
Silver |
Gold |
| Kids (5-10 years old) |
26-49 hours |
50-74 hours |
75+ hours |
| Teens (11-15) |
40-74 hours |
75-99 hours |
100+ hours |
| Young Adults (16-25) |
100-174 hours |
175-249 hours |
250+ hours |
| Adults (26+) |
100-249 hours |
250-499 hours |
500+ hours |
Certifying organizations may choose from options to provide recognition to volunteers. The options include an official President’s Volunteer Service Award pin, coin, or medallion; a personalized certificate of achievement and letter signed by the president; or a complete package including both elements of the award. The Guild, like all certifying organizations, must pay for the cost of the awards and not transfer the cost to recipients.
The Guild hopes that implementing the program early in 2023 will permit us to make the first awards to our member volunteers at the end of 2023. The program runs for any 12-month period. For this reason, it’s important for volunteers to keep track of the hours they volunteer in any capacity for the Guild with the date to confirm the hours were offered within twelve months.
If you would like to be considered for recognition through the PVSA program in 2023, please send a message to sdweg.pvsa@gmail.com. Until another program administrator is recruited, Sandra Yeaman will monitor this email account and will provide access to a Google Document for each participating member to use to track volunteer hours.
In the first year of the program, we will request quarterly updates of member volunteers’ activities from those who do not choose to use the Google Docs spreadsheet, to determine if refining the program administration is needed.
We look forward to recognizing all our member volunteers since we cannot continue or expand our programming without member volunteer support.
