![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Statement Of Tess Scannell
Environmental Protection Agency
Aging Initiative Public Listening Session
Baltimore, Maryland
May 7, 2003
Tess Scannell
Director, Senior Corps
Corporation for National and Community Service
Director, Senior Corps
Corporation for National and Community Service
Good afternoon. I am Tess Scannell, Director of Senior Corps, a part of The Corporation for National and Community Service. We are the Federal agency that administers volunteer programs and a critical component of the President's new USA Freedom Corps. I would like to thank Administrator Whitman and the US Environmental Protection Agency for inviting me to take part in today's listening session to help shape a national agenda on the environment and the aging. I come with greetings from our CEO, Dr. Les Lenkowsky and the entire Corporation and Senior Corps. We are extremely pleased to be partnering with the EPA on their Aging Initiative and look forward to exploring ways to encourage more older Americans to volunteer to reduce hazards and protect the environment.
Senior Corps is the network of programs that connects adults 55 and older with volunteer opportunities to help strengthen their communities. Our three programs are the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), the Foster Grandparent Program (FGP), and the Senior Companion Program (SCP). Together these programs mobilize over half a million older adults in service to their communities. The President has given us a goal of recruiting 100,000 new seniors in 2003.
55+ volunteers have been committed to reducing hazards and protecting the environment since the inception of Senior Corps. Our volunteers serve with numerous environmental organizations, such as the Environmental Alliance for Senior Involvement (EASI), the National Wildlife Federation, and the US Forest Service.
At present, there are 19,500 RSVP volunteers serving in over 2,600 community-based organizations that are involved in environmental service activities, such as safe drinking water and groundwater monitoring and detection, radon detection, recycling, environmental stewardship, and animal and wildlife preservation, to name a few.
55+ volunteers have helped to start a Source Water Protection Programs in Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia focused on safe drinking water. In Massachusetts, senior volunteers designed a statewide program called "Project Radon" to distribute radon test kits, conduct public awareness campaigns about the dangers of radon gas in homes, and follow-up with participants to ensure that the test kits were used properly and adequate measures were taken to correct any problems.
Now, more than ever, we need to enlist more older Americans to serve. Just last year Senior Corps launched a new web-based recruitment system at http://www.seniorcorps.org to help adults 55 years of age and older find meaningful volunteer opportunities using the Internet. At that site you can search over 80,000 volunteer opportunities available through our three programs and more than 115 partners. These opportunities can also be accessed at http://www.usafreedomcorps.gov
We urge organizations with volunteer opportunities and seniors who want to volunteer to take a moment to go online and peruse our site. Senior Corps looks forward to our continued partnership with the EPA. Thank you for asking us to speak today.