Calvin

June 14, 2004 == MEDIA ADVISORY

A Grand Rapids couple has earned the Call to Service Award, the highest level
of a set of awards for volunteer service established by President George W.
Bush.

Jeni and Dennis Hoekstra received the award this weekend at a banquet during
an international conference of Partners for Christian Development held at
Calvin College.

The Hoekstras, both graduates of Calvin, are among the first to be recognized
in the President's initiative, Volunteers for Prosperity -- an international
service opportunity for professionals.

"Jeni and Dennis Hoekstra are heroes of the cause of human dignity," says
Volunteers for Prosperity director Jack Hawkins. "Each has donated more than
4,000 hours overseas - the equivalent of two full years of work -- helping
citizens of developing countries lift themselves out of poverty. They are a
shining example of the call to service that President Bush has asked every
American to make during his or her lifetime."

Volunteers for Prosperity is a new U.S. government companion program to the
Peace Corps, which requires a longer term commitment of two full years
overseas. Service through Volunteers for Prosperity is more flexible, ranging
from a week to months or even years. Volunteers work under the direction of
private voluntary organizations in activities that support the U.S.
government's agenda for global health and prosperity. More than 100
organizations, including Partners for Christian Development, have joined the
Volunteers for Prosperity network since it was created by President Bush last
September.

Prior to volunteering for PCD, Jeni Hoekstra, a 1957 Calvin graduate, served
as a school teacher and board member for several Christian organizations while
Dennis Hoekstra, a 1958 graduate, attained administrative positions at Calvin
College, served as President of Trinity Christian College in Chicago and became
the first Executive Director of the Barnabas Foundation, a planned giving
service for Christian charities.

After retiring, they became volunteers for PCD and started what will soon
reach a decade of service. Over the years at PCD, the Hoekstras volunteered for
more than 11,000 hours both domestically and internationally. While abroad they
worked to develop businesses, computer training centers, and leadership
training workshops. As a result, thousands of computers were recycled for use
in developing nations while hundreds of organizations and businesses were
created to successfully improve and inspire the lives of thousands.

Partners for Christian Development (PCD), headquartered in Grand Rapids,
mobilizes business executives to donate their time in mentoring and training
budding entrepreneurs in writing business plans, accounting, product quality,
marketing, and management.

One endeavor of Partners for Christian Development is its "Million Mentors
Initiative."

The long-term vision of this initiative is to realize, according to PDC
executive director Doug Seebeck, "one million skilled, caring business and
professional mentors investing themselves, their time and their resources to
assist businesses in developing countries."

~written by Volunteers for Prosperity staff in Washington, D.C.

For interviews call Doug Seebeck at Partners for Christian Development
(616-224-5874) or Jack Hawkins at Volunteers for Prosperity/USAID
(202-712-5941)

For information see www.volunteersforprosperity.gov and www.pcd.org

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Received on Mon Jun 14 08:46:12 2004