Baltimore, MD — Volunteer leaders from across the nation were urged to create a culture of responsibility and citizenship by encouraging service to others and to act as good citizens themselves, during the opening of the 2003 National Conference on Community Volunteering and National Service in Baltimore today.

"What kind of society would we have if everybody thought of others first? This is the America that I want to see," said plenary keynote speaker Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D., director of neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Carson, who together with his wife is founder of the Carson Scholars Foundation, made the case for children and their need for caring adults, safe places, a healthy start and marketable skills.

On hand to welcome and thank the attendees was Maryland First Lady Kendel Sibiski Ehrlich, the honorary chair of the National Conference. During her remarks, she commended the State of Maryland for its tradition of community service and the sustainable volunteer infrastructure - 13 volunteer centers throughout the state - that has been built over the past 10 years.

In a taped message, U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) also welcomed the guests and assured the national leaders of her commitment to keep fighting for national service.

A repeated theme throughout the morning was the many ways American citizens can meet President's Bush call to volunteer at least 4,000 hours of service during their lifetimes. An update on how citizens have responded to this call was provided by USA Freedom Corps Executive Director John Bridgeland. USA Freedom Corps was created last year to help Americans become engaged in volunteer service and in Citizen Corps Councils to promote homeland security. During the plenary, a landmark partnership agreement was signed between the Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network and the Department of Homeland Security to provide mutual support for Citizen Corps.

Also today, Ray Chambers, leading philanthropist in the U.S. and his hometown state of New Jersey, was presented with the prestigious Lenore and George W. Romney Citizen Volunteer Award. The award recognizes distinguished Americans who have built and sustained a lifetime of volunteerism and citizenship.

Convened by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network, the conference is the premier training and networking event for the citizen service and volunteer movement. Thousands of leaders from Volunteer Centers, corporations, nonprofit organizations, state service commissions, and AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and Learn and Serve America programs are in attendance, learning new skills to boost their effectiveness in solving community problems.