Following a successful Capitol Hill Advocacy Day, there is progress in the effort to bring forth legislation to recognize the significant work of Peace Corps Volunteers with passage of Congressional Gold Medal legislation for past and present volunteers.
Bipartisan legislation in the House of Representatives is in the works, with hope that legislation will be introduced in the weeks after Congress returns from its summer recess. Work remains to have similar legislation introduced in the Senate.
While more than 170 members of the Peace Corps community urged support for gold medal legislation during our Capitol Hill Day, we encourage you to continue writing to Congress and do the same.
But, there is more you can do to help!
A Community Crowdsource Project: Organizational Sign-On Letter
As we progress with this legislation, we want to demonstrate that it’s not just Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and NPCA, but also organizations big and small, all around the country, expressing their support for this gold medal initiative. We plan to demonstrate this with a nationwide, organizational sign-on letter. And, we need your help. Here’s how:
- First, you can review the text of the letter that we are asking groups to sign (PLEASE NOTE: We are asking groups to collectively sign this one letter, which NPCA will assemble. We are not asking groups to submit individual letters.
- Next, we invite you to visit our tracking spreadsheet. This is where our community can come together, brainstorm all sorts of national/regional/local groups, and sign up to take the lead in reaching out to groups to solicit their support.
- What kind of organizations are we looking for? Any and all, including NPCA affiliate groups, educational institutions, national service and volunteer organizations, nonprofit groups, faith-based groups, veterans groups, state and local governments, and more.
- Here is the link to a web page you can share which provides more details on the Congressional Gold Medal initiative.
- Here is the link to an outreach template you can use as a guide in reaching out to groups you are pursuing to sign the letter.
- Finally, here is the link to the form you can send instructing groups on how to sign onto the letter (the form also includes the text of the letter): https://forms.gle/ayvi63vjszWYbBa86
Go The Extra Mile?
Contact us at [email protected] if you are willing to serve on a volunteer working group to advance and secure passage of Peace Corps Congressional Gold Medal legislation.