CAPACITY EXCEEDED – No new enrollment
(Please send an email to serviceawards@jcnc.org to be added to waitlist)
The Presidents Volunteer Service Award for JCNC Youth (Age 13 to 19)
The Jain Center of Northern California (JCNC) is a proud symbol of harmony and unity. We have a vibrant community of dedicated volunteers, who work countless hours to make successful events such as Shala Programs, Cultural events, Senior Mixers, Religious Events, Jivdaya events and many special outreach programs and events.
This time we proudly announce the program for our youth to plan and execute community service activities. JCNC has now partnered-up with ‘Corporation for National Community to Service’ to award “The Presidents Volunteer Service Awards” (PVSA) for our deserving young volunteers. The program is designed to prepare our next generation leaders in such a way that they will be inspired to participate in leading volunteer activities at JCNC. In return, they will be awarded with volunteer service credits and the PVSA certificate signed by the President of United States.
Objective of the Program
- Provide a platform for our youth to plan and execute voluntary service
- Encourage youth to participate in various community services
- Promote Jain way of leading a selfless life by giving back to the community
- Develop our youths as next generation Jain Leaders
- Award “The Presidential Volunteer Service Award” in recognition of their selfless service for the community
- Ultimate honor of presidential recognition
- Special service commitment certificate & a medallion
- Youth may use this recognition on their college application
Rules & Eligibility Criteria
- Per federal program rules, only U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents (i.e., green card holders) may be awarded the President’s Volunteer Service Award
- Youths participating in the program must be fully vaccinated
- Open to all JCNC member families. We encourage you to review the eligibility criteria and apply (link at the bottom).
- Children between 13 -19 years of age as of Mar 2024 are qualified with Government issued proof verification
- Registration is now open for the calendar year from 2024 – 2025, this is a yearly program. Last date to enroll April 02nd, 2024. Enrollment is limited to first 50 youths on first come first serve basis – Senior/Junior high school youths will be given priority to help in college application process
- Awards will be presented in May/Jun 2025 during major JCNC events for all successful participants in Mar 2024 – Feb 2025 batch
- Parents are required to volunteer for a minimum of 13 hrs/quarter (1 hr/week) in PVSA led projects
- The Awards Table below, depicts the Age group Vs. the Number of volunteer hours required for each of these three levels.
| Age Group Vs. Hours * | Bronze** | Silver** | Gold** |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age 13 to 15 | 50 – 74 | 75 – 99 | 100 + |
| Age 16 to 19 | 100 – 174 | 175 – 249 | 250 + |
- * Age will be considered as of March 2024.
- ** Applicable age-group for award Level and required hours (whether Age 13-15 or Age 16-19) will be determined per volunteer’s age as of Feb 2025 per PVSA guideline
- *** Participants serving less than 50 hours in Age 13 to 15 category and less than 100 hours in Age 16 to 19 category will not qualify for certification & award. These are the key requirements of the program.
Operational Details
- A pre-approval is required by JCNC Youth Service Awards Steering Committee before starting on a volunteer service activity.
- We expect a minimum of 70% of volunteer services must be done on JCNC Projects (we prefer 100% of services to be of JCNC)
- Each youth participant will be assigned with two or more projects from Executive Committee departments or any special projects to perform the volunteer work and gain the required hours.
- Youth must participate in all assigned volunteer activities – missing two consecutive sessions by youth or parents will be an automatic drop-off from the program
- Parents are required to participate with youth volunteers to help youths earn service credits by taking a lead role in volunteer initiatives
- Parents are required to volunteer for a minimum of 13 hrs/quarter (1 hr/week) in PVSA led projects
- Need to ensure impeccable integrity of the volunteer service program:
- Validation of volunteer works by parents, by work assignee from respective department of Executive Committee and JCNC Youth Service Awards Steering Committee.
- Maintain complete paperwork of volunteer hours during the duration of the program and submit it for recognition.
- Validation of paperwork on a monthly and quarterly basis for both parents & youths, failure to report or less than minimum hours will lead to drop-off from the program.
- A detailed layout will be provided for recording the service hours and a quarterly check-in to validate progress
- Youths and Parents not meeting quarterly volunteer hours will be suspended from the program
- JCNC Youth Service Awards Steering Committee has the discretion to decide which hours will be counted towards the award.
- A waiver form must be signed by every parent and participant to release JCNC of any liabilities.
- Parents exceeding 4000 hours in PVSA project volunteering, please consult PVSA Chairman for Lifetime Award Consideration – subject to PVSA policy
- JCNC Youth Service Awards Steering Committee’s discretion will be final.
In addition, the Corporation for National Community to Service rules for this program which must be adhered to:
- Recipients must be a United States citizen or be a lawful permanent resident (i.e green card holder)
- Awards are issued for service hours performed within a 12-month time period (Bronze, Silver, Gold) or over the course of a lifetime (Lifetime Achievement).
- Awards are issued for volunteer service only; additional levels of participation with the organization (e.g., charitable support) cannot be a factor in the award.
- Court-ordered community service cannot be counted toward hours for an award.
- Awards are issued by approved Certifying or Leadership Organizations.
- Volunteer service must be performed through or facilitated by a Certifying Organization legally established in the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or one of the U.S. territories.
- Volunteer service must not have been paid through any means (wage, salary, stipend, etc.).
Enrollment Link
- Please click on the following link and follow the process: Enroll in the JCNC Youth Service Award Program
Committee
- JCNC Youth Service Awards Steering Committee will oversee operations & integrity of this program. Members of this committee for 2022-23 are:
- Sunil G. Mehta (Chair, Ex-VP Technology)
- Sudhanshu Jain (Co-chair, Ex-President)
- Deven Shah (President)
- Ashish Vora (VP of PR)
- The email address to this committee is: serviceawards@jcnc.org
Benefits to participant
- Qualified participants, who will earn the required service hours will get a personalized certificate of achievement and a congratulatory letter from the President of United States.
- Participants may use this recognition for their college application – turn community service hours to make a positive impact on your college application
- Participants may find the leadership development opportunities and strong team building skills.
- Participant’s services will impact positively on the local communities.
Waiver
All participants and their parents should sign the Waiver form an abide by it.
Personal safety is very important and volunteering activity can involve risk of personal injury. You are responsible for ensuring that you are physically and mentally fit for the volunteering and during the volunteering you must take care of your own personal safety at all times. The JCNC (including its members, officers, employees, and/or volunteers), shall not be liable in any way whatsoever for any accidents, illness, injuries or losses sustained of any kind during this volunteer participation. Also due to the pandemic, we may have to suspend the program in between for volunteer safety, in which case you will not receive awards for volunteer hours. You make this waiver freely and with a full appreciation of the risks. This release of liability shall govern.
We will arrange for a follow-up meeting with the entire group participating in this program to go thru with much more detail, including work assignments, the roles and responsibilities, method of reporting, eligibility validation and validation of service hours, etc.
This program will be led by Sunil G. Mehta, ex-member of the JCNC executive committee. For more information, please email to the service award committee members at serviceawards@jcnc.org
A disclaimer: Program details may be changed at the discretion of JCNC Youth Service Awards Steering Committee