Verifying Community Service Hours

[USAFAHopeful]

Hello -

I have completed 55 service hours (just 5 away from being eligible for the ribbon). I completed these hours through various activities, and logged them all into the Presidential Volunteer Service Award website. Here's the question: how do I verify these hours in a way that shows I completed 60 total hours (when I do eventually get there)? The problem appears when 39-3 asks for a letter from the organization stating that 60 hours have been completed, yet I haven't completed 60 hours from one organization; I completed them through various activities, as stated earlier. How would I verify ALL of the activities? Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

Cadet Arkhipov

[Eclipse]

The PVSA is not relevent to this award since anyone can self-certify.

You will need to provide letters from all of the various organizations indicating the number
of hours from each.

There's no way around that.

[lordmonar]

It is a 60 hour total...

If you got 60 hours from one place....one letter.

If you got 5 hours from 12 places....it is 12 letters showing 5 hours.

It is not a big deal.

[pierson777]

I'm not familiar with the Presidential Volunteer Service Award nor the website.  I recommend that you complete the CAPF 2a requesting the community service ribbon, put the applicable information in the remarks section, along with an attached copy of something from the website.  Let your unit's awards review board and commander decide. 

If I were to play devil's advocate, I would want to know what the requirements are to log your community service hours in the website that you mentioned.  If anyone can simply create an account, then log their community service without any accreditation, what's to stop someone from just making stuff up?

Do you have documents from each organization showing your community service hours?  Maybe you just turn that in totaling 60 hours.  Granted, it's more documents, but it may be more definitive.  I say just start with the report from that website.

[USAFAHopeful]

Ok. Thank you for the answers. I will try my best to get verification letters collected.

[lordmonar]

I'm not familiar with the Presidential Volunteer Service Award nor the website.  I recommend that you complete the CAPF 2a requesting the community service ribbon, put the applicable information in the remarks section, along with an attached copy of something from the website.  Let your unit's awards review board and commander decide. 

If I were to play devil's advocate, I would want to know what the requirements are to log your community service hours in the website that you mentioned.  If anyone can simply create an account, then log their community service without any accreditation, what's to stop someone from just making stuff up?

Do you have documents from each organization showing your community service hours?  Maybe you just turn that in totaling 60 hours.  Granted, it's more documents, but it may be more definitive.  I say just start with the report from that website.

You enter your own hours.  In theory someone logs into the system and verifies your hours....but it is very easy to become a verifier.  Personally I would not let someone use their PVSA as a source document for the CAP CSA.

[Eclipse]

If I were to play devil's advocate, I would want to know what the requirements are to log your community service hours in the website that you mentioned.  If anyone can simply create an account, then log their community service without any accreditation, what's to stop someone from just making stuff up?

Which shows the value of the PVSA - you self-certify and have to buy your own awards.

[Shuman 14]

Things must have changed, it use to be for the hours to count for the PVSA, the agency that conducted the volunteer service had to be registered and the agency had to appoint a representative to report and track the hours.

I know this because a Police Department I use to work for would submit the volunteer Reserve Officers for the PVSA. I was assigned to track and input the hours into the PVSA's system.

[Eclipse]

Things must have changed, it use to be for the hours to count for the PVSA, the agency that conducted the volunteer service had to be registered and the agency had to appoint a representative to report and track the hours.

Nope, anyone can just go in and self-certify.

If you want to be a certifying agency, you can. I did the process and was a certifier as a Group CC.

My wing was all excited about getting everyone these "awards" - basically anyone with any extended CAP service
would qualify for the top "awards" out of the gate, and multiples every year thereafter.  My wing had identified
some 150 people who would qualify, and that was before they started asking for hour tallys from downstream
units.

The intention was that wing was going to award and present these to all the qualified members.

Until I pointed out at a meeting that just the first round of pins was going to cost in excess of $5K.

After that, we didn't hear much about the PVSA anymore.

What a huge waste of time.

[GroundHawg]

The PVSA does look good on a high school kids resume' when applying for scholarships, etc... but is not good for much else.

[lordmonar]

Things must have changed, it use to be for the hours to count for the PVSA, the agency that conducted the volunteer service had to be registered and the agency had to appoint a representative to report and track the hours.

I know this because a Police Department I use to work for would submit the volunteer Reserve Officers for the PVSA. I was assigned to track and input the hours into the PVSA's system.

The local agency can input the hours for you....they just need your account info.   But just about anyone can become a "Certifing Organisation"

Who Can Become A Certifying Organization?
Organizations must be legally established in the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or one of the territories, and must fall into one of these categories:
        Nonprofit or community-based organization
        Civic, fraternal or service group
        Faith-based institution
        Business
        School or institution of higher education
        National service program
        Membership or trade organization
        Federal, state or local government agency
        U.S. organization stationed outside of the U.S. ( i.e., military base)
Organizations must either receive the benefit of the volunteer service or facilitate the service activities. An example of benefit of service is: a community food bank recognizing volunteers who support them in their work. An example of a facilitator of service is: a civic, fraternal or service group that organizes volunteer projects for its members in the community.

If you have an LLC....you can be considered a business...and there you go.