WHEN:           Thursday, November 6, 2003, at 1:00 pm

WHERE:         Delta College, Main Campus, Lecture Theater

                      University Center

WHO:            First Gentleman Daniel Granholm Mulhern

                     Pam Faris, Spouse of Lt. Governor John Cherry

                     Governor’s Service Award Winners

WHAT:           First Gentleman Daniel Granholm Mulhern and Pam Faris will present a Governor’s Service Award to a Saginaw organization and participate in a Mentor Michigan Summit. 

The award recipients, the White Pine Reading Buddies, are seventh grade students at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw Township School District.  The Reading Buddies spend one-on-one reading time with preschool through second grade students each week.  The program has grown from 20 reading mentors in 1996-97 to 88 reading mentors this year.  Thirty students will be on hand to receive the award.

BACKGROUND:

The Governor’s Service Awards began in 1993 to recognize and celebrate the great work of Michigan’s volunteers.  Since the awards began, more than 2,100 individuals, organizations, and businesses have been recognized for their exceptional volunteer service.    A wide variety of volunteers and volunteer programs are nominated each year by staff members, co-workers, family, and friends to receive these prestigious awards.  The nominees represent the best of Michigan’s highly motivated and incredibly committed volunteers.  

First Gentleman Mulhern and Mrs. Faris will also be participating in a Mentor Michigan Summit.  This is the thrid of six summits that are being held throughout the state.  Governor Jennifer Granholm and the First Gentleman have made a commitment to expand Mentor Michigan, a project first initiated when the Governor was Michigan's Attorney General.  Mentor Michigan is working to ensure that all youth have ongoing relationships with stable, caring adults.

Mentor Michigan Summits are opportunities for citizens to help shape the vision for Mentor Michigan by discussing how it can best support local mentoring efforts.  For more information about Mentor Michigan, visit www.michigan.gov/mentor.

Mentor Michigan is a program of the Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC).  The MCSC is a state agency that funds and supports programs that encourage all Michigan residents to volunteer.  For more information about the MCSC visit www.michigan.gov/mcsc.