President Obama will honor former President George H.W. Bush on Monday for his volunteer efforts and launch a task force to expand national service.
The President and First Lady will honor the 5,000th “Daily Point of Light” award, which recognizes a volunteer or nonprofit service organization, reports Reuters. The award was established by Bush in 1989 to salute and promote volunteer service.
“It’s now a much more common thing in our country, I think, to hear about and for young people to get involved in community service,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday, according to the Washington Post. “And I think the president believes that President Bush 41 deserves a large portion of credit for that.”
Floyd Hammer and Kathy Hamilton will be honored for founding Outreach, an organization that distributes food in Africa, according to NY Daily News.
Neil Bush, who is Chairman of the Points of Light Foundation, will likely preside over the ceremony. Brothers George W. and Jeb are not expected to attend.
The former president has visited the White House at least five times since Obama was elected, despite their political differences.