FAQ's

What is the President’s Volunteer Service Award, and what is its relationship with the CHEER?
The President’s Volunteer Service Award honors individuals that contribute to the overall community via voluntary community service, with tiers for varying volunteering times. CHEER has been approved to nominate individuals for the Award and accept volunteering applications. More information regarding the President’s Volunteer Service Award can be found here.

How is a calendar year defined when computing volunteering hours?
We collect community service hours from August 1 to July 31 of every year. We apply for awards in mid-August, with award ceremony typically in September.

Does CHEER have a requirement on how many hours of service hours should be within CHEER?
Yes. For individual awards, we request that a minimum of one-third of the relevant hours be completed with CHEER. For families/groups, we recommend that each member should have minimum of 25 hours of equivalent CHEER-related community service.

For Young Adult and Adults, we are flexible with the CHEER relevant hours as the award hours requirements are hard to meet. As long as you have reasonable involvement with CHEER, you can apply this award through CHEER if you meet the award hours.

Can volunteering hours obtained under an external organization be submitted towards the award under the CHEER Youth Group?
Yes, given that additional community service has been performed directly with CHEER. Hours may come from different service activities for different organizations given that evidence of completion is provided. For a comprehensive list of necessary criteria, visit the Presidential Award website here.

I am turning 11, 16, or 26 this year. What category for the Award will I be placed in?
The age category is determined by the unique age which a volunteering applicant spends more than six months in the PVSA calendar year (August 1 - July 31). Consequently, applicants born before the midpoint date in a PVSA calendar year (Feburary 1) will qualify as the older age category, will those born afterwards will be placed in the younger category.

Can club participation in schools contribute to community service hours?
Club attendance does not satisfy the definition of 'volunteering' per PVSA guidelines unless outreach or teaching was conducted as part of the club. For example, participation in a math club would not be considered volunteering alone, while outreach for the same club to foster interest in mathematics can contribute to community service hours. (Note that other criteria for volunteering must still be satisfied.)

What forms of activities are considered as community service? What activities considered as volunteering does the CHEER Youth Group offer?
Any activity that is performed without monetary pay and with the intention of helping others can be submitted for volunteering hours. All Youth Group interview and class preparation can be registered towards the Presidential Service Award, in addition to the interview and class sessions themselves. However, contributions to these tasks from other people cannot be used to inflate service time.

Can I apply for President Award from two organizations in the same year?
No, an honoree may only be recognized by at most one Award in a calendar year.

Can I receive multiple awards from same organization in the same years?
Yes, an individual can receive individual award and families/groups awards from the same organization. For individual, the hours count for families/groups award can be counted for individual award at the same time.

How can volunteering hours be submitted?
Community service time is submitted to the Youth Group via forms on our Volunteering page. The signature of a responsible adult in addition to the volunteer is required if the volunteer is a minor.

Does CHEER offers president awards to families/groups?
Yes. Group awards require a minimum of two volunteers each with at least 25 hours of volunteering hours with CHEER. The following eligibility requirements must be satisfied:

award given in the name of the group (e.g. “CHEER STEAM camp” or “Pajama story night" or "Smith family")
a minimum contribution of 25 hours (specific for this project/group) from each individual member
compliance with individual qualifying criteria for every participating member: minimum age of 5 and a lawful permanent residence in the United States

An individual’s hours may count towards both the individual award and group award (the hours you spend on this project can count to your individual award too)
For individual declared more than 25 hours in group/family award, please provide an itemized timesheet on the hours you spend with this group.