The Volunteer and Community Partnerships Department is honored to wish you and our over 45,000 UNICEF Volunteers a happy Volunteer Week, April 21-27. Each year during this week, we select a handful of volunteers to receive the President’s Volunteer Service Award. These volunteers represent the tens of thousands of people across the country who help us extend the UNICEF mission to others. Join us and visit the UNICEF Action Center to learn more about our volunteers and activities!

Last month, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF hosted four regional student summits in different locations across the country. U.S. Fund for UNICEF student leaders came together to share challenges, successes and best practices for effectively educating, advocating and fundraising for UNICEF in their local communities. The summits took place in Houston, Los Angeles, Washington and Chicago. Over 400 UNICEF High School and Campus Initiative students participated in the summits, doubling the attendance of last year’s New York summit.

Around 20 Team UNICEF runners came out to run for children this week, despite the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy in New York and the cancellation of the 2012 ING New York City Marathon. The marathoners joined hundreds of other runners for a 6-mile loop around the park and were cheered on by friends and family members. Over the last nine months, the 60 Team UNICEF runners have raised over $227,000 for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

Every year, my family and I stand on the sidelines of the NYC Marathon and cheer on the runners from all over the world who have taken on this enormous challenge. This year, we’ll be cheering for two U.S. Fund for UNICEF staff members who are running in the marathon for Team UNICEF. Jennifer Lee and Taylor Conger are both training right now to finish the 26.2-mile marathon and raise money to help children all around the world. These two dedicated athletes have already reached their initial fundraising goal of $3,500 each, and have now upped their goal to a combined total of $10,000—all of it for UNICEF.

Calling all volunteers: You can now share your inspiring stories and experiences at the new UNICEF Action Center! Whether you are scaling the Rockies or longboarding in the Cali sun, we invite you to join us at the Action Center to connect with others and share our mission—achieving ZERO preventable child deaths.

This past weekend, I, along with 17 U.S. Fund for UNICEF volunteers, learned more about human trafficking at Free2Walk Boston. An annual event sponsored by the anti-trafficking group Not For Sale, Free2Walk proclaims no human being should be for sale. The event comprised a two hour guided tour of sites of the abolitionist movement in Boston.