V O L U N T E E R U S A F O U N D A T I O N A N N U A L R E P O R T

Partnering with caring nonprofits, schools and volunteers to improve the education

and lives of families.

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OUR VOLUNTEERS AND ADVISORS

Board of Directors

Barney Bishop, Chairman Volunteer USA & President/CEO, Associated Industries of Florida

Jeb Bush, Honorary Chairman and former Governor of Florida

Gwynn Virostek, Vice-Chair and Senior Vice President, Washington Mutual

Maureen Cestari, Director, Governmental Relations, Comcast Cable

David Griffin, David Griffin Consulting

Brad Meltzer, Author

Art Smith, Chef & Author

Other Supporters

Alan Hanstein, website designer

Doug Drake, website designer

DDB Miami

Perry Albrigo, Pomegranate Studio

Our inaugural year has been both successful and full of activity as a growing national foundation committed to improving lives through literacy and mentoring programs. The Volunteer USA Foundation movement — which began in Florida — is expanding into the Southeast with successful programs that offer literacy training for parents and children, celebrate reading, and promote mentoring and volunteer opportunities in local communities.

We believe that acquiring literacy is a rewarding way to empower people – giving them access to lifelong learning and an opportunity to create a better life. We believe, too, that volunteerism is at the very heart of this country and every community – a commitment by individuals who are willing to bring positive changes through their actions.

With the generous support of our partners and passionate volunteers, Volunteer USA is working to tear down today’s barriers and rebuild lives full of hope and personal achievements. Our goal is to strengthen families and create a better quality of life for our neighbors. Together we can nurture a culture that promotes education, training, employment and volunteerism through outstanding programs that meet the needs of diverse communities.

Thank you for learning more about our passion, our movement and our Foundation.

Sincerely,

Barney Bishop

Chairman

Volunteer USA Foundation Board

Liza McFadden

President

Volunteer USA Foundation

Dear Friends

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O U R P R O g R A M SThe Volunteer USA Foundation is a national organization that exists to nurture the spirit of volunteerism in an effort to improve families’ lives. We strive to empower people to seek lifelong learning and it is our belief that dedicated volunteers – who are willing to provide at least one hour a week helping a child or an adult – are the very heart of our successful programs.

LITERACY

Strengthening families is a top priority of the Foundation, beginning with a focus on family literacy. Our programs encourage families to learn together, with education that helps parents improve their competitiveness in the workplace and helps children start school ready to learn. By learning together, families keep each other motivated to perform. In addition, over the past year, Volunteer USA partnered with more than 100 hospitals and birthing centers to provide educational packets to 48,000 families to raise awareness that parents are a child’ first teacher.

TRAININg FOR PARENTS

Through an innovative initiative called Love. Read. Learn! we are dedicated to helping parents teach their child the joys of learning from birth through the years to come. As a child’s first teacher, parents are encouraged to provide “windows of opportunity” to influence their child’s readiness for school and future success.

DISASTER TRAININg

Volunteer USA is responding to a critical need to better inform and prepare people who are at risk of experiencing a disaster situation – such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. Recent years have taught us more than a few lessons from Mother Nature; as a result we have developed a training model called

“Ready or Not” which includes a dynamic workshop presentation on what to do before, during and after a storm strikes.

We strive to empower people

VOLUNTEER USA’S FAMILY LITERACY INITIATIVE, FUNDED BY A NONPROFIT FOUNDATION, IS ONE-OF-A-kIND IN ThE NATION. OUR SUCCESSES ARE LIFE ChANgINg.

Pre-k children who begin our programs behind academically, begin to thrive. After one year, they’re ready to enter Kindergarten on par with their peers.

We’ve experienced a 400% increase in the number of parents who gain confidence to help their kids with homework.

43% of our families had fewer than 10 books in their home when they first enrolled in our programs. By the end of the program, the number of homes with 26 or more books increased by 82%.

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FAMILY LITERACY – CREATINg A BRIghTER FUTURE

Armando and Laura Calderon are Mexican immigrants who embarked on parenthood with little education and limited English skills. Laura says she never quite understood why her parents were so upset when she and her sister had to leave school behind so they could help their family pick vegetables to make a living. But once she had her own child – she understood why her parents wanted more schooling for their daughters.

Determined to make a better life for themselves and their child, Diana, the Calderons made a life-altering decision: They enrolled in a family literacy program. Just over a year later, Laura Calderon earned her General Educational Development (GED) certificate supported by the Florida Family Literacy Fund. She now plans to work toward becoming a teacher, a major feat for a woman who left school behind to help her family earn a living by picking vegetables in the fields.

The family literacy program has also improved the family’s English language skills through reading, a routine that has become part of their family culture. “Learning is not always easy and can be time consuming, but it is not impossible,” Laura says. “The time we spend learning together is time well invested. Together we can change the future through education.”

“By unlocking the doors to education we

are enabling individuals and families an

opportunity to build a better life and the

means to realize one’s full potential. Literacy

brings hope, freedom and power.”

BARNEY BIShOP, ChAIRMAN OF VOLUNTEER USA & PRESIDENT/CEO, ASSOCIATED INDUSTRIES OF FLORIDA

Literacy is empowering.

S T R E N g T h E N I N gF A M I L I E S

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The Ramirez Family members were our special guests at the 2008 annual Celebration of Reading event. Like many families, Nicole and Genaro had tried to complete their education by enrolling in various adult education courses. However, with no one to watch their young children several nights a week, combined with a lack of support and time, Nicole and Genaro had difficulty completing their classes.

Nicole finally saw a glimmer of hope when she spotted a flyer about a different kind of literacy program – one that provided adults with not only literacy instruction but also care, learning activities and meals for the children of students. The entire Ramirez family was on board. In 2008, with his newly earned GED, Genaro was presented the first-ever Family Literacy Scholarship. In addition, his four children were also each awarded a prepaid college scholarship when they are ready for community college. Genaro plans to use his scholarship to become a correctional officer and Nicole also plans to earn her GED, continuing the magic of family literacy in the Ramirez home.

WhY IS READINg SO IMPORTANT?

Parent-child literacy activities, such as reading to children, have been found to improve children’s language skills and heighten their interest in books

The more frequently parents read to their children, the more likely the children are to show emerging literacy skills

Children read to more than three times per week were found to have 20% higher gains than children read to less than three times per week

Source: Nord, C.W., Lennon, J., Liu, B., and Chandler, K. (1999). Home literacy activities and signs of children’s emerging literacy 1993 and 1999 and Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Education.

Whether it’s reading to a child, telling stories, coloring or taking trips to a park – spending quality time with a child provides parents with countless opportunities to love, as well as teach. Research has shown that parents’ involvement with their children, from birth to adulthood increases a child’s achievement and self-esteem. Parents are, in fact, a child’s first teacher.

This year, Volunteer USA committed to developing new products that would provide parents the tools they need to teach preschoolers the joys of learning. Through Love.Read.Learn! workshops parents are learning hands-on, easy to understand information about the stages of child development and age-appropriate educational activities.

A C E L E B R A T I O N O F R E A D I N g A N D h I g h E R L E A R N I N g

This year’s Celebration of Reading raised $2.8 million in cash and in-kind contributions to promote reading as a family value.

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V O L U N T E E R h I g h L I g h T S

A special thanks to the Bush Family including former governor Jeb Bush and his parents, george and Barbara Bush for their continued commitment to the national family literacy movement. The Bush Family greatly supported this Foundation in our first year, serving as leading literacy advocates and hosting the annual Celebration of Reading fundraising event.

And we couldn’t have accomplished the year’s good work without the help of a few other supporters who believe in what we are doing. We are enormously grateful to our partnership with Florida Trend and the creative efforts of Cooper DDB, Paragon New Media and Exploritech for the countless hours their staff has spent this year helping to design our websites, promotional advertisements and print materials to help Volunteer USA’s staff share our passion for lifelong learning and the volunteer spirit.

BELOWA snapshot of the Volunteer USA homepage. www.volunteerusafoundation.org

LEFTFormer President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush enjoy a laugh at the 2008 Celebration of Reading.

RIGHTThe Teen Trendsetter™

Reading Mentors Web site and a message from former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

www.teentrendsetters.org

LEFTFamily Literacy Initiative Ad in Florida Trend.

BELOWGetting Communities and Families Ready for the Next Disaster - training guide.

RIGHTParents are a Child’s First Teacher - Training Guide.

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The Volunteer USA Foundation serves as a catalyst for the gift of giving…whether gifts of money, time or in-kind services we work to bring individuals and groups together in partnership to improve the quality of life for others. Thank you to the many individuals and companies whose donations come from the heart and bring triumph to our programs and the people we serve!

ALLETE PropertiesAssociated Industries of Florida

Britto FoundationMary Higgins Clark

CNL BankCohen & Grigsby, P.C.

Collier EnterprisesColonial Press

DeltaJoe Cox

Drug Stores Foundation

Florida Gulf Coast UniversityFlorida Marlins

Florida Trend/NEXT MagazineGarrett Richter

GlaxoSmithKlineGoodlette Leadership FundMark J. Gordon Foundation

Grady & AssociatesRep. Mike Grant

IKON Office SolutionsLaird A. Lile

Miromar Development CorpsNational Association of Chain

Oswald Trippe & CompanyStratREAL Foundation

The News-PressTiffany & Company Universal Studios

Wal-MartWalt Disney World

Washington Times FoundationWRS/Compass

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O U R F I N A N C I A L R E P O R TFiscal Year 2006-2007

The first year has come to a close for this new Foundation, but there’s no stopping us now. In fact, Volunteer USA is on the fast track to expand several of our most successful initiatives. The Teen Trendsetters™ Reading Mentors program is blossoming far beyond Florida. Teen Trendsetters™ is an award-winning program that recruits and trains high school students to mentor elementary students in reading. The one-on-one mentoring program utilizes a specialized curriculum to help improve reading skills and forge rewarding relationships between the younger students and their mentors.

We are preparing to train high school mentors from states throughout the Southeast so they can begin lending their knowledge, leadership and friendship to third-graders in their communities. In addition, our parent training effort–Love. Read. Learn! will soon be benefiting parents of elementary students in Tennessee and offered to other states as well.

We are also launching a movement that provides disaster training for communities and families. After witnessing the wrath and devastation caused by hurricanes and tropical storms in the South, we understand the great need to help people prepare, recover and reclaim their lives.

Volunteer USA Foundation, mobilizing caring nonprofits, schools and volunteers to improve the education and lives of families. We hope you will join us!

T h E F U T U R E O F V O L U N T E E R U S A F O U N D A T I O N

Liza McFadden, President

Roxann Campbell, Director of Programs

Venita Dorsey, Finance Director

Elizabeth Hirst, Senior Vice President

Mark Nelson, Director of Special Projects

Brandi Brown, Special Events Coordinator

Michael Thompson, Program Coordinator

Tina Matte, Celebration of Reading Coordinator

OUR STAFF:

June 30, 2008ASSETSCurrent Assets Cash and cash equivalents $1,848,417.00 Grants Receivable $230,181.00 Pledges Receivable $940,000.00 Total current assets $3,018,598.00

Property andEquipment, net $31,478.00

Total Assets $3,050,076.00

LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETSCurrent Liabilities Accounts payable and accrued expenses $28,762.00 Grants payable to sub-recipients $202,918.00

Total current liabilities $231,680.00

Net assets Unrestricted ($196,041.00) Temporarily restricted $3,014,437.00 Total net assets $2,818,396.00

Total liabilities and net assets $ 3,050,076.00

Volunteer USA Foundation, Inc.Statement of Financial Position

Volunteer USA Foundation, Inc.Statement of Activities

For Eleven Months Ending June 30, 2008

Expenses

Program Services - 89%$2,442,450.00

General & Admin - 2%$60,041.00 * Fund Raising - 9%

$237,405.00

Volunteer USA Foundation, Inc. is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit, partnering with other caring not-for-profits, schools and volunteers to improve the education and lives of families. TheFoundation is a registered charity with the Department of Agriculture, # CH23705.

Revenues

Contributions- 81%$4,523,680.00

Grants - 18%$977,979.00

Other Income - 1%$56,632.00

* For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, the Foundation’s Board of Directors has approved a new growth strategy. Administrative and fundraising expenses are projected to increase. The change is part of a strategy to move from serving just Florida to serving the southern United States over the next three years.

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Volunteer USA Foundation516 North Adams StreetTallahassee, Florida 32301For more information please visit www.volunteerusafoundation.org