PRESS RELEASES

Release Date: April 30, 2003
CONTACT: Lenore Neier, CSSNY, 212/614-5425

Community Service Society's (CSS) RSVP/ACES Client Advocate
Paul Russo Receives MetLife Foundation's
Older Volunteers Enrich America Award

Paul Russo Honored in Team Spirit Category

Washington, DC, April 30, 2003 – CSS’s RSVP/ACES volunteer Paul Russo was one of 25 volunteers to be honored with the MetLife Foundation’s Older Volunteers Enrich America Award in partnership with the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging last evening at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill.

Mr. Russo was selected from more than 200 nominations made by volunteer programs and agencies across the country. Nominees were required to be aged 55 years and older and to have volunteered for the program or organization by which they were nominated for at least one year. Mr. Russo won in the “Team Spirit Awards” category, honoring older volunteers who help other older adults. Mr. Russo received an engraved gift celebrating his achievement, and the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program’s (RSVP) Advocacy, Counseling and Entitlement Services (ACES) Project received a monetary award to further its work.

Michelle Newman-Berney, ACES Project Director, said, “What makes Mr. Russo an award-winning client advocate is more than his being an intelligent, articulate and dynamic individual. It is his modesty, his passion and his commitment to helping other seniors. His warm smile makes people feel comfortable, an important quality when working with sensitive and confidential issues. He is patient and selfless, putting in overtime to ensure his clients are served properly. When public benefits do not meet the needs of his clients, he seeks out other resources. He insists on giving 110% of his time and energy to help someone in need.”

Mr. Russo is a volunteer benefits counselor at Mount Loretto Friendship Club, a senior center on Staten Island, through the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program’s (RSVP) Advocacy, Counseling and Entitlement Services (ACES) Project. He volunteers four days a week at three Staten Island senior centers, filling in for his co-volunteers when they are unable to serve. He has made it his personal mission to improve the lives of his fellow older adults by helping them access transportation services, affordable health care and other benefits. In 2002, he single-handedly provided 685 clients with information on more than 1,000 benefits while serving 774 hours of volunteerism.

Established 37 years ago, Retired & Senior Volunteer Program’s 9,000 volunteers contribute more than two million hours of service annually to 600 organizations in New York City. RSVP is part of the Community Service Society of New York, a nonprofit organization which advocates on behalf of the poor in the areas of education, affordable housing, health care and income maintenance. RSVP receives funding from CSS, the Corporation for National and Community Service, other government agencies, foundations, individuals and the Friends of RSVP, Inc.

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