Thank you, Millicent [Williams, Serve DC Deputy Director of Programs]. It is truly a pleasure to be here tonight, as we honor those who demonstrate a commitment to serving others.

Being a good citizen involves giving back to the community. And that applies to both individuals and businesses. Fortunately, the Washington region is blessed to have many people who go out of their way to help others and are willing to tackle the tough issues that affect our communities through volunteering and civic involvement. Some of the finest examples are in this room tonight.

The region is also home to many companies that are committed to being good corporate citizens. Each spring, the Washington Business Journal and Greater DC Cares announce the top 50 corporate philanthropists in the Washington region. In 2005, these companies collectively contributed more than $120 million to support nonprofit organizations in the region, and their employees volunteered more than 333 thousand hours in community service.

I'm proud to say that Freddie Mac ranked right up at the top of the list. As the largest corporate philanthropist in the region – encompassing Freddie Mac corporate giving and volunteer involvement programs, as well as the Freddie Mac Foundation – last year we awarded nearly $35 million in grants and contributions to support organizations whose programs help strengthen communities and better the lives of children and their families. That included $10 million to help families in the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast to rebuild their lives.

In addition, a year ago, approximately 800 Freddie Mac employees took part in a huge, week-long Habitat for Humanity build to frame 51 houses for those who lost their homes to the storm.

The effort was such a success that we held another week-long volunteer project last month. Nearly 1,000 employees turned out, this time to build Habitat homes in a Northeast neighborhood. They also constructed an amphitheater and children's obstacle course in Marvin Gaye Park – formerly known as Watts Branch Park.

This month, the Freddie Mac Foundation celebrates 15 years of creating hope and opportunities for children and their families. As we mark this milestone, it occurs to me that many of the programs we have funded over the years started as small grassroots efforts, often launched by just one person – someone who saw a need and decided to do something about it.

For instance, the Children's Law Center, here in the District of Columbia, was founded 10 years ago by a prominent attorney who was looking for a way to help a young woman who had been abused and abandoned. The Center's legal team now helps vulnerable children find safe, permanent homes and obtain the education, health care and social services they need to flourish.

Here's another example. A physician who wanted to help teens find direction and get a jump-start on building promising careers in health care started a nonprofit that trains high school students to become certified nursing assistants. Program participants that pass a national certification exam at the end of the course then graduate high school with jobs virtually guaranteed.

Many use their new skills and confidence to obtain scholarships or to work their way through college. Others opt to work fulltime and build their careers through employer-assisted training. Either way, they leave high school with a clear advantage and a step up on the career ladder.

Both of these programs were started by successful professionals who were willing to share their time and resources to help others. But the beauty of community service is that anyone can do it. Young, old, rich, poor. Even a child. Just ask anyone who knows MaKenzie Snyder.

When she was just seven years old, Makenzie learned that thousands of foster children move from home to home, carrying their few meager possessions in garbage bags. Within a year, she founded Children to Children, and began collecting and distributing duffel bags for youngsters in America's foster care system.

She even got big corporations and foundations involved – including the Freddie Mac Foundation. In fact, I first met Makenzie at a Freddie Mac Foundation board meeting, when she came to request funding for her project. I can still picture her – wearing pigtails and ankle socks – swinging her feet back and forth because they couldn't touch the floor.

Now a high school student, Makenzie is still at it. Her goal is to put duffel bags and stuffed animals into the arms of the more than 500,000 children in foster care across the United States. And she's well on her way. So far, she has collected and distributed more than 50,000 bags, and each one has a note from Makenzie and a stuffed animal tucked inside.

For the foster children who receive them, the bags, stuffed animals and notes aren't just simple possessions. They're lifelines of dignity, hope and compassion. All this because one little girl saw something that wasn't right… and did something about it.

As I look out across the audience tonight, it's wonderful to see so many youthful faces. Because you, like Makenzie, have discovered the rewards of community service at an early age. You already know that what Rev. Martin Luther King said in his sermon, The Drum Major Instinct, is true: 

Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve…
You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love, and you can be that servant.

That is a lesson that I hope you will carry throughout your lifetime. As you go through college and begin your careers, remember that it just takes one person to make a difference. And you are that person.

If you work at a company that has an employee volunteer program – join in. While you're helping others, you'll also be getting to know your coworkers and developing leadership and team-building skills that will advance your career.

And as you grow your career and become leaders in your workplace – like many of our adult honorees tonight –remember that being a good corporate citizen is also good business. Research confirms that.

The 2004 Cone Corporate Citizenship Study found that 8 in 10 Americans say that corporate support of causes wins their trust in that company. The research also found that roughly the same number would be influenced by a company's social responsibility when choosing where to work, and 7 in 10 would be influenced by it when making investments. And those statistics grow stronger every year.

But you don't have to wait until your at the height of your career to shape your company's involvement in the community. If you see an issue that your company or colleagues can help with, don't be afraid to speak up and ask them to get involved. You might be amazed at the results.

Years ago, before the Freddie Mac Foundation was formed, a young woman at Freddie Mac suggested that the company get involved with J.C. Nalle Elementary in the Southeast Washington neighborhood of Marshall Heights.

Initially, Freddie Mac provided funding for staff development workshops for teachers. Then it established a strong business/school partnership with J.C. Nalle, with Freddie Mac employees volunteering as mentors and tutors for J.C. Nalle students. These employees grew so committed to the children and the school, that when J.C. Nalle was threatened with closure in the 1990s, many joined parents and community members in rallying to keep the school open. Happily, they succeeded.

In 1994, the Freddie Mac Foundation added a new dimension of support for J.C. Nalle Elementary School by funding a wide array of services for students, including psychological services, cultural enrichment and early childhood education programs, as well as efforts to increase parental involvement. Ultimately, the Foundation made a commitment to fund the transformation of J.C. Nalle to a full-service community school.

Since then, the Freddie Mac Foundation has invested nearly $5 million toward this transformation, creating a safe, enriching haven of learning and exploration for the children of Ward 7. And over the years, Freddie Mac employees have volunteered thousands of hours – serving as mentors and pen pals, tutoring J.C. Nalle students in math and reading, expanding the students' horizons by organizing field trips and recreational events, and much more.

And it all began with one employee's suggestion. That's the power of community involvement. It grows and magnifies with each person it touches.

Now let me tell you about the magic of community service. I am convinced that lifelong volunteering keeps you young at heart. I've seen it time and again – those who volunteer and give to others have an inner spark and vitality that transcends whatever limitations time and circumstance try to place on them.

I see it in a friend and colleague, Jeff Hayman, who was diagnosed with MS years ago. As a former officer at Freddie Mac and Foundation board member, Jeff was always very involved the community. Although he is now retired, Jeff continues his community involvement. As he always says, "I go out to help others, but every time I end up learning something new and helping myself."

And I see it in another dear friend, a woman many in this room know and love – Virginia Williams. Besides being the mayor's mother, she is also an active force in the community in her own right.

She is a woman who wears many hats. And it could be said that some of them are quite…unique. One August day, while being honored for her literacy advocacy at a "Harry Potter Party" for children 8 to 12, Mrs. Williams donned a bright purple Wizard's cap and metallic tresses as she spoke to the children about the importance of reading. If that's not young at heart, I don't know what is.

She captivated her young audience that day, as she has all of us. Because whether speaking at a children's literacy event or at a Million Mom March to end gun violence… or advocating for the arts, adoption, foster care, mental health or any number of other issues that are important to her, Mrs. Williams' voice resonates with the conviction of someone who believes that one person can make a difference.

That belief is shared by all of us in this room tonight. After all, we see the proof in every one of the Mayor's Community Service Award recipients being honored here this evening.

It has been my privilege to be with you tonight as we celebrate Washington's community spirit. And I congratulate each of you on your exceptional volunteer achievements.