Specialty Programs

Yes, your child can qualify for the President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) if they meet the respective PVSA qualifications while meeting all other Generation SERVE PVSA program deadlines and eligibility requirements. Deadline extensions and policy exceptions cannot be made due to joining our organization later in the service year, however.

Generation SERVE applies for the PVSA on behalf of youth volunteers aged 19 and younger who live in our local Austin service area, including Travis and the surrounding counties (Williamson, Bastrop, Caldwell, and Hays). If you're located outside the Austin area, you will need to find another PVSA certifying organization that serves your local community.

Youth should be counted in the age group they are in for the majority of the service year (June 1 to May 31). Therefore, the halfway point is November 29.

Our PVSA service year runs from June 1 to May 31 to align with the academic calendar of our youth volunteers. Hours must be completed within this timeframe to count toward the current PVSA service year, with any outside hours submitted according to quarterly deadlines.

Unfortunately, we cannot modify our service year to fit individual needs. However, you may be able to find another certifying organization that works for you.

We do not ask our volunteers to apply for the PVSA. Instead, Generation SERVE concludes each service year by compiling a list of all eligible volunteers in good standing. If your child meets the eligibility requirements detailed on this page and has the qualifying hours in our system, no additional application is necessary.

You can check your volunteer history using your dashboard in your Volunteer Account. Attendance is taken at in-person Generation SERVE activities, and hours should appear within 48 hours. For SERVE at Home activities, please use the SERVE at Home form provided in the confirmation email and allow up to 2–3 weeks for processing.

You can use the Volunteer History section of your dashboard in your Volunteer Account to print or save a record of hours served to suit your needs (for instructions, see here).

If your needs are more specific or require a signature, we will gladly provide up to two comprehensive reports per year for each child without charge. Please allow 5-7 days for us to complete any needed forms, and send those documents to contact@generationserve.org.

Unfortunately, there is no centralized directory to search for PVSA Certifying Organizations.
AmeriCorps and Points of Light recommend reaching out directly to the organization where your troop volunteers most often to ask if they are a registered Certifying Organization. Many nonprofits, schools, and places of worship hold that status, even if they don’t widely advertise it.

Yes. Generation SERVE accepts outside service hours for PVSA consideration as long as the service meets the award’s eligibility criteria. You must submit these hours through our PVSA Outside Hours Submission Form for verification and review according to the listed deadlines and policies.

To verify outside service hours, you must upload official documentation from the service organization when submitting the PVSA Outside Hours Submission Form. This document must be legible, complete, and include the following details:

- Volunteer’s full name
- Name of the service organization
- Full name and contact information of a representative who can confirm the hours
- Dates and total number of hours served
- A brief description of the volunteer work performed

All five elements are required for approval. Incomplete or ineligible submissions cannot be accepted. Photos of your child volunteering or verification from a family member are not accepted forms of documentation.

Eligible service hours must meet the standards set forth by the program administrators, which outlines unpaid and voluntary community service performed on behalf of a community organization. Among its many guidelines, the program forbids the inclusion of service hours given for monetary or in-kind donations, religious instruction or proselytizing, service solely benefitting family members or certified by relatives, and canvassing for particular political candidates. Visit the full PVSA website for more details.

Outside service hours should be submitted quarterly to be considered for the PVSA.

- June-August outside hours should be submitted by September 14th.
- September-November outside hours should be submitted by December 14th.
- December-February outside hours should be submitted by March 14th.
- March-May outside hours should be submitted by June 14th.

Please see the full information on the page above for more details.

We’re unable to make individual exceptions due to the volume of submissions and time needed to process awards. Please submit all hours within the quarterly deadlines.

The PVSA Outside Hours Submission Form is set up to automatically send a confirmation email after each form is submitted. After successful submission, you will receive an email with the subject line: "PVSA Outside Hours Submission Received" with a summary of the information you provided included in the message.

If you don’t see these emails right away, please check your Spam, Junk, or Promotions folders. You can also search your inbox using the subject lines above. These auto-confirmation emails help our small team track and process submissions efficiently while keeping your family's volunteer hours organized.

Most likely, the hours are still being verified and are still being processed in the order they were received. Many times we are waiting on the service organization representative to answer our confirmation email or phone call, or we are experiencing a high volume of submissions. As these verifications are completed manually, we kindly ask volunteers to allow 2–3 weeks for processing before reaching out to check on the status.

No, this is against PVSA rules.

We cannot review or process any Outside Hours submissions via email given the large number of volunteer families we support and the commitment we've made to the Points of Light Foundation and AmeriCorps to maintain organized, accurate, and timely volunteer records.

Please allow 2-3 weeks for our trained staff members process and verify eligibility of your submission after it is entered. You should receive an auto-receipt of your submission via email for your records.

For detailed instructions on how SERVE at Home hours are tracked and submitted for PVSA consideration, please visit our SERVE at Home information page.

We ask that you use pvsa@generationserve.org for any PVSA program questions that are not answered here.