Girl Scouts of the Desert Southwest is proud to be a certifying
organization of the President's Volunteer Service Award (PVSA).
The President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) recognizes United
States citizens and lawfully admitted, permanent residents of the
United States who have achieved the required number of hours of
service over a 12-month time period or cumulative hours over the
course of a lifetime. Please make sure you track
your hours and submit to info@gsdsw.org by the first Monday in
April. Below are the various categories of the Bronze, Silver, Gold
awards available.
Volunteer Eligibility
- United States citizen or lawful permanent resident of the
United States (i.e., green card holder)
- Must be at least
five years old
- Completes eligible service within a 12-month
period (for annual Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards) and over a
lifetime (for Lifetime Achievement Awards)
Eligible Service:
- Unpaid acts of volunteer service benefitting others
- Service through National service programs that provide a
stipend (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) may count towards the
Lifetime Achievement Award*, but not for the annual Bronze,
Silver, and Gold Awards)
- Travel stipends,
transit/parking passes, membership passes, expense
reimbursements, and other nominal volunteer support do not
impact service eligibility
Eligible Service does NOT include:
- Donating funds
- Political lobbying (Non-partisan voter
registration is an eligible activity)
- Religious
instruction
- Conducting worship service
- Proselytizing
- Volunteer service performed as part of
court-ordered community service
- Serving only family
members
Hours Required to Earn Awards in Each Age Group
| Age Group | Bronze | Silver | Gold |
Lifetime Achievement Award* |
| Kids (5–10 years old) | 26–49 hours | 50–74
hours | 75+ hours | 4,000+ hours |
| Teens (11–15) | 50–74 hours | 75–99 hours |
100+ hours | 4,000+ hours |
| Young Adults (16–25) | 100–174 hours | 175–249
hours | 250+ hours | 4,000+ hours |
| Adults (26+) | 100–249 hours | 250–499
hours | 500+ hours | 4,000+ hours |
* The Lifetime Achievement Award is not available to be awarded at
this time.
Note: As of May 2019, PVSA no longer offers volunteer account
creation and volunteer hours’ tracking to individuals. Please use this
spreadsheet to track your hours, and once complete send it to
info@gsdsw.org by the first Monday in April for recognition.
