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Media contact: Ann Hartman, 360-902-9476

OLYMPIA - A Washington dad and two of his sons are united by more than blood. Acting on a common passion for helping others, they’re all doing terms of service under the auspices of AmeriCorps, a national community-service organization.

Theirs is one of thousands of stories that will be celebrated during “National Volunteer Week,” April 6-12.

Bruce Whitmore, 66, is a member of the Washington Service Corps, which is administered by the state Employment Security Department and funded by AmeriCorps.

Whitmore serves at the Yakima Valley Opportunities Industrialization Center, mentoring and tutoring teens and young adults who didn’t thrive in traditional high-school classrooms. He helps them get their GEDs, improves their academic and job-search skills, and guides them on their career-planning journey.

He taught for 21 years in the Yakima School District before retiring. In his younger years, Whitmore spent four years as a nurse in the National Guard during the Vietnam War and served three terms in VISTA – Volunteers in Service to America – a domestic poverty-fighting AmeriCorps program.

Whitmore passed on his vision and passion for community service to his sons.

“I told them my stories of adventure and my philosophy of social engagement,” he said. “I told my kids: In serving others, I become free. I explained that, if you want to understand yourself, you have to get away from yourself.”

The message resonated with his son Able, 24, who plants trees, removes invasive species, and restores streams and wildlife habitats with the Washington Conservation Corps, another AmeriCorps-funded program. He liked the Conservation Corps so much last year, he decided to come back for a second term, and this year supervises a crew.

“I love working outside,” he said. “Sometimes it’s really grueling – 10-hour days, cold and wet. But I’m learning hard skills, like how not to complain when I want to curl up and die. And I’m learning about getting along with people and being part of a team.”

The teamwork part he learned from his father, Able said.

“My dad was a leader in the Civil Air Patrol when I was a kid,” he said. “It trains young people to find solutions to life by serving others, and it focuses on teamwork. I think my life would have been completely different if I hadn’t been involved with that.”

Mentoring and education are common themes for the Whitmores. Jonathan Whitmore, 22, is a VISTA member serving at Whitworth University in Spokane, his alma mater.

He’s in charge of the youth-development program, where he manages 13 student leaders who are involved in recruiting college students to be tutors and mentors in public schools.

“I help train volunteers and develop the infrastructure for the program,” he said.

Outside of his VISTA obligations, Jonathan also volunteers for a community truancy board in Spokane, where he works with middle-school students beginning to show a pattern of unexcused absence from school.

“I’m passionate about education and helping students to achieve their goals and go to college,” he said.

The elder Whitmore and his wife have eight children altogether, ranging in age from 18 to 35. Like any father, he’s proud of all of his children, and especially values his special bond of service with Able and Jonathan.

“There aren’t many situations of multi-generational volunteerism,” he said.

Created by the state legislature in 1983, the Washington Service Corps is celebrating its 30^th anniversary this year. The federal AmeriCorps program is celebrating its 20^th.

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