Here is a copy of the original email we sent out to our membership on Monday night:


Maryland Returned Volunteers - Please read this now


On March 1, 1961 President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order creating the Peace Corps - today is its 44th anniversary.

The National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) of which our group - the Maryland Returned Volunteers - is an affiliate, has declared today a National Day of Action to support the Peace Corps.

We would like to ask that you spend 12 minutes today helping the Peace Corps. We are asking you to make two phone calls today - one to Senator Mikulski's office and another to Senator Sarbanes' office and ask them to support the Peace Corps. Then after you make your calls please leave a message with the results of your call to each Senator on the web.

Here's how: Please call the Capitol switchboard in Washington DC at 202-224-3121 (no toll free number available) and ask for the operator to connect you to either Senator Mikulski's office or to Senator Sarbanes' office. When the Senator's staffer answers the phone, tell him or her where you are from, that you are a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer and where you served, that you support the President's proposal to increase next year's Peace Corps budget by $27 Million (an 8.5% increase) so the Peace Corps can maintain and slightly expand its present levels and tell him or her that you oppose the President's plan to eliminate Perkins loans. (Perkins loans make it easier for volunteers from low-income backgrounds to serve in the Peace Corps because they offer a 15% student loan reduction for each year of service in the Peace Corps.)

If you would like more information on the Peace Corps Budget before you make your call you can find it on the NPCA web site at:

http://www.rpcv.org/pages/sitepage.cfm?id=1093

If you would like more information on Perkins Loans before you make your call you can find it on the NPCA web site at:

http://www.rpcv.org/pages/sitepage.cfm?id=1094

After you complete your calls to each Senator, go to the message board and leave a short message: "I made my calls for the Peace Corps today." and leave your name and when and where you served.

For calls made to Senator Mikulski, leave your message on the web at:

http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/2629/2029136.html

For calls made to Senator Sarbanes, leave your message on the web at:

http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/2629/2029135.html


I made my two calls on Monday to see how hard it would be (not hard) and how long it would take to make each call and leave each message (12 minutes total for 2 calls and leaving 2 short messages) and you will see my name and what I talked about in my calls at the top of each message board list on the web.


This email is going out to over 600 RPCVs who live in Maryland. Our goal is 100 calls to our Senators as documented on the message board. Please help us exceed our goal.

Please forward this message to other RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps you know in Maryland.

And thank you for supporting the Peace Corps.


Hugh Pickens
President, Maryland Returned Volunteers
Peru, 1970 - 1973