Today's blog post is written by Saxon Seay, Manager of Marketing at Points of Light. One of the responsibilities Saxon enjoys most about her work is coordinating the Daily Point of Light Award, a recognition program founded by the administration of President George H. W. Bush that continues to award one volunteer or volunteer effort each week day.

We've written a lot this week about the power of corporations and skills-based volunteers to build the capacity of the service sector with yesterday's launch of Billion + Change. In my work with the Daily Point of Light Award, I frequently have the opportunity to recognize companies and their employees for volunteering in the communities in which they live and work. This week I'm inspired by Daily Point of Light #4628, the Pioneers. On the centennial of their organization they are pausing to celebrate the legacy of service their members have built for the last 100 years.

Pioneers: Celebrating 100 Years of Fellowship, Loyalty and Service

Founded in 1911 as the Telephone Pioneers of America with just 734 members (including Alexander Graham Bell), the organization began as a place to build friendship and fellowship. It soon became a place to organize community service and philanthropy. Chapters, councils and clubs began their own initiatives, mostly working with children’s groups. The network steadily grew through grassroots efforts to spread their mission of service — country to country, city to city, neighbor to neighbor. By 1958, community service was established as the Pioneers' "New Tradition."

Today, the organization is the largest industry-related network of volunteers in the world. Pioneers members are committed to improving the quality of life in the communities they serve through immediate and tangible change.

Pioneers' membership is comprised of more than 620,000 current and retired telecommunications workers who volunteer more than 15 million hours annually, responding to the individual needs of their communities.

With support from sponsor companies AT&T, Bell Aliant, FairPoint, Frontier, Qwest, SaskTel, Telcordia Technologies, and Verizon Foundation, Pioneers have made an impact in communities across North America.

To read more about the anniversary of the founding of this organization or get involved in their service work, visit their website.