The world’s largest gathering of service and volunteer leaders will hold its 2011 conference in New Orleans. With the Gulf Coast reeling from its second economic blow in five years, Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light Institute and Co-Founder of the HandsOn Network, declared that the region’s largest city was not just the natural choice to host the 2011 gathering—it was the only choice. Not only is the Gulf Coast once again front-and-center for America’s volunteer and service community because of the BP oil spill, but both conference conveners already have a strong presence there due to recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina.

Joined by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Corvington and Nunn made the announcement in New York upon the conclusion of the 2010 National Conference, which drew a record attendance of 5,000 people. The 2011 National Conference will take place from June 6-8.

“Our volunteer network has such deep-seated ties to New Orleans and the entire region from our Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, we all feel passionately about helping to rejuvenate the communities of the Gulf Coast,” said Nunn. “Bringing the conference to New Orleans is the perfect way to spotlight residents’ needs and how volunteers can help address them.”

“Perhaps no other city in America understands and appreciates the power of community service and the value of voluntourism to a community,” said Mayor Landrieu. “Our city, indeed our entire region, would not be as far along in our post-Katrina recovery without the time, talent and treasure of all those who were so generous in helping us in our time of great need. It is a distinct privilege to welcome this gathering to our city, where we have created a new roadmap for community service, and where the good work continues to this day, and will continue well into the future.”