Recognizing Public Service

For over 30 years Public Service Recognition Week has been honoring the men and women who serve our nation as federal, state, county and local government employees. The goal of this event is to raise the recognition both within the government and citizenship at large of the 20 million people who make our government run.[Tweet "Public Service Week May 1-7: Honoring the 20 million people who make government run. #GovEventsBlog"]

Recognition Week is organized annually by the Public Employees Roundtable (PER) and includes a number of events May 1-7. The week will kick off with a 5K run that includes other health and wellness events. Proceeds from the race will be donated to the Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund. The group has also organized outings to DC area sporting events. Federal employees outside of DC are invited to participate virtually by organizing their own events across the country. All of these events are designed to celebrate public servants and draw attention to the critical role they play in our government.[Tweet "Events are designed to celebrate public servants and the role they play in government. #GovEventBlog"]

This week will also feature the announcement of the Service to America Medals finalists. The Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals (Sammies) pay tribute to America's dedicated federal workforce, highlighting those who have made significant contributions to our country. Honorees include life-long public servants as well as employees who have just started their government career and are already making a big difference to the services provided to citizens.

Beyond these events, the organizers provide ideas and tools for organizations across the country to extend the celebration. These include:

• Sending letters of appreciation to public servants
• Requesting proclamations of service recognition from local officials
• Presenting to and working with local schools to highlight careers in public service
• Highlighting local employees through social and traditional media
• Writing op/eds for local papers
• Developing public service announcements
• Organizing a community event to recognize public servants

On May 5^th there will be a Twitter chat from 2:00-3:00 ET with young employees talking about how they got involved in government and share their experiences. You can follow this using #gogov. Also on Twitter (and other social channels), the group invites agencies to participate in the whiteboard challenge where groups of employees post photos of whiteboard brainstorms around why they are proud of serving in government.

[Tweet "Public Service Recognition Week: Thank those who serve in government positions. #GovEventBlog"]For information about events outside this week that examine public service careers and management check out GovEvents.  Finally, we'd like to do our part to support Recognition Week and thank each and every one of you who serve in government positions - we appreciate your work and spirit of service.