the peace corps gets its funding from congress.
the peace corps gets its funding from congress.
where does the peace corps get its funding?
congress
on january 4, 1972 joseph h. blatchford, director of action, the agency that oversaw the peace corps, ordered a halt in signing up volunteers and instructed o'donnell to prepare plans to terminate about 4,000 volunteers on duty in 55 countries. blatchford wanted the plans so that the volunteers can be returned to the united states by the end of march. congress had refused to appropriate the $82 million requested by president nixon for the peace corps. instead, it cut funds to a level that one agency source described as "just one step above putting us out of business altogether". conservative louisiana democrat otto passman wanted to kill the peace corps. "it was a pivotal time. had congressman passman's efforts succeeded, the peace corps would have had to recall thousands of volunteers, breaking contracts and commitments with communities and countries around the world," said o'donnell. during the hearings before congress, o'donnell showed how the peace corps' budget amounted to about one-quarter the price for a single jet fighter but congress continued strip the peace corps' funding. in the end, the money to allow peace corps to continue its overseas programs came from an unlikely source - richard nixon. "had the nixon white house not intervened, transferring funds from other overseas programs to the peace corps, the peace corps could not have continued without serious repercussions. the effects would have been devastating. thankfully, our case prevailed," o'donnell says.
kevin o'donnell (peace corps)
from 2007 through 2014, hedrick led the u.s. peace corps efforts in malaria prevention across africa and was the country director for the peace corps in senegal. hedrick grew peace corps/senegal to become the largest peace corps program in the world at the conclusion of his tenure there. hedrick led the development of the peace corps/senegal food security initiative which is the largest usaid-funded peace corps food security project in the world under the global feed the future program. the peace corps program in senegal under hedrick's leadership was awarded the prestigious learning spotlight award in 2010 for innovation in its training programs. in 2012, he was awarded the director's distinguished service award, the agency's highest honor, for his work in creating and coordinating the peace corps stomping out malaria in africa initiative. after partnering with peace corps senegal in a major bed net distribution effort, the international ngo malaria no more called hedrick "part international diplomat, part community health worker, part development macgyver" in its annual report. hedrick promoted the concept of the "new peace corps," the professionalization of peace corps programming and service, including enhanced partnerships with usaid and other development institutions and improved utilization of technology.
christopher hedrick