And Recipient Volunteers Her Opinion

Contact: Nancy Lovell, 214-536-2329, nancy@lovell-fairchild.com

DALLAS, Jan. 25 /Christian Newswire/ -- As a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation—but most significantly as grandfather to a new baby girl—Michael W. Smith, Grammy and Dove Award-winning artist recently presented the President's award to volunteer Roberta Simpson. Simpson, a nana of nine and children's book author, used her acceptance remarks to hand Smith his own copy of "Nana's Bible Stories" as she sounded the call for grandparents to voluntarily read to their smallest grandchildren.

"Don't wait to be asked!" Simpson pled. "Bring books with you, pull a little one under your wing, and fly off to adventure." Today's grandparents are the last generation to grow up without television, Simpson said. "We have a special charge to connect love with love of reading."

And not just reading in general but the Bible in particular. "Lose bible literacy and you lose the key to Shakespeare and Milton, Beethoven and Bach, Rembrandt and Michelangelo, Christopher Wren . . . the list is nearly endless," Simpson said. Her "Nana's Bible Stories," featured in a recent USA Today story, is a collection of classics told from a child's perspective.

Smith already is a convert. "Roberta sees a need and moves toward it, heart, mind and soul. Her passion for both children and the Bible is evident throughout ' Nana's Bible Stories,'" he said. "I'll be reading it to my new granddaughter."

As a member of the President's Council, Smith joins leaders from the private and non-profit sectors, government, entertainment, education and athletics who share deep commitment to strengthening America's culture of volunteer service. President George W. Bush established the Council on Service and Civic Participation in January 2003, on the first anniversary of the USA Freedom Corps. Council members are charged to recognize Americans of all ages and backgrounds contributing through volunteer service.