WASHINGTON, D.C., June 8, 1996 — On Wednesday, June 19th at 4:45 pm, President Clinton will meet with 39 new Peace Corps volunteers, who depart at the end of the week for Ghana, in a Rose Garden ceremony to mark the 35th anniversary of the Peace Corps. The first Peace Corps volunteers met with President John F. Kennedy in the Rose Garden in August 1961 and then left for Ghana to serve as English teachers.

This group of first Peace Corps volunteers will join the new Peace Corps volunteers, members of Congress who have served in the Peace Corps, and notable returned Peace Corps volunteers, including television personality Bob Vila, Secretary of Health and Human Service Donna Shalala, Elaine Jones, head of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Gordon Radley, president of Lucasfilms.

There are now more than 6,500 Peace Corps volunteers in 93 countries working in education, health, agriculture, business development, and the environment. Since 1961, more than 140,000 returned Peace Corps volunteers have served in 130 countries.