Obama Pitches Renewed Effort To Pitch In -- Help Us Cover It!

On Tuesday, President Obama will meet with former president Bill Clinton and Sen. Ted Kennedy in the Oval Office to talk volunteerism, after which the trio will travel to a public boarding school in Southeast Washington, where Obama will sign the Serve America Act, a bill to increase the number of service opportunities -- such as jobs with AmeriCorps -- supported by the federal government.

After signing the bill, the president and First Lady Michelle Obama "will participate in a service activity in Washington, D.C.," according to the White House.

During his campaign Obama pledged to boost volunteerism, saying his predecessor squandered an opportunity after 9/11 to tap public eagerness to serve. Service is a significant part of the platform of Organizing for America, the grassroots advocacy network that grew out of Obama's campaign machine.

It could be that there is a latent groundswell of volunteers ready to be tapped for service. Several volunteer coordinators told the Huffington Post on April 6 that while the recession was reducing donations from foundations, the coordinators were overwhelmed by the number of volunteers offering to help out. Those new AmeriCorps positions will certainly fill up fast -- Michael Stoops, director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said he was swamped with applications for unpaid AmeriCorps internships with his organization.

On Monday, White House adviser Valerie Jarrett addressed New Yorkers via video after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced initiatives to make New York City a leader in volunteerism.

"This will unleash the power inside millions of New Yorkers to help those who need it most," Bloomberg said, according to the Washington Post. "Together we'll be the first to bring to life a new era of service in America."

The Huffington Post wants to keep its eyes and ears on the burgeoning service movement. Is New York really going to take charge of this thing, or is some other place going to step up? We want readers to let us know what kinds of service projects they're involved in and what kinds of volunteer opportunities they see sprouting up in their towns. Tell us about it at [e-mail].

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Comments

[2morrowKnight]

This is awesome. Absolutely awesome. I'll make sure to pass along anything I hear going on in my area.

[DavidBSmith]

There are so many people stepping up and serving our nation, and this legislation expands those opportunities 300+%. Since 2001, we have seen the volunteering rates in our country rise sharply - especially amongst the Millennial Generation. Obama's call to service has sparked a new uptick that appears to be more of skyrocketing interest in national and community service.

For more data, check out: The National Conference on Citizenship measures and tracks America's Civic Health Index (http://www.ncoc.net/), and the Corporation for National and Community Service breaks down volunteering rates state-by-state and even within larger cities (http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/). You might also want to check our CIRLCE (http://civicyouth.org/).

Hot spots for volunteering are: Utah, Minnesota, Alaska, Nebraska, and Montana.

Also, young people making a difference: Mobilize.org (http://ww­w,mobilize­.org/) that works to inspire the next generation of social entrepreneurs to solve problems through service and local organizing, and Youth Service America who organizes Global Youth Service Day event coming up this next week (http://www.gysd.org/) - where millions of young volunteers will serve their communities.

If you are looking for a new AmeriCorps position, find the right spot for you: http://www.nationalservice.gov/for_individuals/ready/selector.asp).

You can always do your own organizing online at places like Causes.com, Change.org, and Think.MTV.com - allowing you to start your own cause, invite your friends, raise money, and plan local action events.

[SDunn]

Here is the full video of Obama planting trees today with Michelle, Joe Biden, Dr. Biden, and President Clinton after signing the bill.

http://www.c-span.org/Watch/watch.aspx?MediaId=HP-A-17695

[pene]

We wanted to be more oriented to our community but didn't want to just feed the breeders.
So we have taken on a 27 yr old disabled man and are getting him medical care, supports, and job training. He will be living with us for a year while his family tries to get themselves back on track.
It has already been satisfying to see him in an environment where he can learn and grow. we may not succeed but we are going to do everything we can to give him a future that he can look forward to.

[Dynamohum]

God Bless you. There are millions of disabled persons in this country that could use so many different kinds of help, it is not even funny. Having been forced by life circumstances into this community myself 14 years ago, I have observed, in so many cases, that just a little help and support from an indvidual can make a HUGE difference for a person and their overall prospects in life. I have also observed, just how incredibly insensitive most people are to the cause of the disabled without realizing that they are, until they are made acutely aware, usually through a family member's misfortune resulting in catastrophic disability. Long overdue.

[swan1]

I will be involved in the after school tutoring. I will spend some time helping to network elders with students who want to volunteer house and yard work.

[DonKrieger]

Here's the complete "Serve America Act" in our convenient very fast loading fully searchable form:
http://publicservice.evendon.com/ServeAmerActM.htm

Don
http://publicservice.evendon.com
BLOG: http://DonKrieger.blogspot.com

[thaneb]

This will be a fine accomplishment of the Congress and our President, Tomorrow or Wednesday Glen Beck, Rep. Bachman and their ilk will likely say this provides secret funding for reeducation camps.

[TovSquirrel]

Forced labor camps, silly, not re-education!

;-)

[keshea01]

Whyyyyyyyyy are they so against education???????

[leftwrite]

I'm interested in starting a community service program for elementary students. My own children got so much out of helping others when they were little. Anyone have any ideas?

[rucognizant]

If you get them into some kind of gardening situation, they would learn about planting ,.......add nutritional teaching. Several years ago after a Master Gardneing class, I had volunteered ti garden at the local food pantry. I was in my 60's one of my classmates who worked at the food pantry was in her 50's. We didn't do the garden because we couldn't get enough volunteers. (It is up & running this year.)
Matter of fact I could use some volunteers this year. I am "growing a row for the poor in my yard.
Being 70, my back isn't holding up the way I would like! I have a lot to teach kids about growing things, birds, insects, etc.

[judiNJ]

I am planning to attend a Volunteer Day in Jersey City where there will be at least 20 different places looking for volunteers. I am most interested in tutoring illiterate adults in reading. To me, to be unable to read is like a terrible handicap. I am hoping there will be an opportunity for this as well as other volunteer possibilities. NYC area has more volunteers than they can use at this point.

[CR46]

I think if we all do a little in our communities our country would be a better place. I have 3 projects I volunteer for and I think I get as much out of my service as i give, it is very rewarding to volunteer.

[roshni]

Excellent. I have become more involved in service since President Obama made it so easy to pick a volunteer program. I would encourage everyone to do something. My daughter is involved in a stream protection program here in PA and it is very fulfilling.

[roshni]

serve.gov
Check out this link for opportunities.

[Okieborn]

Now This Is The Right Thing To Do !!!!!

[BarackstarObama]

I'm looking forward to President Obama signing this into law in about an hour. :-)

[Eli Davidson - Huffpost Blogger]

I recently worked with a part of our population that is underserved in the Freedom to Choose Prison Project for women inmates http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxpWf9h76uI. My prayer is that we can break the cycle within these families.

* The women's prison population has grown 757 percent from 1977 through 2005, according to the Institute on Women and Criminal Justice

* 70 percent the women in prison or under correctional supervision are mothers, according to the Department of Justice

* 1.3 million children are affected, according to the Department of Justice

As of December 31, 1999, 73.3% of women in California prisons were imprisoned for non-violent offenses, the majority (43.5% of total) of which were drug crimes. (CDC)

In 1999, new female felon admissions for drug crimes reached a new high: 50.1%. (CDC, California Prisoners and Parolees 2000, Table 33)

According to a Department of Justice Statistics report released in April 1998, 48% of women in United States jails reported being sexually or physically abused prior to their detention. Prison officials told me privately that they assessed the figure at 80%.