FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 12, 2002
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The White House - Office of the Press Secretary
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Fostering a Culture of Service, Citizenship and Responsibility
Presidential Action
- Today in Philadelphia President Bush announced that through the new USA
Freedom Corps and its web site (www.usafreedomcorps.gov),
all Americans can keep a record of their experiences and hours in volunteer
service on-line or in a printed journal. The call to service is not a federal
mandate, but a profound individual commitment, and the online Record of
Service and printed Record of Service will allow individuals to track their
progress in meeting that commitment.
- President Bush announced that he has directed his Cabinet to report back
to him within 30 days on ways their Departments and Agencies can contribute to
service opportunities for all Americans. The directive is part of his USA
Freedom Corps initiative to encourage and assist all Americans to answer the
call to service, and asks the Cabinet Members to provide information to foster
more service in America.
- The President also met with volunteers participating in a variety of
service activities who are part of a longstanding American tradition of
service and volunteerism for the public good.
Record of Service
- The online Record of Service is available at www.usafreedomcorps.gov, and
allows individuals to log on with a unique user identity to keep an online
journal with details about their experiences in volunteer service and their
progress in meeting the President's call to service. The online tool is
powered by Network for Good, an independent, 501(c)(3) organization that is a
partnership of over 20 corporations, nonprofit foundations and associations
seeking to foster the informed use of the Internet for civic participation and
philanthropy.
- The Record of Service journal is also available online or by calling
1-877-USA-Corps. Individuals can use the Record of Service to keep a journal
of their experiences in a book that includes research on service needs and
opportunities, examples of service throughout history and quotes about the
role of service in the lives of individuals and in American culture.
The President's Instructions to His Cabinet
President Bush also announced that he has directed the Members of his Cabinet
to report back to him within 30 days on the ways their Departments and Agencies
can contribute to service opportunities for all Americans. The directive is part
of his USA Freedom Corps initiative to encourage and assist all Americans to
answer the call to service, and asks the Cabinet Members to produce:
- A complete inventory of the service opportunities sponsored or
administered by such departments or agencies, including a description of the
extent to which the departments or agencies make the public aware of those
opportunities; and
- A complete inventory of regulatory and programmatic barriers at the
departments or agencies to community and other service by Americans. Such
inventory shall also include recommendations as to how to modify or repeal
such barriers in order to enhance service opportunities.
The Two-Year Call to Service
During his State of the Union address, President Bush called on all Americans
to give at least two years of their lives—the equivalent of 4,000 hours—to the
service of others. Today, he visited the People's Emergency Center in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and met with local volunteers to lead a conversation
about service and the USA Freedom Corps initiative that he launched just over a
month ago.
- The President's vision of the gathering momentum of millions of acts of
compassion and kindness includes Americans in military and civilian service,
Americans engaged in meeting local community and national needs, and Americans
participating in service projects at home and abroad.
- Research indicates that approximately 44 percent of Americans are
currently involved in volunteer activities, and that they serve an average of
185 hours annually (Source: Independent Sector).
- Since the President Launched the USA Freedom Corps initiative, the new web
site has been visited more than 6.5 million times, more than 18,000 people
have requested applications to the Peace Corps (an increase of 54 percent over
the same period last year), applications to AmeriCorps programs are up nearly
50 percent, calls to the Senior Corps toll free number are up nearly 200
percent and visits to that web site are up 500 percent, and almost 20,000
people from all 50 states have signed up to participate in the new Citizen
Corps effort.
Why the Call to Service?
Research on service participation indicates that asking Americans to serve
makes a difference in whether they actually do so:
- Independent Sector reports that those who were asked to volunteer were
much more likely to do so (63 percent) than were those who had not been asked
(25 percent).
- According to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning &
Engagement at the University of Maryland, most young volunteers say they got
involved in service because they were asked. A new study from the center says:
"Contrary to the conventional wisdom that young adults volunteer for selfish
reasons or because they are required to do so by their school, most young
adults (30%) say they volunteer because they were asked."
A History of Service
During his visit to Philadelphia today, President Bush met with volunteers
participating in a variety of service activities who are part of a longstanding
American tradition of service and volunteerism for the public good. The
volunteers who joined him for a conversation on service include:
- A nurse who is on call at least two nights a week for emergency and
disaster response teams for the American Red Cross;
- A high school senior who created a literacy program at age 13 that has
served over 300 young people;
- A new AmeriCorps volunteer involved in service learning activities for
youth;
- A returned Peace Corps volunteer who at 66 years old is involved in the
AmeriCorps program at home;
- A father and husband who is a veteran of the Persian Gulf War and now
dedicates one weekend each month to service in the U.S. Army Reserve;
- The director of the University of Pennsylvania's highly regarded campus
outreach and service learning center; and
- The President and CEO of the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
These volunteers are part of a tradition of service that has been
particularly strong in Philadelphia since our Nation's founding. In the 1730s,
Benjamin Franklin helped found a library, a volunteer fire company, and a
variety of volunteer groups for civic improvements (such as paving, cleaning and
lighting the streets of Philadelphia). In 1751, he helped found the Pennsylvania
Hospital and the academy that became the University of Pennsylvania. Benjamin
Rush, also a signer of the Declaration of Independence, organized several
volunteer public health efforts, including Philadelphia's successful response to
the yellow fever epidemic of 1793.
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