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Good afternoon and thank you for joining us. I’m Desiree Sayle, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director, USA Freedom Corps. We are so pleased that you are joining us to hear about the first federal survey of youth volunteering in more than a decade. I just came from a wonderful Helping America’s Youth event with Mrs. Bush where we observed young people from a service-learning program at Cardozo High School prepare meals for the homeless. The students we met with today exhibit how volunteer service by young people is taking shape in America.
As you all know, in 2002 The President asked all Americans to commit to serving a cause greater than themselves, and he created USA Freedom Corps to help Americans answer that call. We’ve worked hard over the past four years to promote a culture of volunteer service—supporting national service programs like AmeriCorps, Citizen Corps and Learn and Serve America; serving as a resource for non-profits; and ultimately making it easier for Americans to find opportunities to serve. And we’ve seen good results—our Nation has seen a dramatic increase in volunteer service, 5 million more Americans are volunteering since the President issued his call.
Service is a habit, and like most habits, it is more effectively developed at an early age. We are so pleased to be able to take this opportunity to shine the spotlight on our nation’s young people who all too often, are seen as the recipients of service. Instead, they should be seen -- as leaders and assets, not as problems or victims. We know that service – especially when tied to the curriculum through service-learning can help improve academic performance, increase civic responsibility, and help solve community problems. This new study by the Corporation for National and Community Service shows that youth contribute 1.3 billion hours of community service each year. Importantly, the study shows that the social institutions of family, school, and religion are key factors in determining whether – and to what degree – youth become volunteers.
We at USA Freedom Corps are working hard every day to increase the volunteer level of young people – and all Americans. One way is through a special website dedicated to getting children and youth involved in service – http://www.usafreedomcorpskids.gov. And our main website http://www.usafreedomcorps.gov has many resources to connect Americans to volunteer opportunities, including the largest and most comprehensive volunteer search engine in the world that allows Americans to search by their zip code for millions of volunteer opportunities.
I’d like to hand the phone over to my friend and colleague David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service to discuss the Youth Helping America Study in greater detail.
(Click here to read Eisner's remarks)
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