Johnson: Community service will be hallmark of Obama presidency

Jessica Johnson

more Johnson columns...

President Barack Obama's inaugural address included a major theme to which he constantly referred during his campaign and after his election. That major theme is collective responsibility.

Obama categorized this critical period in our history as a "new era of responsibility" in which we "have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world." A significant part of our 44th president's vision of this call to duty is volunteerism.

Across the country, there seems to be a revived spirit of community service. On the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday last week, millions of Americans gave of their time to pick up trash in neighborhoods and parks, drop off food at homeless shelters and visit the elderly. You could do a roll call across the nation, from Chicago to Atlanta to Shreveport, La., and elsewhere, and find people of all ages pitching in.

Much credit goes to Obama's wife, Michelle, and his inaugural co-chairman, Colin Powell, for encouraging people to sign up at USAService.org. As a result of the efforts of Powell and the first lady, citizens were recruited to work on more than 10,000 projects. The purpose of the Web site is to boost public service year-round.

Obama plans to increase funding for programs such as AmeriCorps that have attracted young volunteers. He wants to expand the staff of this 1993 federal government program, created by President Bill Clinton, during the next five years. Clinton referred to AmeriCorps as the "transcendent idea" of his presidency amid criticism that the government grants it provided for charities and the stipends it gave college students who signed up would not inspire true passion for civic service.

Increasing AmeriCorps' personnel will depend on the new Congress passing the Serve America Act, which amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990. The Serve America Act would create two new service-learning programs involving youth that address a wide range of issues in low-income communities. We'll know in the coming months whether the federal budget will be able to support the additional programs the act proposes, but because volunteerism appears to be on the rise, people probably will continue to give where they see a need. And as our local governments are being forced to cut back on social services, we are going to have to lean on one another a little more.

In many ways, Obama is continuing the call to service that President George W. Bush regularly made during his tenure in office. After the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush said in his 2002 State of the Union address that Americans should commit 4,000 hours during the course of their lives to the service of their neighbors and nation. He proposed increasing the budget of AmeriCorps, although members of his own party argued it was a huge waste of money. Despite this political haggling, Bush was able to expand AmeriCorps' volunteers from 50,000 to 75,000 people.

As Obama attempts to increase the volunteer ranks of AmeriCorps, he will continue to call on all of us to dedicate our time to local organizations. On USAService.org, people are given information about volunteer opportunities in their communities and available resources. Those who want to host an event are provided with a detailed online form that guides them through the process of getting started, and everyone who participates in some service activity can share their experiences through blogging.

Obama clearly has set a mandate for us to become more engaged in public service during the tough years ahead, and it is obvious from the grassroots efforts he continues to make throughout the country that he is certain we will do our part.

As he said to us at his inauguration, "there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task." Our country seems poised to meet this challenge.

• Jessica Johnson, a 1987 graduate of Clarke Central High School, is a correspondent for the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch and an adjunct professor at Columbus State Community College.

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Tuesday, January 27, 2009