We’ve posted a few stories at this point about the Department’s involvement with the President’s service initiative, United We Serve. A few days ago, a great story by Lisbeth R. went up on Serve.gov about her involvement with Citizen Corps. Citizen Corps is FEMA’s national service program: their goal is to increase the capacity of American communities to respond in emergency situations, and they’ve set up all sorts of opportunities for people to make their families, their homes, and their communities safer.

It’s a great way to get involved with the Summer of Service—check out Lisbeth’s story, and get involved.

This afternoon, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate sat down at a firehouse in Denver and talked with some local first responders and volunteers about the President's new call to service, United We Serve. Administrator Fugate was joined by Harold Schaitberger, General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, and five Colorado first responders. The group discussed what drew them to service, and how others can respond to the President's call.

The video is available at DHSon.tv, and we urge you to watch. We can't necessarily predict when a natural disaster, or terrorism, or another event will affect our daily lives, but it's up to us to stand up and be ready.

While Administrator Fugate was in Denver, Secretary Napolitano was in Orlando, participating in a volunteer project with FEMA's Citizen Corps and Deputy Secretary Lute will be in New York this evening to lead a citizenship class. More on those later. For now, what is United We Serve?

The idea is simple: Get involved. Get involved now. Make change, and preparedness, and recovery real in your community. This summer, the President is urging all of us to visit http://www.serve.gov/ to find service opportunities in our communities. Serve.gov provides volunteer opportunities around the country, connects Americans to local charities and non-profits, and allows people to create their own service events and invite their friends and neighbors to join in.

Remember that the work doesn't end this summer.


Visit Serve.gov today to get started.