Obama keeps his promise on passing of volunteering act

The non profit world took a break from its economic woes yesterday to celebrate a big political victory as President Obama signed a landmark legislation that boosts national service, volunteerism, and innovative social projects.

The president, fulfilling a campaign pledge to greatly expand government programs to get Americans to serve their country by doing good, signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act during his first 100 days in office – a timeline that pleases national-service advocates for its symbolic significance.

“A week from tomorrow marks the 100th day of my administration,” he said at the signing ceremony. “In those next eight days, I ask every American to make an enduring commitment to serving your community and your country in whatever way you can.”

The signing ceremony took place at the SEED School of Washington, D.C., an inner-city charter boarding school, in the company of dozens of non profit leaders who united to push the legislation forward and members of Congress who shepherded it to passage with exceptional bipartisan support.

The event paid special tribute to Sen. Edward Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, a leading sponsor of the bill, who is now ill with a brain tumour. Senator Kennedy forged a partnership with Sen. Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, to champion the bill – and the Utah senator easily persuaded the Senate to name the bill after his Democratic colleague.

The Serve America Act is designed to more than triple the number of participants in AmeriCorps, the signature national-service program, to 250,000 by 2017, increase the education grant for AmeriCorps participants, create new volunteer programs for young people and older people, and start funds to help nonprofit groups expand innovative programs and recruit and manage volunteers.

“We’re doing this because I’ve always believed that the answers to our challenges cannot come from government alone,” the president said, noting that applications for programs like AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps, and Teach for America had risen sharply.

“Our government can help to rebuild our economy and lift up our schools and reform health care systems and make sure our soldiers and veterans have everything they need. But we need Americans willing to mentor our eager young children, or care for the sick, or ease the strains of deployment on our military families.”

After the ceremony, President Obama, the first lady, Mr. Clinton, Mr. Biden and his wife, Jill, headed to help plant trees at a local park.

The signing of the act is the second key commitment to non profit groups that Mr. Obama is following up on. Last week, the White House confirmed that the Office of Social Innovation, a unit that will focus on ways to get non profit groups and other organizations involved in solving the nation’s problems in new ways, will be headed by Sonal Shah, a former Google executive.

Members of President Obama’s transition team proposed creating an Office of Social Innovation to promote government efforts to help innovative non profit groups and social entrepreneurs expand successful approaches to tackling pressing social problems.

Source:  Suzanne Perry for philanthropy.com