United We Serve

President and Mrs. Obama have announced a new White House initiative, United We Serve. Officially kicked off on June 22 at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service by Michelle in a brilliant speech, and running through September 11, which as been declared a day of remembrance and service, the initiative will ask Americans to serve - in whatever way is best for them - and then add service to their lives in a permanent way.

The goal is to reach a time when service is a given in our lives. When we help our neighbors who need it, when we choose to give time and energy to those causes we care about. Self-directed service is encouraged: clean up a park in your neighborhood or town, have a potluck for the elderly on your street, do an energy audit of your home and change out your lightbulbs and start unplugging the toaster when you aren't using it. Whatever you do, register it on http://serve.gov.

You can also contact a local nonprofit that needs help. But be prepared if that soup kitchen or homeless shelter or kids program is inundated with volunteers and isn't sure they can use you. Don't get annoyed. Nonprofits are struggling to keep up with everything going on, are less funded than last year, and often don't have the infrastructure to take on more volunteers. (Perhaps they need someone to organize the volunteers! Do you have that much time? Do that!)

Families! Encourage your kids to volunteer. Volunteer together as a family. Outdoor projects are perfect. Park clean-ups, invasive species removal, beach clean-ups, and graffiti removal are just a few ideas. If you'd like to do something RIGHT NOW without having to book it with an agency, find a nonprofit nearby your home who needs something, and make it at home! This is called portable volunteering and it's a great way to get the whole family involved. Contact the local animal shelter: could they use catbeds? If so, make no-sew catbeds stuffed with recycled plastic bags! Contact the local soup kitchen: could they use dental kits for guests (travel size toothpaste bundled with a tootbrush?)? Make them and deliver them. Just make sure that you ask what an organization needs first (don't make something and then try to figure out where to donate it) and how many they need. And once you make a commitment to deliver, make sure you do!

Perhaps you are already volunteering and you don't really know it! Are you the coach of the T-ball or little league team? Your daughter's Brownie Troop mom? Register those things and that time on serve.gov! Let the White House know how much you do for your town.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, the first state to have a cabinet position dedicated to volunteering and service, says that he didn't serve until he was asked. (Of course, those doing the asking were his in-laws Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics and Sergeant Shriver, founder of the Peace Corps, so he didn't have much choice!) Ask someone else to serve. Ask them to come with you, or ask them to help with something. People often don't know how to volunteer until someone else helps them to do so. The number one reason in the U.S. people give when asked why they don't serve is "Nobody asked me."

Talk to your local Hands On Network affiliate. These volunteer centers are across the United States and can get you connected to service. Find yours here. Boston Cares serves Greater Boston, and we will have a United We Serve volunteer challenge which will kick off right after the Independence Day holiday. Join us!

And 9/11. Finally, we know how to honor 9/11. On that day from now on, we as a country will remember those lost on that day and serve in their honor. We will come together as communities and neighbors and help. What better way to commemorate a tragedy than to work together for those who need it most?

That we have an administration this dedicated to service in the United States is no small thing. We have had a culture of service in the U.S. for many years, and in fact it is how we even came to be in the first place. But in these times, the worst we've seen economically in almost a century, it is up to us to renew that culture. To remember where we came from and help each other instead of shoring up alone to weather this storm. And the goal this time is for it not to be temporary, but to become a way of life for all of us. Coming out of 8 years of war and revenge and "if you're not with us, you're against us", into this feels lighter somehow. It's still a lot of work, though. There's a lot to be done. But the more people who do it, the more who help, the easier it will be.

I for one, am signing up to join the White House in changing our nation. Won't you join me?