During his 2002 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush called upon every American to contribute 4000 hours (2 years) of their lives to volunteer service. He called upon every American because, "Everyone can do something". Woodmen of the World/Assured Life Association has been engaged in and promoting volunteer service for over a century now; we know the benefits of volunteerism and we're glad that others are beginning to get involved too!
Then, President Barack Obama got into the act. On Monday, June 22, 2009, President Obama kicked-off an initiative known as "United We Serve." Now whether you agree with President Obama's policies or not, this new initiative, which the White House launched in partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service, is important to us and the communities in which we live. Volunteerism is a fundamental piece of making lives better, improving our communities and enriching our own lives as well as the lives of others.
Although United We Serve began as an initial 81 days of service which culminated on September 11, 2009, the National Day of Service and Rememberance, its continued objective is to grow into a sustained, collaborative and focused effort to promote service as a way of life for all Americans. All the tools for participating in this initiative can be found at Serve.gov. Check it out!! There are suggestions for projects and getting started. The areas of focus for the initiative is education, health, energy, the environment and community renewal.