NURTURING CITIZEN SERVICE
By President Bill Clinton
Service to one's community is an integral part of what
it means to be an American. Citizen service is also
at the heart of our efforts to prepare the United
States for the 21st century, as we work to
ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to make
the most of their own lives and to help those in need.
AmeriCorps, the national service program that already
has given more than 100,000 young people the
opportunity to serve their country, has tied
opportunity to responsibility. In community after
community, AmeriCorps members have proven that service
can help us meet our most pressing social needs.
Indeed, independent evaluators who have reviewed
AmeriCorps have concluded that national service yields
a positive return on investment.
National service, though, has never been a substitute
for the manifold contributions made by more than 90
million citizens across the United States who
volunteer their time to worthy causes every year.
Rather, as leaders of volunteer organizations have
often maintained, national service has proven that the
presence of full-time, trained service participants
enhances tremendously the effectiveness of volunteers.
Volunteers enrich our lives every day with their
generosity and compassion. They cut across the fabric
of society -- from government on all levels to the
educational sector, from the religious community to
health care. They respond to myriad unforeseen
developments and critical persistent needs. They
react to the plight of those who suffer from severe
weather hazards -- in communities devastated by mud
slides, ice storms, flash floods or tornadoes.
Volunteers open their hearts and homes to offer not
only shelter and food, but, most important, the hope
and support people desperately need to begin putting
their lives back together.
This spirit of citizen service has deep and strong
roots in America's past. By nurturing this spirit we
can help ensure a better future for our nation.
