volunteerism

Last week I was able to meet NFL All-Pro Safety Roy Williams and learn about his work with young people in Uganda and his work with single mothers.

With fellow players Tommie Harris, Mark Clayton, and Adrian Peterson, Williams is giving back in every way he can. Next month the players along with a team of doctors will travel to Uganda to feed thousands, set up clinics and build wells in villages desperate for clean water.

The team says that with basic necessities they can bring hope and healing to innocent Ugandan children who have become the victims and weapons at the center of one of Africa’s longest running wars.

Twenty-nine year old Williams began his personal foundation aimed to help single mothers in 2004 after being inspired by his sister's work to manage work and family alone. The Roy Williams Safety Net Foundation gives support, guidance, and assistance to low to moderate income single mothers in effort to help their daily lives.

Williams said:

"I've seen first-hand the many challenges she and other women like her with children face on a daily basis. I want to do what I can to provide a safety net to help catch those families who are struggling."

Like many Millennials, Williams and his colleagues volunteer and work to give back to those most desperately in need. When the going gets tough, our generation gets going to help.

The National Conference on Citizenship has released a new report assessing volunteer rates across the nation in 2008. Here's what they report on Millennials:

About 8.24 million young people ages 16-24 volunteered in 2008, over 441,000 more than in 2007. This increase in young adult volunteers makes up almost half of the overall increase in the number of volunteers nationally. The volunteer rate for this group increased significantly from 20.8 percent in 2007 to 21.9 percent in 2008. The interest among young people in volunteering coincides with their reported increase in the belief that it is essential or very important to help other people in need. The Higher Education Research Institute studies the attitudes of first-year college students each year and reported that in 2008, 69.7 percent of students held this belief in 2008—the highest rate since 1970.

Overall, the report finds good new across the board for the civic health of the country, at least as it is measured by volunteer rates. Here are the other key findings of the report:

• In 2008, 61.8 million Americans or 26.4 percent of the adult population contributed 8 billion hours of volunteer service worth $162 billion, using Independent Sector’s 2008 estimate of the dollar value of a volunteer hour ($20.25).
• Despite the challenges of a tough economic situation, the volunteering rate held steady between 2007 and 2008, while the number of volunteers slightly increased by about one million.
• Neighborhood engagement levels have risen sharply since 2007, with a 31 percent increase in the number of people who worked with their neighbors to fix a community problem and a 17 percent increase in the number of people who attended community meetings.
• As the economy slows and nonprofit organizations struggle to provide services on smaller budgets, volunteers become even more vital to the health of our nation’s communities. Between September 2008 and March 2009, more than a third (37%) of nonprofit organizations report increasing the number of volunteers they use, and almost half (48%) foresee increasing their usage of volunteers in the coming year. Almost no nonprofit organizations are showing a decrease in their volunteer usage.
• Volunteers were much more likely than non-volunteers to donate to a charitable cause in 2008, with 78.2 percent contributing $25 or more compared to 38.5 percent of non-volunteers.

There is also some regional and even municipal-specific data on volunteer rates in the report. It's only 6 pages long and worth checking out.

The GIVE Act (The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act) focuses on reigniting the American landscape by leveraging the energy, passion and talents of citizens in order to give back to their communities. What makes the GIVE Act really important is that it calls on all generations to serve. This means that older Americans can share their experiences and insights with younger folks, who in turn can teach about technology and its practical uses, among other things.

All in all, the GIVE Act is comprehensive and inclusive. The Act includes opportunities for "green" volunteerism and under-served youth, as well as for high school, middle school and college students. Service-learning is another component that strengthens this bill, because helps citizens understand and refine their impact.

According to a release from Rep. George Miller's office, the legislation comes as nearly 65,000 college students prepare to volunteer and serve on alternative Spring Breaks this year – up 11 percent over last year. Young Americans are serving in record numbers – and facing a difficult job market in today’s economy. Of the 1.2 million jobs lost last year, 60 percent were held by workers under the age of 25.

Highlights from the bill are below. The GIVE Act will be on the House floor tomorrow. You can track the bill from here and contact your Elected Officials from here and here. Act now so that tomorrow we can get to work.

Creates 175,000 New Service Opportunities and Rewards Americans for Commitment

• Grows the number of volunteers nationwide to 250,000, up from 75,000. The bill also links the full-time education award to the maximum authorized Pell Grant award amount in order to keep up with rising college costs.

Provides Incentives for Middle and High School Students to Engage in Service

• Establishes the Summer of Service program that engages middle and high school students in volunteer activities in their communities and allows them to earn a $500 education award to be used for college costs.

Makes High School Students Part of Solution to Challenges in their Communities

• Establishes Youth Engagement Zones, a new service-learning program to help bridge partnerships between community based organizations and schools in high-need, low-income communities to engage high school students and out-of-school youth in service-learning to address specific challenges their communities face.

Recognizes and Supports Colleges and Universities Engaged in Service

• Establishes the Campuses of Service to support and recognize institutions of higher education with exemplary service-learning programs and assists students in the pursuit of public service careers.

Boosts Opportunities for Disadvantaged Youth

• Expands opportunities for disadvantaged youth, including those with disabilities, to become more involved with service and strives to include people of all ages and those from diverse background in volunteerism.

Creates Green and Other New Service Corps to Meet Key Needs in Low-Income Communities

• Establishes four new service corps to address key needs in low income communities, including a Clean Energy Corps to encourage energy efficiency and conservation measures, an Education Corps to help increase student engagement, achievement and graduation, a Healthy Futures Corps to improve health care access, and a Veterans Service Corps to enhance services for veterans.

Broadens Scope of Collaborative Service Efforts

• Expands the focus of the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) to include disaster relief, infrastructure improvement, environmental and energy conservation, and urban and rural development.

• Encourages service partnerships with other federal agencies.

Recruits Scientists and Engineers to Service to Keep America Competitive

• Recruits scientists, technicians, mathematicians and engineers into national service to help keep America competitive.

Expands Service Opportunities for Older Americans and Public-Private Partnerships

Creates two new fellowships to engage social entrepreneurs, boomers and retirees, the private sector and Americans from all generations in service.

• ServeAmerica Fellowships: ServeAmerica Fellows are individuals who propose their own plans for serving in their communities to address national needs and are matched up with a service sponsor.
• Silver Scholarships and Encore Fellowships: These programs offer boomers and seniors, age 55 or older, opportunities to transition into service post-career as well as entrance into new careers in the public or nonprofit sector.

Creates a nationwide community-based infrastructure to leverage investments in service

Builds a nationwide service infrastructure through community-building investments and social entrepreneurship.

• Community Solutions Fund: Creates a Community Solutions Fund pilot program that awards competitive matching grants to social entrepreneur venture funds in order to provide community organizations with the resources to replicate or expand proven solutions to community challenges.

Establishes Call to Service Campaigns

• Includes a Call to Service Campaign to launch a national campaign encouraging all Americans to engage in service and to observe September 11th as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

• Read about how the economic recesssion is increasing enrollment numbers at community colleges.
• Lobbying campaigns for the 10 Ideas Contest winners has begun. Read about it on Change.org
• Listen to a podcast on Wiretap about how two young organizers balance the professional and personal.
• While I was listening to Obama's first press conference on NPR, I couldn't help but notice that he took a question from the Huffington Post. Think Progress commends Obama's recognition and respect for new media.
• Washington D.C. will soon welcome a populist caucus on Capitol Hill.
• A new poll reveals that young Utah voters overwhelmingly support Obama.
• Check out this listing for a FiveThirtyEight DC Internship. Sounds like a great opportunity.
• New America Media takes on the dispute over whether or not Democrats exploited hip hop to get Obama elected.
• Personal Democracy Forum offers up some good suggestions for how volunteering can be transformed through technology and crowdsourcing.
• Wanna know everything there is to know about how the Obama campaign won? Check out a list of essential reading on e.politics.

With a Category 4 Hurricane Gustav bearing down on the Gulf Coast today, there are decent odds that we will be seeing images much like we saw in 2005 with Hurricane Katrina. Fingers crossed, the disaster relief will be managed much better, and as a result, hopefully many more citizens living along the coast have been able to move inland, but the radar and satellite images are still menacing. After having worked in Mississippi each of the last two Marches, assisting families in rebuilding their homes and their lives from Hurricane Katrina, it's tough for me to watch this storm slam into the coast. The satellite looping continuously on The Weather Channel makes my mind loop back to 2005, and I replay my experience, realizing that the storm had a significant impact on me, but in a larger sense, I also understand that it was an opportunity for our generation to put our collaboration and volunteerism skills to use. For those that are concerned that Millennial activism is limited to the internet, this post is for you.

First, my story. In 2005, I was a senior at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. As Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast, we had just started class. I remember attending class and then returning to my residence hall room to watch -- in horror -- as those tall signs along the coast started to snap off and fly to the ground, and as houses were washed away. After the storm sailed through, the images were even more shocking. Bodies were all over the place, even on CNN. I remember calling my friend as I watched people trapped on roofs, looking up desperately at the news helicopters that were circling; we both were just astonished that we were seeing this in America, and that there was no help on the way. Along with another friend (who actually took the lead), we put a fundraiser together for the college community. We set up tables at various locations in the community one Saturday, and we were able to raise about $2,000. We also volunteered at a telethon at an Erie, PA TV station, and we raised $13,000 within our hour time slot. We were proud of what we had done and not just because we organized it spur of the moment, but because we worked together for a good cause.

After I graduated from Allegheny, I took a job working in Residence Life (supervising RAs) at a small, public school in Northwestern Pennsylvania (which I still have). As I explained above, the last two years I participated and co-organized an Alternative Spring Break trip to Gulfport, Mississippi. The first year I traveled with seven students and another staff member. We worked with the Presbyterian Church and stayed at a "volunteer village" for a week. Food and shelter was provided for a very minimal fee, and the school took care of transportation. Each morning, we'd get up and travel to our work sites, which were very different. We all were able to observe the difference in response between an affluent neighborhood and one that was less well-off. We met members of the community that were still recovering from what had happened. As I left that year, already knowing I wanted to return the following year, I remember realizing that it's not so much the actual physical labor that we offer that is important to them. It is the time that is invested. They had stories to tell, and so often, they had no one to hear them.

We returned the following year (this past year). The difference a year makes is impressive: as we traveled along Highway 90 the year before, destroyed signs and ruins of restaurants lined the coast; but this year those restaurants had been rebuilt. But at the same time, there was still work to be done. Luckily, the popularity of the program had grown; instead of taking just seven students, our institution committed funds for 28 students to travel. Seven staff members traveled with them, making for a total of 35. Because our campus is part of a larger state-wide system, we reached out to our colleagues at other campuses and asked them to participate. In total, approximately 75 people from all across Pennsylvania traveled to Gulfport this year to help with rebuilding projects -- and hearing stories. We received press coverage from our hometown paper, as a reporter and a photographer traveled with us. We are planning on going again this year, assuming that Gustav's impact is not so severe that it keeps us away.

But it wasn't just us. Youth volunteerism and civic engagement had already shown marked increases over the past few years:

Two-thirds of college freshmen (66%) believe it's essential or very important to help others in difficulty, suggests a survey of 263,710 students at 385 U.S. colleges and universities.The 2005 report, by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, found feelings of social and civic responsibility among entering freshmen at the highest level in 25 years.

Volunteerism by college students increased by 20% from 2002 to 2005, says a study released last week by the federal Corporation for National and Community Service.

And after Katrina, financial support and youth volunteers flooded the Gulf Coast region. A report from The Corporation for National and Community Service speaks to this:

AmeriCorps NCCC, a team-based residential program for 18-24 year-olds, has made Katrina response its primary focus these past three years, deploying more than 4,000 members to intensive assignments in the Gulf. NCCC members have refurbished 9,500 homes, built 1,450 new homes, completed 52,000 damage assessments, and trained and supervised more than 227,000 volunteers.

...

National service has also fueled the post-Katrina “brain gain” of young professionals who have moved to the Gulf to start new organizations and provide leadership to the nonprofit sector. This is especially true in New Orleans, where scores of AmeriCorps members came to serve and then stayed to work, plunging into jobs and volunteer initiatives to improve their adopted home.

The numbers above aren't even a totality. I actually am having a difficult time finding total numbers of youth volunteering for Katrina relief efforts. 10,000 college students went to the Gulf Coast within that first year alone, while thousands more went on trips in succeeding years.

We know that Millennials use the internet as a utility to further their activism; it's not the be-all, end-all. The collaborative nature of Millennials, along with their penchant for volunteerism and sheer size, yields a generation of young people determined to make a difference and capable of doing so; the 'net serves as a conduit through which this difference-making potential flows. The characteristics of Millennials are geared for events like disasters; in being able to collaborate and work through institutions and organizations to fix problems like the devastation from Katrina, the climate crisis, and the economic recession, the Millennials fuel this nation's evolution -- they just so happen to use the internet and social networking sites as tools to do this.

Yes, this activism differs from that of the 1960s. Youth today are not parading around college campuses with placards, staging sit-ins in administration buildings, or burning flags (by and large). But that doesn't mean the sense of urgency isn't there. If you talk to many young people today, we're engaged because this country's trajectory is so... alarming. And with this generation's addiction to immediate gratification, it's not surprising that volunteerism has become so popular -- young people today want to see the immediate results of their actions, whether it's loading that next web page, or appreciating the outcome of their latest good deed.

Going back to Sally Kohn's essay in the Christian Science Monitor from June, the actual outcomes of the Millennial Generation's social activism are blurring too much with the focus on technology. Sally accurately outlines what she asserts was the social activism found in the 1960s.

On their own, for example, none of the activists in the civil rights movement had sufficient power and influence to end segregation. Coming together in local committees, led mainly by young people, they used the tools of face-to-face community organizing, developing shared strategies to address shared problems. And they took shared action; in sit-ins and Freedom Rides, they formed groups that were more than the sum of individual parts.

Emphasis added. The bold and italicized is what Millennials already do today; so I don't think it's any wonder why many Millennial activists, like Daily Kos's georgia10, were confused by Kohn's piece. In fact, this model was represented in many volunteer efforts all across the country, especially along the Gulf Coast the past few years. Youth came together in groups, whether they were students, church members, or responsible citizens, organized around a problem they wished to solve, and they took action. And yes -- what they accomplished in those groups was far more than what they could have done individually.

As Gustav strikes this week, please remember that while there will be people suffering, and those horrifying images of three years ago might be on our TV screens again, another army of youth -- along with others -- will be waiting to serve. I know no better example of Millennial activism.

For the past two weekends, students at over 100 university campuses across the country have volunteered their time and raised money to fight hunger and homelessness on the local, national and international level.

The National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness, coordinated the event raising over $70,000 and bringing together 2000 volunteers.

Students at Fairfield, the University of Washington, Rutgers, and so many others but the largest was at Fairfield University which brought together 500 people and raised nearly $10,000.

At the same time 30 Students from Boston University will spend their summer bicycling from Rhode Island to Washington state as part of a promotional program called Bike and Build to help end poverty

"Each summer, 210 bikers embark on seven cross-country routes, giving presentations on the nation's affordable housing problem, granting money to small organizations and occasionally constructing homes.

"I'm excited because we don't bike the days we build houses. It's sort of our day off," Ashley Hoesing, a CAS sophomore, said. "I've never done anything like it before. Especially now with the economy the way it is, I'm pretty excited that I can help those less fortunate."

Since its 2002 inception, Bike and Build has raised more than $1 million for affordable housing organizations across the country, according to its website."

As CIRCLE (pdf) often reminds us volunteerism is native to young people. 60% of 15-25 year olds have volunteer or continue to volunteer on a regular basis. Opportunities like these help create a culture of volunteerism and community involvement.

I wonder the extent to which shows like Idol Gives Back, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and Oprah's Big Give also help create that same volunteerism or "give back" attitude, particularly with older demographics. Just thought I'd throw that out there - see if anyone has any thoughts.

I saw a great piece in a local paper that caught my attention about young people pealing potatoes for a community Thanksgiving Dinner.

"I like helping people and making a difference,” said Emily Bertols, a sophomore at North."

Last week we talked about CNN's inability to get the youth vote right in a piece they did in The Situation Room on Friday afternoon. From what I understand another discussion took place that next morning where two commentators were duking it out over the youth vote. While one of them didn't have a clear understanding of why young people matter, he did mention that young people are more involved in their communities than any other age group.

The same happened this week as I was driving to see family down south and was listening to NPR's Diane Rehm's Show and a commentator (I couldn't tell which one) also was very careful to acknowledge that both youth involvement and the youth vote are on the rise.

I guess you could say there is something there to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

I also thought given these recent developments and in the spirit of the holidays I would remind us how much young people do to get involved and volunteer for their communities.

Not only do we vote, but we care about our community, our country, our future, and our world. Which is more than I can say for some generations. I don't want to get on a holier than thou high horse but I'm proud of my generation's dedication to developing a more livable world and I thought I'd remind us all to give ourselves a pat on the back every once in a while.