The ServiceNation Summit September 11 and 12 in New York City was a huge
success with over 700 service leaders in attendance. Aside from the national
figures, celebrities, and presidential candidates who made their presence
known, quite a bit of exciting news occurred over those two days.
The Serve America Act, S. 3487, was introduced by Senators Edward Kennedy
and Orrin Hatch. This legislative initiative will be used to expand and
improve domestic and international service opportunities and will recruit
Americans of all ages to do service work in health, education, environmental
protection, and anti-poverty programs. The original cosponsors include
both presidential candidates, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, as
well as Senators Hillary Clinton, Thad Cochran, and Chris Dodd.
TIME Magazine released its second annual National Service issue featuring
contributions from service leaders throughout the country
and Senators McCain's and Obama's plans for national
service. That
September 22 article can be viewed here.
The Declaration of Service was made public and is available
for signing online. The Declaration can
be accessed here to print off and distribute within your
community.
The national Day of Action on September 27 is continuing to pick up steam.
Across the country nearly 2500 events are planned in
all 50 states. In Michigan there are 55 events planned.
There is still one week to plan your own Day of Action
or seek out local opportunities to participate in. Go
here for more information on events in Michigan.
Michigan
is ready to do its part to be a nation of service. Please
keep up the support and continue to get involved.