For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 12, 2002
USA Freedom Corps
Fostering a Culture of Service, Citizenship and Responsibility
Presidential Action
Today in Philadelphia President Bush announced that through the new USA Freedom Corps and its web site
(www.usafreedomcorps.gov), all Americans
can keep a record of their experiences and hours in volunteer service
on-line or in a printed journal. The call to service is not a federal
mandate, but a profound individual commitment, and the online Record of
Service and printed Record of Service will allow individuals to track
their progress in meeting that commitment.
President Bush announced that he has directed his
Cabinet to report back to him within 30 days on ways their Departments
and Agencies can contribute to service opportunities for all
Americans. The directive is part of his USA Freedom Corps
initiative to encourage and assist all Americans to answer the call to
service, and asks the Cabinet Members to provide information to foster
more service in America.
The President also met with volunteers participating
in a variety of service activities who are part of a longstanding
American tradition of service and volunteerism for the public good.
Record of Service
The online Record of Service is available at
www.usafreedomcorps.gov, and allows individuals to log on with a unique
user identity to keep an online journal with details about their
experiences in volunteer service and their progress in meeting the
President's call to service. The online tool is powered by
Network for Good, an independent, 501(c)(3) organization that is a
partnership of over 20 corporations, nonprofit foundations and
associations seeking to foster the informed use of the Internet for
civic participation and philanthropy.
The Record of Service journal is also available online
or by calling 1-877-USA-Corps. Individuals can use the
Record of Service to keep a journal of their experiences in a book that
includes research on service needs and opportunities, examples of
service throughout history and quotes about the role of service in the
lives of individuals and in American culture.
The President's Instructions to His Cabinet
President Bush also announced that he has
directed the Members of his Cabinet to report back to him
within 30 days on the ways their Departments
and Agencies can contribute to
service opportunities for all Americans. The directive is
part of his USA Freedom Corps initiative to encourage and
assist all Americans to answer the
call to service, and asks the Cabinet Members to produce:
A complete inventory of the service opportunities
sponsored or administered by such departments or agencies, including a
description of the extent to which the departments or agencies make the
public aware of those opportunities; and
A complete inventory of regulatory and programmatic
barriers at the departments or agencies to community and other service
by Americans. Such inventory shall also include
recommendations as to how to modify or repeal such barriers in order to
enhance service opportunities.
The Two-Year Call to Service
During his State of the Union address, President Bush
called on all Americans to give at least two years of their lives'the
equivalent of 4,000 hours'to the service of
others. Today, he visited the People's Emergency Center in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and met with local volunteers to lead
a conversation about service and the USA Freedom
Corps initiative that he launched just over a month ago.
The President's vision of the gathering momentum of
millions of acts of compassion and kindness includes Americans in
military and civilian service, Americans engaged in meeting local
community and national needs, and Americans participating in service
projects at home and abroad.
Research indicates that approximately 44 percent of
Americans are currently involved in volunteer activities, and that they
serve an average of 185 hours annually (Source: Independent Sector).
Since the President Launched the USA Freedom Corps
initiative, the new web site has been visited more than 6.5 million
times, more than 18,000 people have requested applications to the Peace
Corps (an increase of 54 percent over the same period last year),
applications to AmeriCorps programs are up nearly 50 percent, calls to
the Senior Corps toll free number are up nearly 200 percent and visits
to that web site are up 500 percent, and almost 20,000 people from all
50 states have signed up to participate in the new Citizen Corps
effort.
Why the Call to Service?
Research on service participation indicates that asking
Americans to serve makes a difference in whether they actually do so:
Independent Sector reports that those who were asked
to volunteer were much more likely to do so (63 percent) than were
those who had not been asked (25 percent).
According to the Center for Information & Research on
Civic Learning & Engagement at the University of Maryland, most young
volunteers say they got involved in service because they were
asked. A new study from the center says: "Contrary to the
conventional wisdom that young adults volunteer for selfish reasons or
because they are required to do so by their school, most young adults
(30%) say they volunteer because they were asked."
A History of Service
During his visit to Philadelphia today, President Bush
met with volunteers
participating in a variety of service activities who are part
of a longstanding American tradition of service and
volunteerism for the public good. The volunteers who joined
him for a conversation on service include:
A nurse who is on call at least two nights a week for
emergency and disaster response teams for the American Red Cross;
A high school senior who created a literacy program at age
13 that has served over 300 young people;
A new AmeriCorps
volunteer involved in service learning activities for youth;
A returned Peace Corps volunteer who at 66 years old is
involved in the AmeriCorps program at home;
A father and
husband who is a veteran of the Persian Gulf War and now dedicates one
weekend each month to service in the U.S. Army Reserve;
The director of the University of Pennsylvania's highly
regarded campus outreach and service learning center; and
The President and CEO of the United Way of Southeastern
Pennsylvania.
These volunteers are part of a tradition of service that has
been
particularly strong in Philadelphia
since our Nation's founding. In the
1730s, Benjamin Franklin helped found a library, a volunteer
fire company, and a variety of volunteer groups
for civic improvements (such as paving,
cleaning and lighting the streets
of Philadelphia). In 1751, he helped found the
Pennsylvania Hospital and the academy that became the University
of Pennsylvania.
Benjamin Rush, also a signer of
the Declaration of Independence, organized several volunteer
public health efforts, including Philadelphia's successful response to
the yellow fever epidemic of 1793.