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May 18, 2010
WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Michelle Obama challenged George Washington University graduates at their commencement Sunday to "keep giving" through community service work and to "keep engaging" with the world.

Obama spoke to some 5,000 graduates and their families at the ceremony on the National Mall. She agreed to be their speaker after students, faculty and staff met her challenge to complete 100,000 hours of community service.

"I have one more request to make of you, one more challenge," Obama said during her speech. "Keep going. Keep giving. Keep engaging."
May 17, 2010
Michelle Nunn's commencement speech to Wesleyan graduates - May 15, 2010.

Thank you -- President Knox, faculty, graduates-to-be and most honored guests. President Knox thank you for that overly generous introduction. And thank you for embodying servant leadership and for embracing a vision for Wesleyan that restores to higher education its fundamental mandate to cultivate citizen and servant leaders for the world.

May 11, 2010

Most of the last year’s business headlines have featured financial bailouts, ethical lapses, Ponzi schemes, executive bonuses and a general erosion of confidence in corporate America.

Yet at the same time, corporations have shown extraordinary innovation in how they are leveraging their unique assets to generate positive change in communities.

Increasingly, corporations are seeing not only the philanthropic value of giving back, but also the business value of integrating their community investment into their business practices.

May 3, 2010
Workplace volunteerism has long been viewed as an employee benefit, but it also has tremendous potential to impact serious social issues. The business community sees its promise and, in fact, has very high expectations for what volunteerism can accomplish. But are high expectations enough?

Read the results of the 2010 Deloitte Volunteer IMPACT Survey to learn more.

Attachments
April 28, 2010
Tom Sheridan is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change.

On the one year anniversary of Congress's passage of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, we can declare victory on the battle of ideas. Nearly two years ago, Candidate Obama embraced the agenda of social innovation, he later translated its principles into his Administration and the Congress responded to his call to pass a truly innovative Serve America Act.

April 27, 2010

Maybe Woody Allen had it wrong.

Maybe 90 percent of life is NOT just showing up because, every day, in countless ways, individuals, organizations and corporations around this country don't just show up; they show up and give back.

April 18-24 is National Volunteer Week, an apt occasion to pause and celebrate the millions of Americans who have seen the needs in their communities -- financial hardship and poverty, a stubborn high school dropout rate, ongoing threats to our environment -- and asked, "what can I do to help?"

April 23, 2010
Washington D.C. – The Corporation for National and Community Service announced the appointments of three top social sector experts in key positions – Heather Peeler, Chief Strategy Officer; John Gomperts, Director of AmeriCorps; and Nicole Gallant, Director of Learn and Serve America and Strategic Education Advisor.

The appointments come as the Corporation marks the one-year anniversary of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act – landmark legislation that calls for a historic expansion of
April 22, 2010
A giant of the American civil rights movement has passed away. Dorothy I. Height died April 20 at the age of 98. For more than 60 years, she worked tirelessly alongside all the major civil rights leaders, from Eleanor Roosevelt to Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis. From voting rights, through school desegregation, through black feminism, she was a key leader. President Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994; President Obama called her "the godmother of the Civil Rights Movement."
April 15, 2010
(Washington, D.C., April 13, 2010)-Independent Sector announces that the 2009 estimate for the value of a volunteer hour has reached $20.85, an increase from $20.25 per hour in 2008.

The release of this important figure comes just before National Volunteer Week, which takes place April 18 - 24, 2010. This year Independent Sector and Points of Light Institute are partnering to celebrate ordinary people doing extraordinary things to improve communities across the nation.

March 30, 2010
Representatives from GenerationOn visited the NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square and presided over the NASDAQ Opening Bell.

About GenerationOn:
GenerationOn mobilizes the energy and compassion of young people, beginning at an early age, to discover their power to solve real world challenges. Through volunteering opportunities and education programs that instill a lifelong commitment to service, GenerationOn inspires young people to make their mark on the world.

GenerationOn is the
March 12, 2010
Washington, DC — Four thousand middle school students will participate in service-learning projects this summer, funded by the 2010 Summer of Service grants from Learn and Serve America, a national service program administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The agency awarded grants totaling $2 million to 17 nonprofits, universities and schools to engage at-risk youth in grades 6 through 9 in innovative service projects that address environmental and disaster preparedness issues.

February 15, 2010
Thomas O. Staggs, the Walt Disney Company’s new theme parks chairman, hopped onto a circular stage built to resemble an enormous can of tuna on Thursday. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said to the audience gathered at Epcot in Florida, “the world’s largest structure of canned food!”

With that, a stage hand crawled through some fake fog and pulled a rip cord that sent an enclosure of white balloons skyward. Sure enough, volunteers had arranged over 115,000
February 15, 2010

Washington, DC – The U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Patrick Corvington by unanimous consent today to be the new Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Corvington, a recognized expert on nonprofit management and leadership, joins the agency at a time marked by unprecedented social need and support for national service.

February 12, 2010
The allure of a free ticket to a Disney park has spurred people across Northeast Ohio to sign up for local volunteer activities, bringing a welcome spike in help for a broad range of organizations.

The "Give a Day. Get a Disney Day" program began in January and aims to both celebrate and inspire volunteers by providing a one-day ticket to a Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort theme park to the first million people who sign up and complete a day of volunteer service.

January 25, 2010
University of Mississippi student Sharita Washington decided not to take the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend off.

Instead, Washington, 22, and 26 fellow students from the university's Oxford, Miss., campus joined about 3,000 others for volunteer community service in Chicago. Saturday, they spruced up a South Side elementary school where 97% of the students are low-income, according to Chicago Cares, which coordinated the effort.

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