Birthday Wishes for President George H. W. Bush and Your Chance to Give a Meaningful Gift
It’s our founder’s 90th birthday today, and lots of folks have something to say about that.
President George H. W. Bush reads to children during a visit to Sri Lanka. (Photo by Joe Reilly)
What does President Bush really want for his birthday? His son Neil Bush, chair of Points of Light’s board, answers the question on CNN.com.
What should today’s young people know about President Bush’s life of service? Gregg Petersmeyer, founding director of the White House Office of National Service, answers on Politico.com.
What was so revolutionary about President Bush’s focus on service? Read Points of Light President Tracy Hoover’s views on The Huffington Post.
What did President Bush have to do with five promises to young Americans? Check out this piece from John Gomperts, president and CEO of America’s Promise Alliance.
You can wish President Bush a happy birthday by giving him the one present he’s sure to love: your pledge to serve. Go to BeOne.PointsofLight.org and make a pledge to volunteer in honor of President Bush’s lifetime of service. Let us know that you’ll tutor a child, plant a community garden, serve at your local food bank – whatever you feel passionately about. When you pledge, a point of light will appear on a national map.
What Do You Get a President on His Birthday?
This post is by Tracy Hoover, president of Points of Light.
President George H. W. Bush started Points of Light with a single, disruptive idea: that every single person can change lives.
President George H. W. Bush reads to children during a visit to Sri Lanka. (Photo by Joe Reilly)
President Bush “didn’t call for one blinding light shining from Washington,” as President Obama said at Points of Light’s 20th anniversary celebration a few years ago. “He didn’t just call for a few bright lights from the biggest nonprofits. He called for a ‘vast galaxy of people and institutions working together to solve problems in their own backyard.’”
President Bush inspired millions to serve, who in turn inspired millions more. “Think of all the people they touched and the lives they changed – and all those who were helped who went on to help others,” Obama continued. “That’s the extraordinary ripple effect that one life, lived humbly, with love for one’s country, and in service to one’s fellow citizens, can have.”
Whenever I see President Bush, he asks me about points of light. And I know he’s not asking about the organization. He’s asking about the volunteers who are tackling tough community problems and finding lives of purpose and meaning through serving others.
On June 12, President Bush will celebrate his 90th birthday. Starting today, you can give him the one present he’s sure to love: your pledge to serve.
Go to
and make a pledge to volunteer in honor of President Bush’s lifetime of service. Let us know that you’ll tutor a child, plant a community garden, serve at your local food bank – whatever you feel passionately about. When you pledge, a point of light will appear on a national map.
Please make your service
today and join this very special happy birthday chorus.
Click here to read about The Joy of Sox – an organization that will receive a Daily Point of Light Award on President Bush’s birthday. President Bush, who founded the award during his presidency, made a special contribution to help The Joy of Sox provide socks to the homeless in Philadelphia.
For His Courage to Compromise, President George H. W. Bush Receives Kennedy Library Foundation Honor
President George H. W. Bush today was named a recipient of the 2014 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for a decision that – though it may have cost him personally – benefitted the greater good.
President George H. W. Bush, during
his presidency (George Bush
Presidential Library and Museum)
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation reported that the award committee selected President Bush, Points of Light’s founder, “in recognition of the political courage he demonstrated as president when he agreed to a 1990 budget compromise which reversed his 1988 campaign pledge not to raise taxes.”
Jack Schlossberg, President Kennedy’s grandson, said President Bush “risked his reputation and ultimately his political career by forging an important compromise on the budget in 1990 that moved our country forward, and should not be forgotten.”
Schlossberg, who is a member of the Profile in Courage Award committee, will present the award in Boston on May 4. The foundation announced it will also be honoring former Uvalda, Ga., mayor Paul W. Bridges for jeopardizing his career by condemning a controversial immigration law in Georgia.
Do you know someone who showed courage while serving others? Nominate him or her for a Daily Point of Light Award, an honor President Bush created during his presidency.
President George H. W. Bush Recalls Nelson Mandela’s Vision, Wisdom and Devotion
This week, shortly before Nelson Mandela’s death, President George H. W. Bush, Points of Light’s founder, praised the South African leader for his “grace and dignity.”
Bush, the first American president to host Mandela at the White House, recalled for the Huffington Post his memories of meeting Mandela. Bush wrote, “We talked about how we shared the goal of true democracy and dismantling, once and for all, the vestiges of apartheid – a system that based the rights and freedoms of citizenship on the color of one’s skin.”
And to honor Mandela’s life of service, why not pledge to serve? Visit AllforGood.org to find volunteer opportunities in your area.
President George H. W. Bush Shaves Head to Support 2-Year-Old Cancer Patient
A picture of a smiling president holding a 2-year-old boy with leukemia has touched millions, as people have turned to social media to spread the story behind the photograph.
When President George H. W. Bush saw that members of his Secret Service detail had shaved their heads to show support for the boy – whose cancer treatment is causing his hair to fall out – the 89-year-old decided to bare his own scalp this week.
(Photo from the Office of George Bush)
Young Patrick’s father, Jon (last name being withheld at the family’s request), serves with President Bush’s security detail. To raise money for Patrick’s medical bills, Jon’s colleagues created a website,
, and scheduled a benefit for Aug. 10 – a 50-mile motorcycle ride through the Maine countryside, followed by a lunch and silent auction.
Once President Bush and his wife, Barbara, learned about “Patrick’s Pals,” they donated to the cause and President Bush volunteered to shave his head. The Bushes lost their second child, Robin, to leukemia at age 4.
News of the Bushes’ support – and particularly the photo of a bald President Bush holding Patrick on his lap with grandfatherly warmth, both wearing blue golf shirts and khakis – went viral Monday, receiving wide attention on social media and on the news.
On Twitter,
remarked, “Seriously, if George HW Bush gets any cooler and more admirable he’s just going to turn into a light particle. A literal point of light.” The Facebook page of
were among the many outlets that have picked up the story.
If you want to help with the Patrick’s Pals effort, you can tweet using the hash tag #PatricksPals; share this blog post on Facebook; and visit
Change Notes: Monday Will Be a Big Day for Service and for All the Nation’s Volunteers
Dear friends,
At 1:30 p.m. on Monday, President and Mrs. Obama will host President George H. W. Bush and Mrs. Bush at a special White House ceremony to honor the 5,000th person to receive the Daily Point of Light Award, which recognizes those who embrace the challenge of tackling a community need through volunteer service.
This is exciting for so many reasons.
First, the event in the East Room is a wonderful way to honor President Bush and his life of service and to celebrate a milestone in the life of an award he created 24 years ago.
Second, it’s always a great day in Washington when people come together across the aisle to unite in service.
Third, the ceremony will showcase how essential volunteers are to American greatness. At a time when American confidence in our institutions is low and when a dispiriting cynicism too often pervades our news and discourse, the Daily Point of Light Award is an antidote. It reminds us that people care and that hope is the story of America.
Finally, the event will celebrate you and all the people who give of themselves to spark change and improve the world.
I hope you’ll join the fun and inspiration on Monday. You can:
Tweet about someone who has made an impact on your life or community, using the #mypointoflight hashtag. (For example, #MyPointofLight is Julie Smith, my 10th grade English teacher, who worked to encourage literacy in our community.)
The next 5,000 Daily Point of Light Award winners will reflect President Bush’s belief “in ordinary people who reach beyond themselves to touch the lives of those in need, bringing hope and opportunity, care and friendship. By giving so generously of themselves, these remarkable individuals show us not only what is best in our heritage, but what all of us are called to become.”
