If there was ever a time for Americans to get involved in service and volunteering it is now.  Recently the Obama Administration unveiled a new service initiative entitled “United We Serve”. This program is designed to encourage all Americans to engage in sustained, meaningful community service to help tackle our nation’s leading social problems.  A revamped interest and focus on the value of service has been sparked due to the economic crisis and realizing the benefits it brings not just for the people on the receiving end, but also those who give freely and unselfishly of their time.

Just in the six short months since taking office, the Administration has proactively tried to refocus Americans on engaging in sustained service by passing the Serve for America Act and establishing the United We Serve initiative.  Historically Americans have had a strong dedication to service however in recent years with the number of natural disasters inflicting our country, people have a stronger understanding and appreciation of the concrete results that can happen when many volunteers come together.  The country has a keener sense of how volunteering can positively impact a community, especially populations in need, to solve our nation’s most pressing issues.  And right now we are facing a lot of challenges that government cannot solve alone.

According to a study done by the Corporate for National and Community Service, the federal agency that oversees and manages our nation’s volunteer programs, over half (57.7%) of adult volunteers are women.  These volunteers span a wide age range mostly between the ages of 25 and 55 and offer a varied array of services.  A new trend has emerged in recent years especially since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina called “long-distance volunteering”.   Long-distance volunteers travel outside of their communities to give service and commit for either a short-term or long-term period of time.  Women make up over half (51.6%) of long-distance volunteers further showing that women are an important component to service in this country.

Now more than ever there are opportunities for women to get involved in service.  The recently unveiled United We Serve program includes a new website, www.serve.gov, to support this initiative. The website serves as a one-stop shop to find and create service projects in communities nationwide, share stories about successful projects, download toolkits, create your own service opportunity and establish goals on how to measure community impact.  The United We Serve summer initiative begins on June 22nd and runs through the National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11th.

In addition, the recently passed Serve for America Act is a milestone piece of federal legislation for the national service movement and the largest expansion of civilian service since the Depression. It will dramatically expand national and community service programs such as AmeriCorps, and strengthen the infrastructure for volunteerism within the nonprofit community.  For more information please visit the Corporation for National and Community Service website.

Volunteering is a great way for women to try out different interests and get involved with helping their community.  It allows women a chance to explore their many talents whether that is mentoring a child, building a home, supporting a museum, helping out a nurse, or coaching a team.  Every volunteer opportunity presents a woman an opportunity to learn more about herself and her strengths.  In addition, there are service events around the country that focus just on female participants.

For example, the St. Bernard Project in New Orleans organizes a yearly “Women’s Rebuild” so that women from around the country can join together and build houses for a week.  Over 200 women attended this year’s Women’s Rebuild and participated in this week of fun, hard work and gratifying accomplishment that they helped displaced residents move back into their homes.  It’s especially empowering for women to engage in manual labor and witness the fruits of their work come together as they build, mold and design things.  Rebuilding a house takes teamwork, hard work and skills that women possess but it’s not an activity most women think they are suited for or often participate in during their daily lives.  However when women witness how their physical work can create the pieces needed to build a home many are surprised and excited they can accomplish projects often considered a “man’s role”.

No matter what activity a woman decides to engage in she will be giving back her talents to her community and witnessing the fruits of her labor.  I look forward to seeing how this renewed enthusiasm for service takes hold in our country and transforms women’s lives.