Spirit of Service

In this “new era of responsibility,” President, Barack Obama, has explained the personal engagement needed to solve the nation’s problems through his Inaugural Address. With an ailing economy, weakening school systems, and energy crisis, followed by numerous disasters and emergencies, he brought to attention the troubled state the nation has fallen into. With this awakening, he brought hope, however, introducing his ideas to help and the new responsibilities each citizen should carry out.

“Certain tasks … cannot be accomplished by volunteers showing up occasionally or contributing a few hours a week,” writes The New York Times, reflecting Obama’s ideas. Opportunities to serve the community need to be expanded, and plans for doing so have been introduced. Democrat of Massachusetts, Edward Kennedy, and Orrin Hatch, Utah Republican, have introduced their Serve America Act to the Senate, an act that should “expand the number of full-time and part-time national service volunteers eligible for minimal living expenses and a modest educational stipend.” These new positions will be targeted at strengthening education, cleaning the environment, repairing our economic state, responding to emergencies and disasters, and boosting energy efficiency. A well thought out plan, everyone is invited to become involved, including “people of all income levels and ages.” Along with the Volunteer Generation Fund the will help nonprofit groups with volunteers, our new President along with the Senate are aiming at creating new jobs and aiding the nation’s economy. Personal engagement is most needed at the moment, as the country won’t repair itself.

With our families and neighbors losing their jobs all around us and businesses constantly having to close their doors for a final time, it’s amazing how we can act as if nothing is happening. Citizen activity and willingness to help is essential to keep the country running. Where would the country be without her people? Amongst our diverse crowds, we need to grasp the idealism and unity that makes us who we are and increase the productive national and community service granted to our communities. With the help of the Senate’s proposed Serve America Act, “tens of thousands of meaningful new positions for people ready to work hard for the public good” should become available and with the Volunteer Generation Fund, volunteers will be gifted many opportunities to help nonprofit groups. By helping our neighbors, our homes, our communities, and our country, we help each other. We help restore our economy to the stable platform it once rested upon. We help deliver rich knowledge to the children of the next generation. We help the air become more pure and the leaves on the trees thrive as green as they once did. By volunteering and getting involved with programs in our communities and with the new acts proposed under our new President, America can be revived and once again become an inspirational land that bestows upon her people what they put effort into.

Every citizen carries his own responsibilities and plays a part in the restoration of America. To solve the nation’s problems, Mr. Obama declared that each person would need to become involved. The “spirit of service” that he spoke of in his Inaugural Address is within all of us, and it needs to be awoken.

Reference

“The Moment for National Service.” The New York Times 26 Jan. 2009. 26 Jan. 2009