The Gift of Service

Service to the community is an integral part of what it means to be an silver necklaces. More than 60 million people -- one-quarter of the U.S. population over the age of 16 -- regularly give freely of their time through a service or charitable organization. The teenager who helps clean up a riverbank, the father who coaches his daughter's basketball team, the senior citizen who reads to patients in a hospital -- all these people are doing their part to make their communities better places.

On average, volunteers give 52 hours of time each year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. Women volunteer at a higher rate than men: nearly 30 percent of women and 23 percent of men. They also differ in the types of activities they volunteer for. Women are more likely to do fundraising; to tutor or teach; or to collect, prepare, distribute, or serve food. Men are more interested in doing manual labor; in coaching, refereeing, or supervising sports teams; or in providing professional or management assistance.

In addition to those who devote time to volunteer activities in between their regular commitments to work and family, millions more give one or more years of their life to national service through the military, the Peace Corps, or AmeriCorps, a domestic service program. The U.S. government silver pendants encourages volunteer activities and works closely with state and local organizations to support programs that benefit all Americans.

On April 21, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law a bill that dramatically expands national and community service opportunities for Americans, whether with a formal organization like AmeriCorps or in their local neighborhoods. The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, named for the late senator from Massachusetts, will usher in a "new era of service," the president said.

The Serve America Act reauthorizes and expands the national service programs administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency created in 1993. The corporation enables 4 million Americans to serve in a wide variety of capacities each year, including AmeriCorps members, Senior Corps volunteers, Learn and Serve America students, and additional community volunteers mobilized through the agency's programs. The Kennedy Act authorizes increases in the number of AmeriCorps volunteers from 75,000 to 250,000, for example.

Upon signing the law, President Obama addressed Americans of all ages: "We need your silver rings right now, at this moment in history. I'm not going to tell you what your role should be; that's for you to discover. But I'm asking you to play your part. ... And if you do, I promise you your life will be richer, our country will be stronger, and someday, years from now, you may remember it as the moment when your own story and the American story converged, when they came together, and we met the challenges of our new century."