Tuesday, March 31, 2009

UPDATE: Service Act Passes in Senate!

We recently blogged about the House’s passage of the GIVE Act, designed to provide educational grants as incentives to take part in public service.

Great news! Last week, the Senate passed similar legislation – the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act – which reinforces many of the key aspects of the GIVE Act. The bill expands service opportunities to 250,000 per year, motivates young people through educational grants, provides better service opportunities for seniors and Boomers and establishes a “Social Innovation Fund” to identify and grow organizations working to solve tough problems on a community level. Another key aspect of the Serve Act is that it designates 9/11 as a National Day of Service.

This bill is expected to easily pass the House and Barack Obama will be able to sign the measure as early as this week! However, as Obama notes,

“Our work is not finished when I sign this bill into law – it has just begun. While our government can provide every opportunity imaginable for us to serve our communities, it is up to each of us to sieze those opportunities.”

What will you do to give back to your community? Leave a comment!

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