The Red and the Blue

On Monday, the Senate voted 72-14 to move ahead on the National Service Corps bill, known as GIVE – The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act (sometimes I think Congressional staff have too much fun with the acronyms).

According to opencongress.org, GIVE “would dramatically increase funding for AmeriCorps and other volunteer programs, including those for seniors and veterans. It also establishes a goal of expanding from 75,000 government-supported volunteers to 250,000, and would increase education funding and establish a summer service program for students, paying $500 (which would be applied to college costs) to high-school and middle-school student who participate.”

To be clear, the Senate has not passed the bill yet, but this procedural passage is a great sign that it will eventually become law. GIVE is a bipartisan-supported bill sponsored in part by Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, although all 14 opponents of the bill were Republicans as well—I’m beginning to think the “No” button on Sam Brownback’s desk might be malfunctioning.

With passage of the bill likely, this is the perfect time for college students to take part in some sort of community service activity—it’s not like you have a job already, right?  There are loads of different organizations that desperately need the organizing skills, marketing knowledge and enthusiasm that come naturally to many Penn students.

If the two-year commitment to Teach for America or the ten-month Americorps tenure frighten you, then start off with something less frequent.  Walk the 10 minutes to Civic House, at 39th and Locust, and talk to a fellow Penn student about what you’re interested in, or take a look at their website for some ideas before you go. There are one-time volunteer opportunities, such as cleaning up a park on one Saturday, as well as long-term ones, like Big Brother and Big Sister.  For those of you looking for ideas off campus or in a different city, idealist.org lets you search for opportunities by city, interest and dates of availability.

There is no excuse for Ivy League students to refrain from giving back to their communities, especially now that the federal government is investing more money and clout into these programs.  You have homework, I know, a myriad meetings, parties to attend, I understand, but with 37 million Americans living in poverty, it is past the time for action.

It’s easy to scoff at the idea that ordinary people can make a difference in the world, but, hey, that’s what everyone said about Obama’s campaign back in 2007.

Lauren Burdette Uncategorized GIVE Act, Volunteer