Food for Thought: National Day of Service, 01.19.09

Stepping away from the family dinner topic, for just today...

Heeding President-Elect Obama's call for a National Day of Service, I just signed up to help with a food drive on Dr. Martin Luther King Day, this Monday January 19, 2009. Hurry now and sign-up for something in your community at www.usaservice.org.

Honestly, I had to click through on 3 food drives before I could find one to sign up for. (Had to be a food drive, since that's my thing.) The others had been "maxed-out" with too many people vying to sign up for limited slots. Of course, I'm in Brooklyn, but there were so many events, so many possible good deeds that are out there. 8,500 events were registered on the site as of Jan 14th. Click here to see the amazing Google Map.

It's making me teary-eyed, really, and so hopeful that Obama as our new president will represent a change. He has been so inspiring to so many people already. He truly seems committed to helping communities and helping people make a difference in their own lives and their own neighborhoods. Those 8,500 volunteer opportunities? Those are there everyday, if we just knew about them.

As an Obama volunteer in the campaign, I was polled about my opinions and suggestions immediately afterward, as were many people. (Just being contacted for my opinion seemed quite amazing, really.) I wrote that I hoped that he would use his campaign machinery to offer community-based volunteer opportunities and to harness all that energy and positive motion toward making a real difference in communities. The transition team is doing just that with usaservice.org, and I'm again stunned. Obama and his team have the two-punch: he inspires, then implements. There's a system in place to make it easy for people to sign up. That's the genius. It's marketing true, but really it's marketing and implementation. Many people want to "help" in some vague way, but if you're not sure how to do it, if you don't know who to call, it may never happen. Let's hope that the National Day of Service is a boost up to community involvement that lasts. In this economy, in these times, we cannot wait for government to right itself and solve all the problems that have been created over the past years. We have to embrace our communities and act locally to make a difference. Yes, we can!

Off-topic: My answers to the Obama survey

How would you like to see this organization move forward in the months and years ahead?

There was so much energy and enthusiasm generated by the campaign. It was based on the hope that individual efforts would make a difference. I think there must be some effort to sustain that optimism in the face of difficult times. I think some of that energy can be turned toward greater volunteerism in the community at large: food banks, job banks, tutoring for children, help for the elderly, etc. Use the structure to help people find ways to connect with and help their neighbors and neighborhoods.

What first inspired you to join this campaign?

I originally supported Clinton, because I was afraid that Obama was not experienced enough. But I caught the "hope" bug and found that despite my misgivings, I desperately wanted to believe his words and the words of the campaign: that change was possible and that we could all be a part of it.

What was the best part of your volunteer experience?

The organization of the volunteer effort was truly exceptional. You felt like you were really part of a movement. One that took the individual seriously, respected his/her time and commitment, and took the time to listen and say thank you. It was easy to drop in and help out in a concrete way with the online phone tool and with the central offices in Brooklyn.