The largest volunteer organization in the country — now fully based in Atlanta — will unveil its new identity today at the National Conference on Volunteering & Service.

The new organization developed from a merger announced last year of HandsOn Network, founded in Atlanta, and the Points of Light Foundation, inspired by former President George H.W. Bush that had been based in Washington.

Atlanta is hosting the national volunteering conference today through Tuesday.

The identity of the new organization is similar to the identities of the previous two entities because the leaders did not want to lose the equity of each well-known brand.

"We really did believe there was power in the names of both entities," said Michelle Nunn, CEO of the merged organization, now called the Points of Light Institute. "The broader umbrella is the power of people to make a difference. It's less about a brand; it's more around a business strategy."

Under the new structure, HandsOn Network will be the entity that oversees the volunteer and community service work around the country and the world.

"HandsOn will be the public brand," explained Nunn, who co-founded Hands On Atlanta in 1989 and later HandsOn Network (a national organization that was formed to work with HandsOn affiliates).

Before the merger, Hands-On Network had about 80 affiliates. They have been combined with all the community service entities that had been part of Points of Light Foundation.

"We now have 370 Hands-On Action Centers across the country and in 12 countries," Nunn said. She's amazed that what began as a small volunteer organization in Atlanta has become the largest community service organization in the country, with affiliates in Japan and China.

The HandsOn organization will continue to have its Corporate Service Council, which also has a decidedly Atlanta flavor. At today's conference, it will be announced that Atlantan John Rice, vice chairman of General Electric, will become new chairman of the HandsOn Network Corporate Service Council.

Nunn said she hopes the Points of Light Institute, the holding company, will serve as "an incubator for new ideas" on how best to involve people in their communities.

"Volunteerism isn't just nice, it's necessary to serving up solutions to some of our toughest problems," said Sandy Scott, a spokesman for the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency and co-sponsor of the event.

Much of what will happen at the event will be training for managers to help volunteers be more effective and raise a new generation of them, Scott said.

Several conference events will be held at the King Center and Ebenezer Baptist Church, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. home church. Information: www.volunteeringandservice.com.