The value of community service

Last year, in the midst of the great recession, approximately 63.4 million Americans volunteered in some way in their communities — the largest increase since 2003. That number includes almost 1.8 million Georgians — 24.4 percent of the state’s population. And last year, Atlanta became one of 10 “cities of service” to add a chief service officer charged with mobilizing greater volunteer resources to tackle a host of pressing problems.

National service, as embodied in the three major programs of the Corporation for National and Community Service — AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and Learn and Serve America — engages 23,000 Georgians of all ages and backgrounds in addressing issues of poverty, illiteracy, disasters, public safety, independent living and more throughout this state.

One of the key ingredients of the success of this federal program has been its support across the political spectrum. In fact, in a spirit of bipartisanship rarely seen these days in Washington, it took Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., working with leaders in the House, just weeks to rally the votes and pass the Serve America Act in 2009.

As a lifelong Republican, and as someone who has spent two decades in public and voluntary service, let me give you three reasons why I believe that a modest investment in service is consistent with conservative principles and has a powerful catalytic effect on citizen empowerment.

First, national service recognizes that the best solutions come from outside Washington. It invests in citizens to solve problems, tapping the energy and ingenuity of the American people.

Second, an investment in national service is a good deal for taxpayers. AmeriCorps was built to be a public-private partnership, and it leverages substantial private investment — more than $300 million in non-federal funds each year to fund such programs as Teach for America and Habitat for Humanity.

Third, while the primary purpose of national service is to get things done for people in need, it has important side benefits. One of those is the transforming impact it has on those who serve — exposing them to society’s problems, empowering them to act, and putting them on a path of civic engagement.

Service also enables people of diverse backgrounds to work together toward common goals. As Dr. King put it: “Life’s most urgent and persistent question is what are you doing for others.”

The modern service movement is built on these principles which are shared by people of every political persuasion and all walks of life. On Saturday, I urge you to answer Gov.-elect Deal’s call to “give back to the state that has given us so much.” Whether you volunteer alongside AmeriCorps members providing job search assistance in Albany, at the local food bank in Macon, or at dozens of other sites, you will be making a difference in the lives of your neighbors and keeping the Georgia legacy of service alive.

Eric Tanenblatt is senior managing director at McKenna Long and Aldridge LLP and vice chairman of the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service.