The President's Call to Service

Americans of all ages are already serving others in countless ways, by mentoring a child, caring for an elderly neighbor, teaching someone to read, or donating food and clothing to those who need them.

During his 2002 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush called upon every American to get involved in strengthening America's communities and sharing America's compassion around the world. He called on each of us to dedicate at least two years over the course of our lives to the service of others. He included all Americans because everyone can do something, and he created the USA Freedom Corps to help all Americans to answer his call.

While government cannot fulfill the need for kindness, for understanding, and for love in our communities, through the USA Freedom Corps, government can support the momentum of millions of acts of kindness and decency that are changing America one heart at a time.

What We Do

As a Coordinating Council housed at the White House and chaired by President George W. Bush, we are working to strengthen our culture of service and help find opportunities for every American to start volunteering.

Over the past thirty years, community involvement has been in decline. We take President Bush's challenge to foster a renewed culture of citizenship, service and responsibility seriously, and we are bringing together the resources of the federal government with the nonprofit, business, educational, faith-based and other sectors to begin that process and to measure our results.

We have already built a comprehensive USA Freedom Corps Network, where individuals can find service opportunities that match their interests and talents in their hometowns, across the country or around the world. And we are expanding service opportunities to protect our homeland, to meet important community needs and to extend American compassion around the world through partnerships with these and other organizations that create our volunteer service infrastructure.

At the same time, we are working to expand and strengthen federal service programs like the Peace Corps, Citizen Corps, AmeriCorps, and Senior Corps, and to raise awareness of and break down barriers to service opportunities with all federal government agencies.

Our agenda extends beyond volunteer service, and we have begun the process of working with educators and others to help increase civic awareness and participation in communities across the country. We look forward to what lies ahead, and to doing our part to help Americans strengthen America, one heart at a time.

To find out more, take a look at the 2003 USA Freedom Corps Annual Report (475K) in the Publications section of our Newsroom.