What Do You Have to Give to Your Country Now?

Pointing to President-elect Barack Obama’s commitment to increase volunteerism, advocates for community involvement of older Americans said now is the time to press for national legislation boosting civic and nonprofit service.

Speaking at a conference of the Gerontological Society of America, held near Washington, D.C., former senator Harris L. Wofford, D-Pa., said today’s troubles remind him of the time when he helped to found the Peace Corps nearly 50 years ago. At that time, President John F. Kennedy called on Americans to ask themselves what they could do for their country. Obama is in a similar position to ask, Wofford said.

“A perfect storm is around us right now on the economy,” Wofford said. “We’re going to have a huge investment in the infrastructure of this country—the physical infrastructure. We’ve got to see that we have a stimulus of a long-lasting kind, a civic stimulus for the country.”

Obama has called for expanding the Peace Corps from 75,000 slots to 250,000 slots, with a particular emphasis on volunteers over age 55. He also wants to expand the capacity of nonprofit groups to integrate volunteer programs into schools and universities.

According to “More to Give,” a report on volunteerism that Wofford recently coauthored for AARP, the biggest obstacle to volunteering is lack of time, followed closely by lack of money. The bad economy will only increase those concerns, according to panelists at the conference.

There are several pieces of pending legislation on Capitol Hill that call for increases in volunteerism. Several of the bills, written by Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., as well as a bipartisan group of others, would provide incentives for volunteering. One of the bills calls for $5 billion over five years to help fund volunteer organizations. A similar bill came up one vote shy of passage in the House last year.

Congressional staffers said they plan to reintroduce versions of those bills in the new Congress with the hope that the increased Democratic majority and new Democratic president will help get legislation passed. “Go back to your communities and let them know there is momentum from the leadership on these bills,” Alex Ceja, a staff member of the House Committee on Education and Labor, which handles volunteer legislation, told members of the Gerontological Society. “There are going to be other critical competing issues, but we really believe the time is now. It’s part of stimulating the economy.”

Tom Nelson, AARP chief operating officer, said the energy and enthusiasm brought by Obama can translate into increased numbers of volunteers, particularly in the 50-plus community. He said 41 percent of those surveyed for the More to Give report, compiled for AARP by Civic Enterprises and Peter D. Hart Research Associates, expressed a desire to increase volunteering in the next five years, particularly among those who plan to retire during that period. “Boomers and their counterparts in the older generation represent a tremendous resource,” Nelson said. “People want to make a difference.”

See Also:
• Social Security: A Challenge for Obama
• Fixing Health Care: What Role Will Medicare Play?
• Why Congress May be Ready to Reform Health Care
• Older Americans Go Back to Work–If They Can Find a Job

Elaine S. Povich is a freelance writer who covers politics.