3 Simple Steps to Honor Peace Corps 50th Anniversary

On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced the creation of the United States Peace Corps. Next Tuesday, March 1, 2011 is the 50th Anniversary of that historic occasion. Service For Peace and Service World are asking you to honor that event by signing the ServiceWorld International Volunteer Service Declaration. It is a simple pledge to encourage expansion of such efforts and that you stand ready to be of service. We and our colleagues in other organizations hope to have 100,000 Americans or more make such a commitment. The Peace Corps was the first national organization in the world dedicated to international volunteer service. In the past 50 years, the Peace Corps has engaged millions of people from all cultures and nationalities in the search for common ground, and has inspired countless organizations of every type, foreign and domestic, all over the world. Service World Volunteer of SFP teaches Kenyan children and Service For Peace are a part of this through reading classes legacy and whether you have served or are thinking of doing so, you are as well. You can make a difference today. All you need to do is to join us in signing the International Volunteer Service Declaration. For more information about ServiceWorld and to sign this Declaration on this important date, please go to our website and click on the Service World logo in the lower left corner. President Kennedy and the first Peace Corps Director, who recently passed away, Sargent Shriver, envisioned 100,000 Americans serving abroad every year. Imagine the impact this would have had on the world if such an effort had been realized 50 years ago and replicated by other nations. ServiceWorld is ambitious, as it seeks to make this vision International volunteers of SFP working in a small village in Ivory Coast, Africa. come true today.

While the current budget crisis makes this moment a challenging time to

promote new initiatives, please remember that it is often during such occasions that old paradigms are changed, when necessity and creativity generate needed innovation, and when a “quantum leap” forward is truly possible. Now is such a time for citizen diplomacy and international volunteer service. Help us all become part of those new solutions. After you sign the Declaration, please forward this email to your friends and ask them to join you in this effort, as well.

This petition drive could not come at a better time than this. The United States Congress is currently considering a bill which would eliminate $100,000 in funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service, denying local organizations and millions of Americans the resources needed to strengthen their communities. If passed, communities across the US will lose the important support of organizations like Teach For America, Foster Grandparents, City Year, Senior Companions, Habitat for Humanity, Retired Senior Volunteer Program, YouthBuild, AmeriCorps and many others. That is why it is so important that we collect as many signatures as possible before it is too late. ServiceWorld is an initiative of the Building Bridges Coalition, an coalition of more than 300 international service organizations and other non-profits, colleges, corporations and faith-based institutions working collaboratively to promote the field of international volun Sincerely,

Charles Phillips

President and CEO Service For Peace