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Tell Your Story! UWS to Promote Safety and Security Activities

Last month, President Obama unveiled United We Serve, an extended call to service challenging all Americans to help lay a new foundation for growth in this country by engaging in sustained, meaningful community service. United We Serve has engaged Americans from coast to coast in addressing community needs in education, health care, energy independence, economic renewal, disaster preparedness, veterans care, and other issues.

As a lead in to September as National Preparedness Month, United We Serve will promote the week of August 24-30 as “Safety and Security Week” and will send out national press releases and prominently feature stories focused on volunteerism in the arenas of disaster preparedness and recovery. If your organization has volunteer activities occurring the week of August 24th to 30th that relate to “Safety and Security,” please reach out to Fred Wong, Outreach Coordinator for United We Serve at the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) at fwong@cns.gov, to share your story.

We are excited to showcase Citizen Corps Councils and Partners’ efforts to keep our communities safe and secure through the United We Serve initiative. We have already seen great examples of preparedness organizations taking advantage of United We Serve’s website, Serve.gov, to share their stories, generate interest in their programs, and locate local volunteers. Take for example CERT Member Lisabeth R. from Atlanta, GA, whose Serve.gov blog post was featured on the front page of Serve.gov, the DHS blog, and the National Citizen Corps website.

Some other ways to highlight your Citizen Corps Council or partner program activities as part of the President’s call to service include:

  • Visiting the following website for more information and resources specific to Councils and partners: http://www.citizencorps.gov/news/press/2009/uws.shtm.
  • Encouraging individuals to use the Community Preparedness Toolkit to develop their own "do-it-yourself" service projects that can help prepare your local community for disasters.
  • Posting opportunities for citizens to volunteer in your organization on Serve.gov.
  • Sharing information about United We Serve, including a link to the President’s video, with your distribution lists and newsletters.
  • Adding a link on your homepage to Serve.gov – banners and logos are available at http://www.serve.gov/link.asp.
  • Issuing a press release about your participation in United We Serve – you can use downloadable sample press releases and media advisories to fit your organization’s needs in promoting volunteer opportunities in your communities. (You can find them to the right of the linked page in the “Promote Your Project in the Media” section).
  • Sharing stories about how your volunteers are making a difference at http://www.serve.gov/share.asp. United We Serve will highlight examples of exemplary service throughout this summer on its high-traffic blog.

We encourage you to utilize Serve.gov and we look forward to working with you to promote your opportunities and successes.