Last week, moments before the House was going to vote on final passage of the GIVE Act, a parliamentary procedure snagged the bill.  Leadership was forced to pull the national service reauthorization bill from the floor.  The House is expected to resume consideration of the GIVE Act on Tuesday and will vote on the bill.   Call and email your legislators TODAY and urge them to vote in favor of this important Act. Your calls and emails are extremely important.   Your elected officials need to hear from you ... their constituents.   Please call and write Congress and let them know that there is a high level of interest in strengthening national service programs and we need their support. For the CALL Action Alert, go here. For the E-MAIL Action Alert, go here.  

Invite Your Elected Officials to Participate in Global Youth Service Day

Global Youth Service Day (April 25-27) is just around the corner, and it's a perfect occasion to cultivate champions for service and service-learning among government officials and other policy-makers. One of the best ways to secure their support is to get them personally involved in great service projects. When an elected or agency official supports your event, you will often benefit from increased media attention, greater public awareness about your event, and heightened long-run governmental support for your organization and program. To invite your elected officials to participate in GYSD, go here.

Ten Things You Can Do on ServiceVote.org

• Take the ServiceVote Challenge. See who else has taken the challenge on the Action Map and read and discuss Action Plans on the Forum.
• Learn about the issues - research the issue using our links & resources or take action on the latest policy alerts.
• Learn about the election - read the latest news and find out about the presidential candidates in the 2008 Election Center.
• Read YSA's Nine for '09 memo to candidates on how the next President and Congress can strengthen youth service.
• Find ideas and resources to take action through service, in the election, and in the policy process.
• Register to vote.
• Contact your elected officials on issues important to young people through the Youth Policy Action Center.
• Discuss action ideas, the issues, and the election in our Discussion Forum.
• Connect to us through our social networking sites and groups.
• Read our Blog.

ServiceVote Challenge Invites Young People to Get Involved in the Political Process

Sponsored by State Farm Companies Foundation, the ServiceVote Challenge asks young people across the country to commit to addressing an issue they care about by developing an action plan that includes service-learning, electoral participation, and civic engagement.  To support young people in implementing their action plans, ServiceVote.org provides young people with a variety of tools, including up-to-date news and information on the 2008 election and the defining issues; opportunities for dialogue and peer interaction through a discussion forum and social networking websites;  and multiple resources for taking action through service and political engagement. To learn more or take the ServiceVote Challenge, visit ServiceVote.org

The 2008 election presents a powerful opportunity for young people to call upon candidates and current legislators to strengthen opportunities to serve and lead in their communities.  Youth are now volunteering at record rates, and recent elections have shown a major spike in their voting rates as well. The time has come to make a major call to strengthen of the youth service movement. Youth Service America has offered a nine point plan to do just that, including increasing the size of Learn and Serve America, AmeriCorps, and the Peace Corps, sending a Youth Delegate to the UN, and strengthening "serve-study" for college students.  (To learn more about the "Nine for '09" proposal, click here.) Go here to contact your elected officials and ask them to support youth service.

Our America is a proposed national Town Hall conversation between invited Presidential candidates Senators Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Barack Obama and young adult leaders from low-income communities across the United States. The event will be creatively promoted to low-income young adult audiences across the country through a variety of mainstream and alternative communication channels.

For more information, click here. To sign on as an organizational co-sponsor, click here. To apply to be a youth questioner click here (BY MARCH 12!) 

ServiceNation Change Agent Summer Organizing Program

Be the Change, Inc., in collaboration with the ServiceNation Organizing Committee, is seeking 75 energetic individuals from around the country to help jump-start the ServiceNation Movement to bring national service to scale in the United States. We are looking for people who believe in the transformational power of citizen service and are ready to help call for a new era of citizenship and service in America. No organizing experience necessary. For more information, visit their website.

Help Grow the National Service Congressional Caucus

On February 12, 2008, Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) announced the newly formed National Service Congressional Caucus in the Senate. The Senate now unites with the House of Representatives, which first established a National Service Caucus on September 14, 2004.The National Service Congressional Caucus is a bipartisan group of legislators dedicated to raising awareness of national service and expanding service opportunities for all Americans.  The Caucus leadership has circulated letters inviting their colleagues to join. To learn how you can help grow the National Service Congressional Caucus go here or visit the Voices for National Service Action Center.  

CIRCLE Releases Youth Voting & Civic Education Reports

The report, Young Voter Registration and Turnout Trends, takes an in-depth look at historical trends in youth voter turnout, the demographics of young voters, and the politics of the youth vote. The report offers research and data on young voters broken down by state, gender, ethnic group, religious affiliation and other key demographics for the 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006 elections. To read the report, go here.

Almost 1.1 million young people participated in the TX and OH primaries. As compared to 2000, Texas and Ohio both saw increases in youth turnout; youth turnout nearly tripled in Texas and rose 10 percentage points in Ohio. To date, roughly 5.5 million 18-to 29-year-olds have voted in all the 2008 primaries and caucuses combined. To read the report, go here.

Instead of making things more equal, school systems exacerbate this political inequality by providing more opportunities to learn about politics to higher income students, white students, and academically successful students, according to a new CIRCLE study written by Joseph Kahne and Ellen Middaugh of the Civic Engagement Research Group (CERG) at Mills College. To read the report, go here.

Y-Press Election Survey for Citizens Under 18

Y-Press, a youth-media organization, is trying to explore the younger-than-voting-age factor.  The Indianapolis-based youth journalists have created two surveys to learn what kids under 18 think about the important issues and candidates of the 2008 election.  The surveys touch on questions such as: Are this year’s presidential candidates reaching out to young?  How has user-generated content affected this year’s election? Visit their website to take the survey.

My Two Cents

My 2 Cents for Change was created to give teens, ages 13-17, a voice in the presidential election. Don’t let your age get in the way of your voice. Through My 2 Cents for Change, you can add your thoughts on the issue that you feel most passionate about, whether it’s education, healthcare, or war and genocide. Find out what issues your fellow teens care about most and rally your friends to add their 2 cents. Visit the My 2 cents website.

Association of Young Americans Launches Voting ’08 Outreach, National Issues Survey

The Association of Young Americans has begun its Voting '08 outreach to the declared candidates for President from both the Republican and Democratic parties. Over the course of the 2008 campaign we will be asking forward looking, solution-focused questions on critical policy issues to all the declared presidential candidates. Click here for candidates responses to questions about Climate Change and Higher Education. Take the National Issues Survey and identify what national policy issues are most important to you and we'll raise them with the Presidential Candidates!

Afterschool for All Challenge

It's time again for the annual Afterschool for All Challenge! Please make plans to join the Afterschool Alliance and advocates from across the country in Washington DC on May 13th and 14th to help grow support for afterschool programs. The program will feature two full days of activities, including a Youth Advocacy track, training and networking sessions, and favorite events such as the Breakfast of Champions and meetings with Members of Congress and staff. At this year’s Breakfast of Champions, we will honor Congressional afterschool champions, as well as state and local leaders. Click here to begin the registration process.