Is the new voluntarism for real or for show? - 1997 Presidents' Summit for America's Future - Editorial

National Catholic Reporter, May 16, 1997

This may go down in history as the year of the volunteer. The three-day President's Summit for America's Future, launched April 27, marked the crest of a wave of goodwill aimed at making the nation kinder and gentler. Choreographed by the august Colin Powell and featuring Bill Clinton and several former presidents, the Philadelphia voluntarism fest signaled a national wish to help one another, especially the most needy and vulnerable among us.

Half the Clinton cabinet was there and about 4,000 other notables from diverse walks of life. There were stirring speeches outlining a more ideal and caring U.S. future, followed by a succession of photo-ops as the national leaders donned yellow T-shirts and painted over the abundant graffiti on Philadelphia's inner-city walls. The media gave the event high-impact and sympathetic coverage befitting an event that had fused a huge variety of powerful energies for an obviously good purpose.

A significant aspect of the summit was Powell's mustering of extensive corporate enthusiasm and participation. The nation's top companies and organizations vied with each other to donate money, time and talent. Honeywell Inc. promised 8,000 employees as mentors to grade school kids, 4,000 volunteers to work with Habitat for Humanity and more, to the total tune of $20 million. IBM promised computer equipment over four years for 2,000 daycare and senior citizen centers, plus IBM volunteers for training, at a total estimated cost of $10 million. But these are merely highlights amid an outpouring of national benevolence.

One could easily get the impression that voluntarism was born last April 27.

On the contrary, one can fairly assume volunteers go back as far as the race does. The 12 apostles were volunteers and before that the Old Testament is full of volunteers, as is history. They came in all sizes, but probably more often small than big. Daily life worked because neighbors or family members volunteered to go the extra mile, help out. Community members volunteered for the common good, citizens for the national weal, in peace and war.

Volunteering became so much a part of our lives together that we took it for granted. Paradoxically it was often at its best when our lives were at their worst. The less we had to give of ourselves and our substance, the more willing (and willing is the root meaning of voluntarism) we were. More recently, as our substance grew, we have more good times to chase, more good things to protect and therefore less time for altruism.

Voluntarism was and is humanity at its best. In various ways it became embodied in our religious traditions. Members of religious orders and congregations were and are, in their way, professional volunteers. At their best they are disinterested and expect nothing in return, unless one counts intangibles such as grace or eternal life.

And, on the purely human level, our civilization has expressed its voluntarism in a multitude of ways, from Habitat for Humanity to volunteer fire departments in every little town to running errands for one's elderly neighbor.

In the self-congratulatory atmosphere of Philadelphia, there was precious little acknowledgment by our politicians and civic and corporate leaders of this legacy of volunteering.

If this voluntarism crusade, unapologetically spearheaded by the rich and powerful, fulfills half its promise, it could help transform the face of America, even the world. One does not have to be a cynic, however, to be reminded of the incongruities that abound.

The whole point of this new voluntarism is help of multiple kinds for the children, the poor, the disadvantaged. But the very people behind this corporate crusade are the politicians and leaders who, under guise of "welfare reform," are doing most to deprive the children and welfare mothers, homeless people and others of the benefits they already receive. The Powell brigade may say they plan to substitute self-reliance and backbone for previous handouts, but the issue goes deeper. This Congress, this president, these corporate leaders are politically bunched so far to the right of center that the liberal benevolence of which this country was long a shining example seems now an outmoded sentimentality.

Ever since Ronald Reagan came to power there has been a growing opposition to the multitude of charitable organizations that have long embodied the spirit of voluntarism. This opposition is expressed in various ways but mainly through cutting off government funds.

For example, one might expect politicians who favored voluntarism to give maximum breaks in mailing costs to nonprofit organizations. On the contrary, such nonprofit, charitable groups have in recent years been hit -- selectively hit -- by mailing costs much more severely than for-profit -- that is, business -- organizations.

Since mailings constitute the primary lifeline for fundraising for non-profit groups, and since this case has been made abundantly in Washington over the years, it doesn't take a four-star general to see that the enthusiasm for voluntarism is selective.