Remarks at Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Feb 4, 2002

People ask me, "What can I do to help? What can I do to help?" Well, if you're dedicating your time to volunteer work, you're already helping. And I ask America, young and old alike, to dedicate at least 2 years of your life, 4,000 hours over your lifetime, to service to your fellow man, to service to your Nation, by serving somebody else.

And it's happening. Listen, I know Atlanta, Georgia, and I know the country. There are thousands of people dedicating thousands of hours. And for that, I am grateful. Just keep doing it. But some are asking, "What can I do to help?" As a matter of fact, some in our society have never been challenged to help. After all, we've been living through an era that said, "If it feels good, just go ahead and do it." My dream is to change that culture to one in which each of us are responsible for the decisions we make in life. If you have a child, you're responsible for loving the child. If you're in a community, you have a responsibility of loving your fellow man, just like you'd like to be loved yourself.

No, we can change, use the evil to help usher in a period of personal responsibility. And part of an era of personal responsibility is to help somebody, is to help somebody in need. And so I've set up a program called the USA Freedom Corps. If you're looking for someplace to help, here's a chance. If you want to participate in the good of your country, here's your opportunity to do so, and all you've got to do is pick up the phone and dial 1-877-USA-CORPS. [Laughter] That's all you've got to do, and they will help you.

And we've got some ideas for you. If you're a senior citizen, join Senior Corps and help make your community more alert to the potential of attack or help develop an emergency response team. If you're a retired doc, participate with your local health systems to prepare your community and your neighborhood for what we hope doesn't happen.

If you want to participate in USA Freedom Corps, it's usafreedomcorps.gov, if you're one of these computer-literate type people. [Laughter] If you want to help, and you feel like you want to take your compassion overseas, we're going to expand the Peace Corps mission. And we're going to send people into the Islamic world for the first time, or one of the first times, to make sure we spread America's compassion and hope.

And you need to help at home, as well. One way you can help is to become a mentor. One way you can help is to find a child who needs somebody older in their life who can put their arm around them and say, "I love you. There's hope for you. What can I do to help you succeed in America?"

And another way you can help--and I hope young Americans all across the country think about joining Teach For America--it is a part of AmeriCorps. And our goal is to expand AmeriCorps by 200,000 volunteers this year. And I thank my friend Steve Goldsmith for helping shepherd this program forward. He's a former mayor of Indianapolis. He understands how to rally community-based programs for the greater good.