July 2009

The LEAGUE Roster
The summer is in full swing, and we at The LEAGUE have our bases loaded with plans for the next season.    

Join the 2022 teams (classes), 247 schools and 80,682 students that have actively participated in the LEAGUE events and programs. To date, The LEAGUE teams have contributed 5,715,556 in time (hours), talent and treasure (donations raised) to their communities nationwide.

To find how to to get involved and make a positive difference in your community visit www.theleague.org.

Cartoonists Team Up With J.J. Abrams To Draw Attention To Service Around the U.S.
Coming this Fall, see what some of our nation's most famous cartoonists and comic strips have to say about service.

Two famous artists in their respective fields—and LEAGUE supporters—joined together to help brainstorm.   Greg Evans whose strip Luann appears in hundreds of newspapers nationwide and J.J. Abrams, director of Lost, Alias and the blockbuster new Star Trek movie. (Evans and Abrams pictured at right.)

The Way We Get By
LEAGUE Fans in the New York City area will have a unique and meaningful opportunity to view an award-winning documentary, The Way We Get By.  This deeply moving film about giving, caring, life and how to live it.  The Way We Get By will be opening July 17th at the IFC Center located in New York City at 323 Sixth Avenue at West Third Street.

Indianapolis area LEAGUE Fans can also view the film as part  of the 2009 Indianapolis International Film Festival.  The film will screen at The Toby Theater on July 18th at 5:00pm and on July 19th at 3:00pm.

Several LEAGUE staff members had the privilege of viewing this film in San Francisco at the National Conference on Volunteering & Service and highly recommend seeing it. Its thoughtfulness will not only tug at your heart strings, it will change your life.

View the movie trailer and get more information on the movie website. Free tickets are available for seniors and veterans!

First Lady Obama Wants All To Serve!
During the 2009 National Conference on Volunteering & Service in San Francisco, First Lady Michelle Obama announced an 81-day campaign that calls all Americans to volunteer in their communities. "United We Serve" is a sustained effort to expand the size and impact of volunteer efforts in America.  Launched on June 22nd and extending through to the new National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11th, The First Lady is calling on all Americans to give back – experiencing "the power HandsOn Networkof service to make a difference in people’s lives."  In a strategic response to support this initiative, The HandsOn Network announced its Get HandsOn campaign.  Through the campaign, HandsOn Network aims to recruit and mobilize a core of 50,000 volunteer leaders and engage people of all generations in two million impact-driven projects. 

HandsOn Network, the volunteer-focused arm of Points of Light Institute, is the largest volunteer network in the nation and includes more than 250 HandsOn Action Centers.  To learn more about the United We Serve campaign and how you can get your hands on service experience visit www.handsonnetwork.org.

School's Out But The LEAGUE National Youth Commission is In!
The end of the school year is here and summer is upon us, but The LEAGUE's National Youth Commission season has just begun!

High School students from across the country will convene their kick-off meeting via teleconference this summer to start planning for the upcoming year.  At this meeting, they will share ideas, commit to responsibilities and discuss how LEAGUE events can engage more young people by pulling from their own vast experience as service leaders.  This convening of The LEAGUE National Youth Commission will include LEAGUE students as well as the recipients of the All America High School Service Team.

Does this sound like something you or someone you know would like to be part of? There is still time to join! To find out more about The LEAGUE National Youth Commission and an application to join, please visit: www.theleague.org/nationalyouthcommission.

The LEAGUE Takes On San Francisco
The LEAGUE had the honor to attend The National Conference on Volunteering & Service in San Francisco held from June 22-24. This year’s theme was "Civic. Energy. Generation." The staff had many opportunities to share their experiences while learning from others in panel discussions and workshops  throughout what was an enlightening and fun conference. 

The LEAGUE's Curriculum Director, Barbra Dillbeck presented a workshop focused on "Growing a Green Generation." Attendees of this workshop learned more about how LEAGUE teams make Earth Day and everyday an opportunity to consider decision making and actions and the resulting environmental impact. The LEAGUE looks forward to being a part of 2010 National Conference on Volunteering & Service to be held in New York City.  See you there!

Everyone Can Serve
The United Way of the Eastern Upper Peninsula recently hosted a service learning academy for local educators in the Michigan area.  Funded by State Farm Insurance and the Michigan Community Service Commission’s Volunteer Investment Grant program, "Everyone Can Serve" provided for a 3½ day "vacation in paradise" immersion experience for local K-12 teachers.

Teachers were exposed not only to service-learning curriculum but were also able to explore and carry out hands on service projects that their future students can learn from.  Sponsored by The LEAGUE Michigan, the buried treasure of the week, service-learning curriculum was introduced to the educators.

"We understand that teachers are already overwhelmed with all of the requirements they have in their classrooms," says Kristina Beamish director of the United Way Volunteer Center, "This program has helped to show them that not only are there free resources out there to enhance what they are doing, but the resources help to tie everything together in a way that gives their students hands on, meaningful lessons that they will carry throughout their lifetime."

"We're very proud to partner with these great local organizations to further service learning in the EUP," says Kari Pardoe, Director of The LEAGUE Michigan, "this is the type of program that is going to grow and sustain service-learning for the future."

Paw Prints to Learning
Don't miss this limited professional development opportunity!

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), an industry leader in humane education partnered with Learning to Give, the curriculum division of The LEAGUE to create new teaching materials addressing humane treatment and animal welfare.  These eight (8) new units and supporting resources are designed for grades K-12, coded to state standards in Language Arts, Science, Social Studies and/or Math, and compliant with K-12 Service Learning Standards for Quality Practice.

Capitalize on students' interest in animals and their welfare and motivate young people to philanthropic action and advocacy!  Through the use of these lessons, students will have the opportunity to learn about issues in animal welfare, and plan and implement service projects to benefit animals.

These free trainings are delivered by experienced, dynamic presenters and cover service learning basics, service learning standards and an introduction to the Pawprints to Learning units and support materials.

To schedule a training session in your community, contact Jennifer Dragotta at jenniferd@aspca.org.

The TIPping Point
Whose responsibility is it to address the issues of health, education, and the environment? Do you think you can make a difference? Just look at history. All important changes in our history have been led by volunteers with a passion—suffragists, revolutionaries, civil right activists, abolitionists, and others.

Margaret Mead once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." The passion and joy involved in service pushes us to go beyond expectations to truly make a difference.

This summer, the president and first lady are encouraging all Americans to find ways to serve in an initiative called United We Serve. What part can you and the young people in your life play in this? Can you commit to performing one act of kindness and justice each day? Can you volunteer for a project in your community? Or could you invite others to participate in a project of your design? The tools on www.serve.gov will help you turn an idea into a meaningful service project.

Here are some ideas for projects to organize and register in your community:

• Find out the needs of a local soup kitchen or clothing distribution site and organize a drive to collect specific needed materials.
• Start a youth service club.
• Organize a book drive for a local school.
• Establish a sustainable maintenance schedule for cleaning up a local site that accumulates weeds and junk.
• Read to children in a hospital waiting room.

The United We Serve initiative is a summer project that introduces the joy and power of making a difference, but it is just the first step toward making service a way of life so we can work together to address our nation’s critical needs. Go to www.serve.gov for details.

The LEAGUE is changing the world by empowering young people everywhere to "get in the game" of making their community and world a better place.