EDITORIAL
Volunteerism noble, but keep social services
Presidential calls for volunteerism are nothing new in the United States. First came John F. Kennedy's Peace Corps, then George Bush's Thousand Points of Light. And Bill Clinton followed with Americorps.
Now President Bush, riding high on a post-9/11 popularity wave, has a plan that would double the size of the Peace Corps, expand Americorps, and create, among other things, a Citizens Corps to get Americans more directly involved in domestic security.
His ambitious USA Freedom Corps takes advantage of the heightened sense of charity and need to protect the "homeland" in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Aside from being a key part of Bush's domestic agenda, the program ties directly into his protracted war on terrorism.
While we applaud any plan to get more Americans involved in public service, we would hope volunteerism is not used as a substitute for government-funded social services, particularly during these tough times of corporate and government downsizing and layoffs. Nor would we want people to feel pressured into philanthropy, because that wouldn't be volunteerism. It would be a draft.
Under Bush's $560 million plan, Americans are urged to devote a significant chunk of time — at least 4,000 hours or two years over a lifetime — to public service at home and abroad. The program is looking for retired doctors and other health professionals who would help out in emergencies. Also wanted are transportation workers, truckers, letter carriers, train conductors and others who could report suspicious activity to a hotline.
Neighborhood Watch programs would be expanded to include terrorism prevention, and mentors recruited to help troubled youth. Meanwhile, "crisis corps" teams would serve in Afghanistan and other Islamic nations.
Again, it's an ambitious plan, but at least it appears to be on sturdier footing than Bush's faith-based initiative, which seeks to give federal dollars to churches and other religious groups to provide social services. That initiative, which stalled in the Senate, has raised troubling questions about its potential affect on the constitutional separation of church and state.
Despite such concerns, President Bush is pushing forward, and has named Jim Towey, a friend of his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and former member of Mother Teresa's ministry, to head the White House Office of Community and Faith-Based Initiatives.
In the meantime, there's no shortage of volunteer opportunities here in Hawai'i. Organizations calling for help include the Hawai'i Foodbank, the American Cancer Society, Angels on Wheels, Suicide and Crisis Center, Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Ronald McDonald House, the Waikiki Health Center, Friends of Iolani Palace, the Hawaiian Humane Society, Hawai'i Literacy Inc., Volunteers in Public Service to the Courts, St. Francis Medical Center, Hawaii Nature Center, Casey Family Program, Hawaii Services on Deafness and America's Promise Hawai'i, Chess in the Schools Program.
For more details, check out Project Kokua in Sunday's Advertiser.
