Throughout history, presidents of both political parties have taken specific action to expand opportunities for young Americans to serve with programs like AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps, and YouthBuild. 

They have recognized the power of a young person from Birmingham serving alongside a young person from Brooklyn; Democrats serving alongside Republicans; Muslims serving alongside Christians and Jews. And they saw that service year is one of the most American experiences there is — one uniquely positioned to transform our country.

This President's Day, we reflect on and celebrate the long legacy of support for national service.

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On Saturday, February 11th, Mayor Sam Liccardo of San Jose, California made an audacious inspiring commitment. At his annual State of the City address, Mayor Liccardo shared the “Tale of One City”, a vision for a city diving headlong into its challenges with a focus on investing in its youth to help them growth into active, civically engaged community members.

Building on many of the city’s innovations such as San Jose Promise and Unleash Your Geek, Mayor Liccardo announced ServeSJ, which includes his commitment to increasing service year opportunities for San Jose’s own youth. 

Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics Winter 2017 Poll shows that the solid majority of America’s 18-29 year olds support a national service program.

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Take a few minutes and check out all of the incredible ways that service year corps members are making an impact as we kick off 2017. They continue to show how young people address our communities' most pressing challenges -- from preserving conservation areas in heavy snow and repairing flood-damaged homes, to organizing incredible MLK Day of Service activities in communities.

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Before we sign off for the holidays, we pulled together some of the most powerful service year stories from the past few weeks that paint an amazing picture of what service year corps members are up to this holiday season. So, as you hop in the car to travel home for the holidays or wait in line at airport security, take a few minutes and check out all of the incredible ways that service year corps members are bringing joy to local communities. 

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