Forum to kick off ServiceNation Summit where California Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger to deliver keynote address

Presumptive Republican Presidential nominee John McCain will join ServiceNation – a powerful new coalition of more than 100 groups including ServeNext.org, dedicated to strengthening our democracy and solving problems through civic engagement and citizen service – for an historic presidential candidates forum the evening of September 11 in New York City. Presidential candidate Barack Obama has also been invited to participate.

The Forum, called “A Nation Of Service,” will kick-off the bipartisan September 11-12 ServiceNation Summit, where more than 500 distinguished leaders from American business, government and leading non-profit institutions will gather to celebrate the power and potential of citizen service, and lay out a bold policy blueprint for addressing America’s greatest social challenges through expanded opportunities for volunteer and national service. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will welcome the attendees when the proceedings continue the following day, and the summit will conclude with a keynote address by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who earlier this year became the first governor to create a cabinet post dedicated to service and volunteering.

At the Forum, Senator John McCain will discuss in depth his views on citizenship and service in the post-9/11 world, and lay out his vision for the role of citizen service in America’s future. The event will feature questions from young Americans, military veterans, and thought leaders, and be moderated by TIME managing editor Richard Stengel.  The general public is also encouraged to submit questions online.

“I am pleased to be participating in the ServiceNation Summit in New York City. The Summit will be an important remembrance of those that made the ultimate sacrifice serving their country and others as we focus on how to inspire others to serve causes greater than their own self-interest through national and community service,” said Senator McCain.

The ServiceNation Summit is being co-chaired by Caroline Kennedy, Alma Powell, Chair of America’s Promise Alliance; TIME’s Richard Stengel, Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation of New York; and Bill Novelli, CEO of AARP. It is underwritten by a grant from Carnegie Corporation and Presented by TIME, AARP and Target.

The Summit will launch an ambitious, one-year national campaign by ServiceNation. The goal of ServiceNation, which includes more than 100 organizations who collectively reach some 100 million Americans, is to inspire America’s leaders to expand volunteer and national service opportunities for all Americans; use proven service strategies to create targeted service corps that will tackle some of America’s most chronic social challenges; and call on all Americans to make service a core ideal of citizenship.

“The creativity of our citizens is America’s greatest untapped resource,” said John Bridgeland, former Director of the Bush White House Domestic Policy Council and USA Freedom Corps, and CEO of Civic Enterprises, one of the four organizations–along with Be the Change, Inc., City Year, and Points Of Light Institute–that pulled the ServiceNation coalition together. “When Americans are inspired to work together in common purpose to strengthen their communities, there is almost no problem that can’t be solved, and no goal that can’t be achieved.”

The ultimate vision of ServiceNation is an America in which, by 2020, 100 million citizens will volunteer time in schools, workplaces, and faith-based and community institutions each and every year (up from 61 million today), and that increasing numbers of Americans annually will commit a year of their lives to national service.

To that end, the ServiceNation summit will propose scaling up service strategies that have proven impact, and creating targeted national service corps—such as an Education Corps, a Green/Clean Energy Corps, and a Disaster Relief Corps, among others–to tackle specific challenges. The Summit will also endorse a Declaration on Service that all Americans will be able to sign—in person or online—to declare their support for the idea that citizen service can strengthen our communities, unite and engage Americans in shared sacrifice, and help build a better future.

In parallel to the ServiceNation campaign, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) are currently working on new bipartisan national and community service legislation designed to expand opportunities for volunteer and national service. One of the key goals of the Service Nation campaign is to inspire the next president and Congress to enact this legislation by September 11, 2009.

ServiceNation’s bipartisan Summit Leadership Council includes mayors, governors, former Senators and leaders from every sector of American society.  Click here for a full list.

Major supporters - in addition to AARP, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Target and TIME - include the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, The Home Depot Foundation, Bank Of America, Case Foundation, Charina Endowment Fund, James J. Jensen and the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund.

ADDITIONAL QUOTES

Bill Novelli, CEO of AARP: “Making a difference has been the heart of AARP for more than 50 years. Nearly half our nearly 40 million members volunteer each year. We’re looking forward to growing that number and offering new ways to make life better for 50+ Americans.”

Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation: “Volunteerism is the cornerstone of American democracy, As Alexis de Tocqueville noted in his classic 1835 book, Democracy in America, the efforts of both individual Americans and citizens’ associations have played a critical role in preserving and strengthening our nation. We continue to see the proof of that dedication to service in the fact that there are more than 1.4 million nonprofit organizations in the U.S. addressing the challenges facing Americans across all social, cultural and economic levels.

“I hope the Summit will re-kindle the spirit of the 1960s, when President John F. Kennedy reminded us that, as citizens, we should not just think of ourselves but of our nation; not just of our rights but also of our responsibilities and obligations. Andrew Carnegie would certainly have agreed. He believed that with private wealth comes public obligations and that with citizenship comes service. The time has come to reaffirm those principles and, once again, to reinvigorate the spirit of service among Americans of all ages.”

Laysha Ward, Vice President, Community Relations, Target: “We are proud to sponsor ServiceNation and its efforts to create more service opportunities for millions of Americans, In addition to our commitment to giving 5% of our income to local communities, this partnership reflects our commitment to community service and a shared focus on getting people involved in their communities.”

Richard Stengel, Managing Editor of TIME: “Last September, our cover story “The Case for National Service” caused an outpouring of interest in and support for citizen service across the country. It is a unique moment for the idea of national service, and TIME is pleased to be a convener of this historic gathering of leaders.”

Michael Brown, CEO of City Year: “Young people are ready to be called upon to give a year to change the world. The Service Nation campaign will release that energy and can-do spirit to make a profound difference in communities across America.”

Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points Of Light Institute: “Now is the time to unleash the energy and entrepreneurship of a new generation of social innovators, and ServiceNation will help bring about this transformational change by putting citizens at the center of community problem-solving.”

Alan Khazei, CEO of Be the Change, Inc.: “We are at a unique moment of opportunity in our history. Americans are eager to unite in service to our country, and service organizations have proven that they have many of the strategies needed to help address our most chronic social challenges.”