From:
Be the Change, Inc.
Tim Zimmermann
(703) 850-0735
tzimmermann@bethechangeinc.org

Additional Contacts:
Rubenstein Communications, Inc.
Germaine Febles
(212) 843-8031
gfebles@rubenstein.com

TIME
Ali Zelenko 212.522.1502
ali_zelenko@timeinc.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES BARACK OBAMA AND JOHN MCCAIN TO PARTICIPATE IN
FORUM ON SERVICE AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT ON SEPT. 11 IN NEW YORK CITY

* * *

FIRST JOINT APPEARANCE OF PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEES FOLLOWING THE PARTY
CONVENTIONS

* * *

FORUM KICKS OFF HISTORIC SEPT. 11-12 SERVICENATION SUMMIT

August 21, 2008 [New York, NY] – Presidential candidates Barack Obama
and John McCain will discuss in depth their views on service and civic
engagement in the post-9/11 world during a primetime forum on the
evening of September 11 in New York City.

The Forum is being staged by ServiceNation, a dynamic new coalition of
110 organizations that has a collective reach of some 100 million
Americans and is dedicated to strengthening our democracy and solving
problems through civic engagement and service. It will be the opening
event of the bipartisan, Sept. 11-12, ServiceNation summit, which will
launch a one year grassroots campaign to expand voluntary community and
national service opportunities for all Americans; use proven service
strategies to tackle some of America’s most chronic social challenges;
and call on all Americans to make service a bedrock ideal in our
democracy

At the Forum, called “A Nation Of Service,” Senators McCain and Obama
will appear on stage separately to discuss their respective visions for
the role of service in America’s future. Richard Stengel, Managing
Editor of TIME, will moderate, and the event will be open to all
broadcast networks.

“I look forward to participating in the 9/11 service forum,” said
Senator Obama. “After September 11, Americans of every age, race, region
and walk of life were ready to step up and answer a new call of service
for their country. Making that call to service will be a central cause
of my presidency, because we need the active citizenship of the American
people to meet the challenges of the 21st century.”

“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 Forum audience will include 9/11 family members, young Americans,
military veterans, and thought leaders, and questions can be submitted
by the general public at http://tinyurl.com/6jmhd5. “The Presidential
Candidates’ Forum will serve as a call to action for the next
administration,” said Forum moderator and TIME managing editor Richard
Stengel. “I hope to have candid conversations with Senators McCain and
Obama about their plans for engaging more Americans in national
service.”

I’ve got media credentials now for the summit but I don’t know that I will be able to attend the forum as my confimation email said: “More detailed information, including a schedule of events open to the media and details on media availabilities will be provided shortly.” I’ve sent an email to the Director of Strategic Partnerships to be placed on the invitation waiting list to attend the actual summit. While it seems very unlikely I’ll get the invite I did include that I was a director of the Manhattan Libertarian Party to spice up the request. You can find the rest of the press report minus some quotes from affiliates after the jump.

Background on ServiceNation and the Summit:

The bipartisan September 11-12 ServiceNation Summit, will convene more
than 500 distinguished leaders from American business, government and
leading non-profit institutions to celebrate the ideal and power of
service, and lay out a bold policy blueprint for addressing America’s
greatest social challenges through expanded opportunities for voluntary
community and national service. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will
welcome the Summit attendees when the proceedings continue the morning
following the candidates Forum, on Sept. 12th, 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.

“Service is an idea whose time has come.” said Alan Khazei, CEO of Be
The Change, Inc. one of the four organizations–along with City Year,
Civic Enterprises and Points of Light Institute–that are helping to
coordinate the ServiceNation effort. “The entire Service Movement is
energized by both Senators McCain and Obama making service a central
theme of their respective visions for America.”

The ServiceNation Summit is being co-chaired by Caroline Kennedy; Alma
Powell, Chair of America’s Promise Alliance; TIME’s Stengel; Vartan
Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation of New York; Bill Novelli,
CEO of AARP; and Laysha Ward, President of Community Relations and the
Target Foundation. It is convened and underwritten by a grant from
Carnegie Corporation of New York and Presented by TIME, AARP and Target.
The recording artist, Usher, serves as the Youth Chair for the Summit.

Following the summit, on Sept. 27, ServiceNation will organize a
national Day of Action to engage tens of thousands of Americans in
events across the country that will showcase the power, potential and
impact of service. To date, 891 events have been created in 50 states.
The public can sign up to host, or find events to attend, at
http://events.servicenation.org <http://events.servicenation.org/> .

The goal of ServiceNation (www.servicenation.org), which currently
includes 110 organizations who collectively reach some 100 million
Americans, is to mobilize a grassroots movement that will inspire
America’s leaders to expand voluntary community and national service
opportunities, target Americas greatest societal challenges with proven
service strategies, and promote voluntary service as a core ideal in our
democracy. Facebook is the lead social media partner to help
ServiceNation achieve these goals. A full list of ServiceNation
coalition members can be found at:
http://www.bethechangeinc.org/servicenation/about_us/organizing.

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 voluntary community 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.

The Service Nation summit and forum will build on the momentum sparked
by TIME Managing Editor Stengel’s September 10, 2007 cover story –
“The Case for National Service.” Throughout the last year, TIME and
TIME.com have continued to cover national service topics with a
particular focus on the candidates’ positions. To coincide with the
Sept. 11-12 ServiceNation Summit, TIME plans to feature stories on
national service and civic engagement in the issue that hits newsstands
on Friday, September 12.

ServiceNation’s bipartisan Summit Leadership Council includes mayors,
governors, former Senators and leaders from every sector of American
society (full list is available at http://tinyurl.com/6l7vju).

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,
The Jenesis Group, the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund and Goldman
Sachs.

Related posts:

1. Facebook partnering with Service Nation
2. Service Nation Presidential Forum on Service tonight
3. Hillary Clinton to attend Service Nation Summit, I may not be able to as a member of the press
4. McCain and Obama’s national service plans compared
5. New York Governor creates cabinet position for national and community service

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