The president's Thousand Points of Light Initiative is not an example of governing through symbolism but instead a way to produce a sense of community - "the sense of neighbor helping neighbor," according to the associate director for the new Office of National Services.
"Social problems are so great and afflict so many. While government has a major role to play, we need also the engagement of each individual and institution in America," said Clark Ervin.President Bush will ask for $25 million from Congress in each of the next four years to start a Points of Light Initiative Foundation. That money would be used mostly to survey the country to find examples of community service projects that are working to combat problems like substance abuse, teen pregnancy, illiteracy and others. The individuals involved would then be asked to donate some time to visit other parts of the country and share their experiences.
The initiative has three parts, Ervin said. The first is a personal call to every organization, corporation and individual from IBM to the neighborhood bowling league to "claim society's problems as our own" and work to solve them by establishing a community service project.
"We must make an effort to instill an ethic of service," he said.
Because there is no problem in America that is not being solved somewhere, the second portion of the plan is to "find out who are the brightest points of light and spread news of their accomplishments. We want to identify social programs that work and replicate them all across the country," said Ervin.
The final job is to discover and recognize leadership. In introducing the initiative, Bush said, "If you're a leader in another walk of life, devote a part of your effort to community service. All of us are looking for essentially the same two things, meaning and adventure. If you walk this path with me, then I promise you a life full of meaning and adventure. It can become a habit of the heart."
Ervin said that the initiative is also not an attempt to withdraw federal funds from taking care of human needs. He said the president has indicated there will be even more money for those needs.
"This is not to say we're washing our hands of it. We will do our part, but we need help - and it's not just our problem. It's everyone's. We're not contracting action, we're talking about expanding it to include those who are not involved."
Ervin said the foundation should be up and running by the first of the year.