This very thoughtful note comes from BTC staffer Doug Tetrault, who is always being the change we wish to see. Take it away, Doug:

It is that time of year again, as the saying goes, when people all around this country come together with family and friends to celebrate their faith and traditions. In just a couple of days people all over America will sit down to feast while humbly giving thanks to their own health and happiness, to the resources they have been given, and for the smiles that they have shared with their parents, children, family and friends over the past year. Regardless of your personal beliefs and celebrations, many of you will spend time with your families, sharing meals and smiles. Over the next few months as the weather cools down and stores label everything “On Sale, we begin to reflect on how lucky we are compared to many of our neighbors and fellow Americans.

The holiday months are a wonderful time in many homes, but at the same time, this time of year can be one of the hardest for those families and individuals who just can’t seem to make it: for those without food on the dinner table, without warm enough coats and jackets, without a home, or without a family with whom to share those simple holiday moments. That is why we often see so many citizens dedicate time, and money, to the common cause for good during the holidays. People realize that the “holiday spirit” is not material, but rather emotional. We all pay a little closer attention when we drive and see many standing and waiting for the bus, when we wait for the bus and see people begging for the fare, and when we walk home on a crisp winter night only to pass those people with no home to go to.

We all need to contribute during the holidays. Thanksgiving is not about turkey. Christmas and Hanukkah are not about gifts. New Years is not about a giant lit-up ball and champagne

These days, marked on calendars across the country, are about a coming together of the people in this country and our ability to blend country and community, community and family, family and friends, friend and fellow Americans. To serve together is to come together, for a common purpose, with the hope of allowing everyone a chance to have those smiles and to keep dinner on the table, to provide warm place to sleep, and to create the lasting smiles we see on children’s faces not from gifts, but from a genuine excitement to be part of something bigger than they can even understand.

But to do this we must be willing to give back, and to help shape not only this year, but next year as well. For those of us, like me, and many of you, we should find a way to give back to our neighbors and friends. We can volunteer at a soup kitchen, a senior center, or a local church, or even invite a distand acquaintance who as out of luck to the dinner table. This list is endless, but I am sure you can all think of some way to give back. But in doing so, we must keep this spirit alive throughout the year because it is only through a sustained effort to serve our communities will our communities grow together, and with each other, and allow everyone to feel the joy of our time-tested tradition of giving the ultimate gift, the gift of serving those causes that are bigger than us, but well-within our collective control.

Very nicely said, Doug. Thanks.

We’ll be off until Monday, but a very happy Thanksgiving from everyone at BTC and ServiceNation. May your tables and hearts be blessed and full.

If you’re looking for something to do on Thursday because of distance or other circumstances, check out our Volunteer page - there’s someone out there who would love your help.

Have a great holiday!

Mike Gaines

If the kids in this picture look familiar, Michael Gaines wants to speak to you. One thing: the picture is close to 39 years old.

Via Amy at The New Service, I found this intriguing story about Mike Gaines, a former VISTA volunteer.

His job was being Big Brother to a group of African-American and Puerto Rican kids in the neighborhood.
“Most of them were between 7 and 10 years old,” he said.
“I helped them with their homework, talked to them about their problems. On the weekend, we would pay the dime to get on the subway and go to museums.”

Mike wants to know if he’s made a difference - and has been looking for anyone he worked with in 1968-9 to hear about their lives. The story’s about a month old, but there’s no update - so let us - and Mike - know if you have any leads!

UTNE magazine has a list of 50 Visionaries who are changing your world, and the list is fantastic in scope and power.
They’ve included everyone from nonprofit leaders to physics professors, who are all bringing social change on large and smaller scales. Here’s Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka:

“When we started, social entrepreneurship was so new that we had to invent the phrase social entrepreneur,” says Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka, a community of more than 2,000 of the world’s foremost movers and shakers named after a renowned Indian leader. They’re the innovators—driving solutions for society’s pressing issues—who are building progressive movements around green jobs, media reform, and homeless rights. In building this network, Drayton envisions an atmosphere that inspires all citizens to create change

John Muller:

People need to be taking responsibility for the safety and conditions of their communities, says John Muller, who cofounded the nonprofit theater group DreamCity to bring arts back to the District of Columbia via youth-led theater. Muller’s plays use real-life events, candid language, and interviews with community figures to spotlight the need for change from within the community—and in turn, he teaches life skills and capitalizes on his cohorts’ potential. Following The 70 (about a city bus), and Southside (based on the aftermath of a 2004 school shooting), Muller envisions building an “underground railroad” of young writers, funders, and event planners to spark a new reality theater movement in Washington, D.C.

The other 48 are just as inspiring. Read them all here!

Yesterday, I posted about the best donation strategies from the Washington Post. To add onto that, here’s a list from the Huffington Post, and an open call for ideas about helping others:

Times are tough and may get worse. If you are one of the lucky few like me who has a job, a house or apartment you don’t have to sell or vacate, and a decent income, you probably still feel anxious and maybe even a little guilty. Not all the members of my family are in such good shape. Brows are furrowed everywhere as the stock market volatility eats into our savings….
This holiday, in addition to sharing your recipes for Thanksgiving, share with us at Huffington Post, your ideas about volunteering and helping. Tell us what has worked for you and what it has meant to you. Because helping really needs to meet your needs in order to meet someone else’s.

If you have a suggestion, leave them a comment - and leave us one, too!

How do you find where to volunteer? We’ve got a page that can hook you up, and other sites exist, like VolunteerMatch and USA Freedom Corps.

But Nancy on Personal Democracy explores a new idea in context of the Obama-Biden service plan - a Craigslist for service, which would match people directly with opportunities to serve. There’s a bunch of pluses - ease of use, direct person to person connection, potential to connect - as well as minuses - do we need this, can we organize at scale, will this decrease the abilities of “traditional” volunteer opportunities?

That’s not to say that this is a good or bad idea - but definitely something to think about. How do we best organize people, and is it best to self-organize? Read the entire article here.

The awesome guys up in Boston have invested a ton of time and effort, and it’s finally done - may I present the new ServiceNation site!

The biggest change you’ll notice - in both design and content - is our Action Bar, which has the four biggest steps you can take to advance service. What are they?
First: Declare your support for changing our country for the better by signing the Declaration of Service.

Second: Get others involved! Tell your family and friends.

Third: Learn more about how to volunteer in your community by exploring service opportunities.

Fourth: Share your service story and inspire others, and get inspired by reading others!

There’s a lot more to explore. We’ve redone the top navigation bar, so you can get around more easily. Check it out at ServiceNation.org!

Our good friends at ServeNext.org have a great op-ed in the Arizona Republic about the service solution:

President-elect Barack Obama, the 111th Congress, our country and world face great challenges as we await Inauguration Day.

The economy, energy, climate-change and education inequity: these are just a few of the profound tasks that confront us. These challenges can only be solved with the sacrifice of every American working together - Democrats and Republicans. Nothing is more important than first uniting our country.

Short and sweet, it makes the case for the Serve America Act. Forward it around!

Financial times are uncertain for most people in the country right now, but also for most non-profits and charities. It’s a hard time to be a donor, but the Washington Post has four strategies on how to do the most good with whatever money you can give. Here’s the first:

Fund safety-net services and policy solutions. Donors receive more bang for their charitable buck by supporting nonprofits that both provide direct services and advocate for larger policy reform. While many Americans will write a check to their church’s soup kitchen or local homeless shelter, far fewer will fund an activist group’s efforts to increase federal food assistance or alter the tax structure to aid working-poor families. Donors should look for high-impact nonprofits that do both; such groups have boots-on-the-ground experience that informs their policy campaigns.

But giving isn’t the only way you can help:

Finally, donating money is not the only way to help in tough economic climates. Volunteers can give their spare time or sign up full-time. Populations that are especially hard hit in recessions, such as young people, can join AmeriCorps and receive stipends, and retirees can lend both a hand and their wisdom through programs like Experience Corps…. Join the movement to spread innovative solutions to society’s most pressing problems at a time when answers are most sorely needed and when philanthropy alone is not enough.

We agree!

Today’s Boston Globe has a fabulous front page article on service and youth:

By many accounts, the interest and participation in public service, volunteerism, and social entrepreneurship among youth - from middle-schoolers to graduates with advanced degrees - have risen dramatically over the last decade.

Today’s teenagers and young adults, thanks to encouragement from their baby boomer parents, an Internet revolution that makes the world feel smaller every day, and a growing number of service and nonprofit-career preparation programs at colleges, are far more likely than their predecessors to seek out ways to give back and to shape the world they will inherit.

“Volunteerism is becoming a culture,” said Sejal Hathi, a 17-year-old high school senior from Fremont, Calif., who founded an organization, Girls Helping Girls, to empower females around the world.

Millennials, we’re proving our service muster! The article also mentions the explosion in interest in Alternative Spring Breaks - I know that’s certainly true at my university. More and more youth are also choosing to devote significant portions of their life to service, because:

“Once you have tested the fact that you can change the world,” [Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka,] said, “no one can take that away from you.”