This book, by HarperCollins Publishers, responds to President Obama’s call to service – that is, community service – by making it so easy that none of us has a good excuse not to do so.
They have put together a “daily devotional” of 365 ideas for ways to get involved and then provided all the resources you need to get started. The ideas are organized in a weekly rotation of daily topics:
Monday/Money: Ideas for where, why, and how to make monetary donations
Tuesday/Energy: Suggestions for volunteerism
Wednesday/Focus: Bringing awareness to a problem or opportunity
Thursday/Influence: Using the resources you have to influence others
Friday/Compassion: What the authors call “the seeds of service”
Saturday/Support: Supporting people, causes, ideas through our own resilience and strength
Sunday/Passage: Ways to join another in his/her journey as a companion, a guide, or a fellow seeker
These daily entries are varied and far-reaching. While there is definitely something for everyone, the authors don’t expect us to attempt each of these interesting and very do-able ideas. They ask that we “spend fifteen minutes a day fully giving yourself to the idea you’re reading about and then imagining how you might become involved.”
I highly recommend that you take a look at their sample pages at http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061922145. Book bloggers may be especially interested in the Monday, Week 2 topic: For the Love of Literacy (p. 8).
I think you’ll be surprised just how easily you can make a difference.
Grade: A
What do you think?