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Since becoming first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama has become the nation’s strongest proponent for community service programs and volunteerism. Obama recently served as the keynote speaker at the Business & Nonprofit Philanthropy Summit of Greater DC Cares luncheon, where she thanked over 500 community organizers for their efforts.
“It’s an example of how the Obama family has felt welcomed to this community since the inauguration,” Obama said. “The president has said that America is facing some of the greatest challenges it’s faced in generations. As has been the case throughout history, communities are built and rebuilt by regular people: folks working in businesses, philanthropists, foundations and volunteers, all of them coming together to find solutions to these types of challenges.”
During her tenure as the associate dean of student services at the University of Chicago, Obama created the school’s first community service programs and understands the difficulties nonprofit organizations face in raising money. In turn, she encouraged the audience to remain resilient during the economic downturn.
“Having built an organization myself from the ground up — as you heard from my background,” Obama said, “I’ve kind of floated through my career, building stuff and then moving on and building something else — I know what nonprofits, foundations and social entrepreneurs face. I understand it. I know how hard it is to get the money to pay for fundraising, and accountants, and volunteer coordinators, to get all the technology that you really need to make the work happen … this just doesn’t happen out of goodwill … it takes real resources to move things forward.”
The first lady closed by ensuring the volunteers that the Obama administration would support their efforts.
“We hope to be able to provide some of the resources that you need, but we also need you to prepare for the challenge,” she said. “And if we do that and continue to harness this energy, we can not only change the way this nation feels about service, but we can change the way the world sees us. So many people will need a place to funnel their talents and their energies. Volunteerism is one of those win-win situations that makes absolute sense at this point in our nation’s history.” –amir shaw
