Obama to sign Serve America Act this afternoon!

This afternoon, at a public boarding school in Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama will make history by signing the Serve America Act and expanding the ranks of AmeriCorps from 75,000 members to 250,000 members annually.

The AmeriCorps program started by President Bill Clinton will triple in size over the next eight years, and tens of thousands of other Americans will soon see new opportunities to give back to their communities.

It's all part of a $5.7 billion national service bill President Barack Obama is scheduled to sign Tuesday to foster and fulfill people's desire to make a difference, such as by mentoring children, cleaning up parks or building and weatherizing homes for the poor.

Bolstering voluntary public service programs has been a priority of Obama, who credits his work as a community organizer in his early 20s for giving him direction in life.

Pretty sweet that the bill signing falls smack-dab in the middle of the 10-day Serve America Challenge, huh?! We love it...

On a personal level, it's hard for me to put into words exactly how expcited I am for today. I'm a proud two-term AmeriCorps Alumnus and spent the first year following my service working as an organizer for ServeNext.org during the first-in-the-nation Presidential Primary in New Hampshire. ServeNext's grassroots army of volunteers were the first on the ground during this past political season, making the issue of national service a national priority.

To Aaron and Zach, co-founders of ServeNext, whose pioneering spirit inspired other AmeriCorps and Peace Corps Alumni to get involved over the last 3 years... to Melissa Paul, who returned to the Granite State on Labor Day 2007 to secure the signature of then-Senator Obama on the ServeNext Pledge to Expand National Service... to Emily, Greg, and the entire ServiceNation coalition, whose tireless activism fast-tracked this legislation in the President's first 100 days in office... to Alan Khazei and Michael Brown, co-founders of City Year, whose vision for "an urban Peace Corps" 20 years ago sparked a national service movement and inspired both Sybil and I to dedicate our lives to public service... to Kiff Gallagher, who worked in the White House under President Clinton to first create AmeriCorps, now leads the Music National Service initiative, and is celebrating a birthday on this historic day for service!

And last but not least... to Chad Stokes, Chuck Fay, Mike Najarian, and State Radio fans across the country - and around the world... thanks for making service a priority each and every day while on tour... and not on tour.

I'm humbled to know each of you and am inspired by your rugged idealism.

THANK YOU AND CONGRATULATIONS!