Describes President Obama signing of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, alongside Senator Kennedy, President Bill Clinton, the Congressional leaders who supported the legislation, and countless others dedicated to passage of the bill.

Announces the increase in funding and expansion of service projects that recruit volunteers ages 55 and over in communities not currently served.

This press release reports an increase in volunteering, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, and ties this increase to President Obama’s attention to national service.

How can nonprofits best leverage the talents of skilled older adults and what do they gain as a result of their investment? This report includes best organizational practices to maximize the impact of 55+ volunteers, characteristics of organizations that use volunteers successfully, and information about the National Council on Aging’s return-on-investment (ROI) approach to assessing the value of unpaid work.

On October 17, 2006, President Bush signed into law the five-year reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA). The new law includes several areas of expansion, including provisions for recognizing and supporting older adults’ community contributions.

Never passed, this Act would have amended the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to encourage Encore Service programs that engage individuals age 50 or older in national service addressing specific community needs.

The key findings reveal the current and future prospects of boomers engaging in their communities, and summarizes the benefits boomers receive from volunteering.

These charts and graphs show how older volunteers devote the most time to community activities – almost double the national median for all ages.

This fact sheet summarizes key data on the number of older adults volunteering, and the increasingly important role of volunteers in America.

A brief background on civic engagement, and description on how the Older Americans Act and Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act incorporate civic engagement. The brief also includes requests to Congress regarding funding for civic engagement.