Dear Colleagues,

As part of President Obama’s goal to create a more open and citizen-centric government, the Corporation for National and Community Service today is releasing its Open Government Plan. You can read the plan on our open government web page.

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you are enjoying the beginnings of spring in your part of the country. March was a busy month as we launched two new Serve America Act programs and moved forward on grant application reviews in Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. Below are some of the highlights, along with upcoming deadlines.

Volunteer Generation Fund

Washington, DC – The Corporation for National and Community Service announced its Nonprofit Capacity Building Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) today, a new program designed to increase the capacity of small nonprofits to expand their impact in communities facing resource hardships.

Washington, DC – The Corporation for National and Community Service announced $4 million in funding to recruit, manage, and retain more volunteers to meet address pressing social challenges today. The Volunteer Generation Fund, a new program authorized under the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, is designed to expand opportunities for more Americans to serve while enhancing the capacity of nonprofits to have a sustained impact in local communities.

Washington, DC—Four thousand middle school students will participate in service-learning projects this summer, funded by the 2010 Summer of Service grants from Learn and Serve America, a national service program administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The agency awarded grants totaling $2 million to 17 nonprofits, universities and schools to engage at-risk youth in grades 6 through 9 in innovative service projects that address environmental and disaster preparedness issues.

Dear Colleagues,

On Saturday, March 13, we will be undertaking production system upgrades between the hours of 3.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. The scheduled hardware and software upgrades will improve the overall availability of the application environment in the future. In particular, we are installing a hardware load balancer which will automatically allocate workstation based user requests to an active front end application server. This upgrade will result in better handling of user activity/connectivity should one of the application servers fail at any time.

Rocker, Philanthropist Is First to Take President's Call to Service to Concert Venues Across the Country

Washington, DC – Jon Bon Jovi, in collaboration with the Corporation for National and Community Service, will be the first artist to take President Obama's United We Serve initiative to a mass audience by bringing the message of service out on the road and engaging millions of fans on the band's “The Circle World Tour.”

Dear Colleagues,

February was a short but busy month as we moved forward on several key implementation steps for the Serve America Act. Here are the highlights:

Seeking Input on Proposed Rule

Washington, DC—Six colleges and universities have been named as Presidential Awardees in the 2009 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement.