Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Leslie Lenkowsky, Mike Meneer

Aired February 02, 2002 - 09:11   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush has appealed to the Americans' sense of patriotism and has asked them to serve their country. This week he announced the creation of the U.S. Freedom Corps. Will Americans be willing to give their time, is the question, or will Mr. Bush's call to service fall on deaf ears?

Here to talk more about the president's initiative, from Washington we are joined by Leslie Lenkowsky, who is CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the executive director of Americorps Alums, Mike Meneer. Good to have you both here with us this morning.

LESLIE LENKOWSKY, CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE: Morning, Miles.

MIKE MENEER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICORPS ALUMS: Good morning, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Thank you for volunteering some time on our behalf, we appreciate that.

I got to say, when I heard the president say give up, essentially, two years of your life, I, you know, I started tallying up the, you know, six hours and 30 minutes I've given to volunteer efforts over the year, and I felt terribly inadequate. It's -- we get busy with our lives, but this is also important. How do you balance it all?

LENKOWSKY: Well, Miles, a lot of people are very busy. First of all, let me tell you, any time you'd like to add to those six hours, let me know, and I'll be glad to...

O'BRIEN: I would like to, yes.

LENKOWSKY: ... take you along with me.

O'BRIEN: All right.

LENKOWSKY: It turns out the average, about half of all Americans currently volunteer about little less than four hours a week. That amounts to about 200 hours a year. So to make the 4,000 hours that the president called on, that's about 20 years. And we know a normal adult lifespan's going to be about 50 years. So it's not a huge number. The real challenge is for that other half of our country who don't volunteer. But the president was very clear that this is not something you need to do all at once, although you can if you'd like. It should be done over your lifetime. So young children who are in school can participate in what we call service learning programs, where they combine academic courses with various kinds of community service. Senior citizens can participate in a variety of ways in their retirement years.

So there are a lot of different ways. As a country, we're rich in opportunities to volunteer. What the president's asked of all of us is that we take advantage of those opportunities.

O'BRIEN: Michael, give us a sense, what is the key to it, finding something that is of great interest? Finding something that is incredibly worthwhile? How do you -- what's that first step all about?

MENEER: Well, I think those are all right on, Miles. I think the first thing to say is that if the post-September 11 we're living in tells us anything, it's that we're all connected. And the spirit of Americorps, certainly, and the spirit of 250,000 Americorps alumni is to build lifetimes of service, a commitment not just for a day, not just a week, not even just a year or two, but truly integrating a sense of civic engagement, a sense of meaningful and worthwhile service into our lives in perpetuity, so to speak.

So I think the Americorps model in many ways is kind of getting to your point. The Americorps model is really founded on two important things, number one, the importance of specialized training. Americorps members receive extensive introductory training and ongoing training. I did as an Americorps member.

And then I think the other point is this importance of immersion in the communities that we serve. We're not just there for a day or two. Americorps members serve for up to two years in the same community, getting to know that community, listening, serving, and also growing as a result of it.

O'BRIEN: Leslie, the perception that I think a lot of people had is that that sense of civic responsibility, that desire to volunteer, has faded somewhat in recent years. People -- two-income families trying to keep everything going have just less time to participate in the Rotary or whatever.

What, what -- has that changed since September 11? And what's your advice to people who feel as if they don't have the time?

LENKOWSKY: We've seen certainly a lot more people expressing a desire to do something for their country. It's no doubt at all that that's changed since September 11. But the motivation is just the starting point. You also need to have the opportunity. We've got lots of those, including a great program like Americorps and our Senior Corps program.

But then there's something else as well, you have to be asked. About half of all Americans in the year 2000 were asked to sit -- to volunteer. Of those who were asked, nearly two-thirds said yes. Of people who were never asked to volunteer, only one-quarter said that they would do so.

What we really need to do is start asking. The president has done that, and now it's up to Americans to just say yes.

There are obviously a lot of things in most people's lives. They can't say yes at any particular moment. But over a lifetime, all of us could say yes and take responsibility ourselves for making this a better, stronger country.

O'BRIEN: Mike, just a final thought from you. I -- what -- did you ever have a moment where you had any regret over volunteering your time?

MENEER: I haven't had any regrets, and someone asked me yesterday if I could sign up again to be in Americorps, would I do it? And absolutely, I would do it. And I think lots of other Americorps alumni out there would do it as well.

You know, the president in his call has a role for Peace Corps alumni through the Peace Corps Crisis Corps, and we're really hopeful that there will be a strong role for alumni to help carry the president's call not only throughout the nation on a large scale, but really at the grassroots and local level, where alumni are engaged as teachers, social workers, and community activists of all types.

O'BRIEN: All right. Here's a place you might want to start. Check out the Web, go to www.americorps.org, and this is what you'll see. It's a place to learn a little bit more and find out just how to sign up and volunteer. And we invite you all to do that.

And gentlemen, I'm going to get right on it. I appreciate your insights. Leslie Lenkowsky, Mike Meneer, thanks for being with us.

LENKOWSKY: Thank you, Miles.

MENEER: Thank you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Our pleasure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com