CEO/Founder Jim Ziolkowski in Huffington Post:”Service is the Fabric of our Nation”

Responding to a alarming number of recently proposed cuts to our national service programs, buildOn CEO and Founder Jim Ziolkowski turned in a passionate op-ed to the Huffington Post this morning. “Even with the tough financial choices facing our nation, I believe service is worth saving,” he writes. “Not because my own organization, buildOn, is at risk — more than 98 percent of our funding comes from private donations — but because service saves lives and communities.”

To join the fight for service that gives hope and opportunity to millions of at-risk youth and marginalized groups in the United States, visit Save Service.

Ziolkowski goes on to note that: “The act of service itself is transformational. Studies have shown after engaging in service the achievement gap for low income students narrows, academic engagement increases, and graduation rates rise. At buildOn, 95 percent of the high school seniors participating in our program not only graduate, they go to college.

“Right now, federal funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service is at risk of being zeroed out…From the young adults involved in AmeriCorps to the retirees engaged in RSVP, from students supported by Learn & Serve America to low-income communities improved by the Social Innovation Fund; these eliminations would have disastrous effects on American communities, youth unemployment numbers and the nation’s economy.

“If CNCS is eliminated, more than 500,000 positions for young adults and seniors serving on the front lines of natural disasters, the dropout crisis and many other community challenges would be eliminated. More than 3 million at risk children would lose vital educational support provided by service organizations, and $800 million in private investment would be taken away from essential services for local communities.”

Read the remainder at the Huffington Post!