April 2, 2015

Chelsea Clinton and Jimmy Kimmel help launch #serveAyear campaign in Hollywood

ServiceNation’s Hollywood launch of the #serveAyear campaign marked the official start of an exciting new initiative to make national service part of the American way of life for young people.

The unique campaign is designed to inspire young adults to commit a year of service by signing up for Americorps and giving back to their communities. ServiceNation plans to do this by uniting some of the biggest names in entertainment, media, technology, business, and nonprofits to bring national service to the forefront of popular culture.

Chelsea Clinton appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show to announce the launch in front of a live studio audience. Jimmy, however, seemed a little confused about what the initiative was all about (although National Ninja Warrior Squadron would have made a pretty awesome name for the initiative).

The ServiceNation initiative will shine a national spotlight on service and AmeriCorps programs and connect young people with leading nonprofits to address some of the nation’s key challenges, like, fighting poverty, building lifelong readers, and creating a healthy America.

“The fact that, through events like these, we can reach a younger demographic speaks volumes for the future of service in America,” says Reading Partners Los Angeles Executive Director Laura Zachar.

Reading Partners

Reading Partners is a proud partner of the #serveAyear campaign, joining forces with Minnesota Reading Corps to build lifelong readers. With more than 200 AmeriCorps and VISTA members currently serving in various capacities at Reading Partners, enthusiasm is running high within the organization with hopes to recruit even more members in the coming years.

Kristarae Flores, director of AmeriCorps at Reading Partners, says,”If we want young Americans and emerging professionals to dedicate a year of service, then we need to continue reaching out to them through media markets that attract the demographic. Jimmy Kimmel is a great start.”

What do young, service-minded individuals think?

Current Americorps member Vivian Yosef thought the event was inspiring and got her thinking differently about where service is headed in the U.S.

“To have [AmeriCorps service] shown on primetime television is a great sign that service is becoming more of a ‘norm’ and will soon be expected from every high school or college age student,” says Vivian. In the future, she hopes to see even more opportunities for young Americans to be exposed to service opportunities, rather than just randomly happening upon opportunities as she did.

As she continued to reflect on the #serveAyear launch event, Vivian adds,