Find Your Park! (Michelle Obama)

What better way to Find Your Park than to join our team as a National Park Service volunteer?

Volunteer and Outreach Program quoted in the NY Times!

It's amazing, sometimes, how far news spreads! Here's an op-ed piece called "Michelle's Next Mission" that just appeared in the New York Times, of all places, quoting me talking about our outreach program. As you may know already, Mount Rainier's outreach program has recently been merged into the volunteer program. We're working on ways to involve volunteers in the outreach program and vice versa, so you can expect to see more and more about that synergy here on this blog. Meanwhile, the grand experiment we're currently working on in our outreach program is called "CAMP": Camping Adventure with My Parents, which will bring families from the Seattle area to Mount Rainier for camping experiences on three successive weekends starting July 17. Tim Egan from the New York Times found out about our program and called for a quote--in an article addressed to Michelle Obama, of all things! What a small world.

And Mrs. Obama, if you're listening, we would be thoroughly honored to host you at Mount Rainier National Park, as part of our volunteer program, our outreach program, or both.

From the New York Times:

"It’s not that this generation of young people is different from previous ones. Human beings need nature to live full lives — always have, always will. Thus, when rangers at Rainier started an experiment this summer to bring families from Seattle’s poorest neighborhoods on their first-time camping excursions in the park, 'we had far more people who wanted to try it than we were able to accommodate,' said Kevin Bacher, a park ranger...."

A New Era of Service Across America

It's worth noting that an op ed piece by President Barack Obama appeared in this week's Time Magazine, reaffirming his commitment to national service. As I've mentioned earlier on this blog, legislation is now making its way through Congress in support of this goal. Here's an exerpt from what the President had to say:

And while our government can provide every opportunity imaginable for us to serve our communities, it is up to each of us to seize those opportunities. To do our part to lift up our fellow Americans. To realize our own true potential by hitching our wagon to something bigger than ourselves.

The President stressed that this is a bipartisan issue:

For decades, leaders from both parties have sought to promote that ethic of service: President Richard Nixon expanded opportunities for senior citizens to serve; President George H.W. Bush called for volunteers to serve as "points of light" in their communities; President Bill Clinton established the Corporation for National and Community Service. And on Sept. 11, 2008, in the midst of a spirited general-election campaign, Senator John McCain and I put aside our differences and came together in New York City to issue a joint call to public service. It was an important reminder that while our politics is often focused on what divides us, there is much more that unites us.

You can read the entire piece on the Time Magazine website.

I've also enjoyed the photos of First Lady Michelle Obama serving as, essentially, a volunteer crew leader with a group of students, breaking ground on the White House vegetable garden. Way to go, Michelle! If you're ever in Washington, stop by Mount Rainier and we'll put you to work!