    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [April 26, 1991]
    [Pages 435-437]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Points of Light Community Service Celebration
    April 26, 1991

        Please be seated. Thank you all. I don't know how you begin to thank
    all these people that have contributed to this very special day. Tony
    Danza, an old friend--I think he was as moved as I was by that reading
    we had just a minute ago. Randy Travis, so generous with his time and
    his creativity; Patti LuPone. I don't know what to say about the Eagles
    there, but it's just beautiful. And Andrae and Saundra, and Larnelle,
    and the Ellington Singers, and of course, Peter Max. Just thank you so
    much for helping us honor this constellation of Points of Light across
    America, our community service volunteers. A handful of them were here
    today, and we salute them. There are many, many more--thank God--like
    them all across our great country.
        I was very pleased to hear from sitting outside the Oval Office, our
    great Secretary of HUD, Jack Kemp--not only is he pressing, giving hope
    in the area of housing, but he is out helping with this whole concept of
    Points of Light. Jack, thank you so much for being with us.
        I want to pay special thanks to the Points of Light Foundation
    which, with the help of the United Way and many other organizations, has
    spent the past 12 days illuminating and celebrating community service
    initiatives all across our great country.
        And special thanks to Jane Kenny, the Director of ACTION, and of
    course, to Governor George Romney and the National Center and local
    volunteer centers for all they've done to make this celebration of
    service such a success.
        I'm proud to see this crowd of people of all ages who display the
    power of community service. This celebration honors you, those Randy
    Travis calls ``the dedicated army of quiet volunteers,'' the heroes and
    heroines who battle selflessly against drug abuse, homelessness, and
    hunger, and other plagues that ruin lives and shatter dreams.
        You lead a great movement that's begun to race across this country.
    The Points of Light movement promises us renewed, strong America because
    it builds upon our natural yearnings to help one another. You already
    have been moved by the mighty spirit of voluntary service. Your labors
    have earned you something very special, something very precious:
    fulfillment. You do something good, you feel something real. Barbara and
    I proudly salute each and

    [[Page 436]]

    every one of you for these wonderful efforts.
        Our nation faces a wide variety of challenges, but the solution to
    each problem that confronts us begins with an individual who steps
    forward and who says: I can help. Government can only do so much and
    should only attempt so much, but no limits can hold back people
    determined to make a difference.
        Indeed, our domestic policies try to unleash the American capacity
    for good deeds. Our America 2000 strategy for reinventing the American
    school depends not just on the Government here in Washington but upon
    the support of communities--parents, families, businesses, unions,
    schools, other groups and associations of determined individuals.
        Consider Eve Dubrow, a Point of Light here in Washington. Eve
    started Project Northstar, a program in which she and other busy
    professionals tutor homeless children in reading and writing.
        David Evans of Cambridge, Massachusetts, provides another example.
    David, a computer buff, designed and then donated to others a software
    program that makes learning fun for children and for adults.
        We need cities filled with policemen like Al Lewis in Philadelphia.
    He and other officers create libraries in public housing projects and
    invite kids into the precinct house to learn reading and writing.
        Eve and David and Al, you've shown the rest of the country that
    individuals working together do matter, that Points of Light really can
    brighten the lives and remake communities.
        Or consider issues of crime: While we work with Congress to pass
    comprehensive crime package legislation, many of you've begun to defeat
    the scourges of drugs and violence and crime.
        America needs more individuals like Van Standifer who formed this
    local group just across the line here, a Midnight Basketball League, a
    program that offers kids late night basketball and tutoring as an
    alternative to life on the streets.
        We need more people like Mr. W.W. Johnson, who transformed a school
    basement into a thriving community center where young people learn to
    respect and cherish hard work and thrift and compassion and family.
        Consider issues of economic opportunity: Secretary Kemp and I have
    proposed the HOPE program to encourage home ownership, enterprise zones,
    and capital gains reductions to stimulate more small businesses, more
    jobs. But others on their own are making a difference.
        For instance, the Alpha Project. Volunteers of all ages and
    backgrounds--young college students to retired carpenters--are training
    homeless men and women for jobs in the construction industry. Alpha also
    gives trainees free food, clothing, and shelter until they earn enough
    money to live independently. America needs more Alpha Projects.
        And here's the wonderful, truly remarkable thing. I could go on and
    on. There is no problem that is not being solved by someone somewhere in
    America. Together, in every community, we will renew the spirit of
    shared purpose that gave birth to this nation. We will embark upon the
    next century stronger and more unified than ever before.
        This is not and never will be a miracle of government. It is a
    miracle of our people. Americans care. We gladly give of our time and
    our sweat and our souls.
        As Marlene Wilson, the president of the Volunteer Management
    Association in Boulder, Colorado, points out, ``Caring must strengthen
    into commitment, and commitment into action.'' Someday soon all
    Americans will come to understand that America's most important resource
    is its community. The idea is simple: Just as a sailor can find his way
    via one shining star, a life can be changed by one dedicated, shining
    Point of Light. You see, that light burns within us, within all of us;
    we need only to share it.
        God bless you, and so many thanks for the wonderful work you are
    doing. Thank you very, very much.

                        Note: The President spoke at 12:01 p.m. on the South
                            Lawn of the White House. In his remarks, he
                            referred to actor Tony Danza; singer Randy
                            Travis; actress Patti LuPone; singer Andrae
                            Crouche and his sister Saundra; singer Larnelle
                            Harris; the Duke

    [[Page 437]]

                            Ellington Choir from the Duke Ellington School
                            for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC;
                            artist Peter Max; Secretary of Housing and Urban
                            Development Jack Kemp; Jane A. Kenny, Director
                            of ACTION; George Romney, former Governor of
                            Michigan and chairman of the board of directors
                            of the National VOLUNTEER Center; Points of
                            Light honorees Eve Dubrow, David Evans, Al
                            Lewis, Van Standifer, and William W. Johnson;
                            and Marlene Wilson, president of the Volunteer
                            Management Association.