[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

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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

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                        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.