Foreword
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," John F. Kennedy famously challenged Americans in his 1961 inaugural address. Shortly thereafter, Congress authorized the Peace Corps, designed to promote peace and goodwill through volunteer work in developing countries. Since then, Kennedy’s words have become embedded in the national consciousness, and politicians of all stripes have continued to extol the virtues of service. In the early 1990s, volunteerism became further institutionalized in America, when President Bill Clinton signed legislation creating the Corporation for National and Community Service and AmeriCorps, which incorporated VISTA…