Today is a great day for the City of Sacramento. I just got word we surpassed our goal of 500,000 volunteer hours to become the most caring city in California. In fact, we surpassed it big time. As of today, we have nearly 700,000 volunteer service hours recorded. Think about that. 700,000 service hours! That’s an economic impact of over $15M. At a time when money and resources are scarce, this is a perfect shot in the arm for our city.

My grandfather taught me at a young age to never sit on the sidelines and to help my neighbor in a time of need. Well, Sacramento has certainly captured that spirit.

When I think about where we were just 10 short months ago, I remember first envisioning a volunteer initiative this city could take part in and be proud of. My hope was that ‘Volunteer Sacramento’ would inspire people to give back to their community in a big way.

I always knew this was a city of volunteers, but I can tell you that today, Sacramento has made a bold statement when it comes to giving back to the community.

The goal was ambitious: Ask everyone in Sacramento to donate 10 hours for a total of 500,000 service hours by the end of 2009. And Sacramento answered the call – three months ahead of schedule.

But to me, this isn’t surprising. America is a country built on service.

We saw this call to action in FDR’s Conservation Corps, JFK’s Peace Corps, President Clinton’s AmeriCorps, and now President Obama’s ‘United We Serve.’

The people in Sacramento can take pride in knowing they are leaders in this new era of service and volunteerism.

But we shouldn't stop here. I'm challenging you to continue to go out and volunteer whenever you can. An hour here, an hour there – every little bit helps.

In fact, I was at the Salvation Army with a host of volunteers who are taking the call to service head on. I couldn't have been prouder.

So let's get going Sacramento. There's work to be done, and the city needs your help to do it.

Here's to the next 500,000. 

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