Supporting the helping habit

AS EARLY as today, the US Senate can give final approval to the largest expansion in national service since President Kennedy inspired the creation of VISTA and the Peace Corps. The opportunity comes just in time: Nonprofit groups around the country are reporting a surge of interest in volunteering, as a rise in unemployed workers meets an increase in human need. AmeriCorps, for one, reported triple the number of applications in February over the same month last year.

President Obama is an inspiration as well. In a conscious echo of JFK, Obama said in his first address to Congress that he wanted to see the bill passed that bears the name of Senator Edward Kennedy, "an American who has never stopped asking what he can do for his country." Obama - who started his career as a community organizer, after all - has even linked service to the stimulus law. In an essay in Time magazine last week he noted that refurbishing school buildings won't be enough without volunteer mentors and tutors to help staff the classrooms.

The legislation, called the Serve America Act in the Senate, would create a volunteer generation fund to train, recruit, and place volunteers strategically, matching their skills and interests. It provides grants to small start-ups, to encourage the sort of social entrepreneurship that germinated organizations like Citizen Schools, Jumpstart, YouthBuild, and City Year - which began in Boston. It creates tax breaks for businesses that give employees paid time off to volunteer, and sets up "encore fellowships" for retiring baby boomers looking for alternatives to golf and gardening.

The bill combines the best of George H.W. Bush's "points of light" notion with Bill Clinton's AmeriCorps. And Massachusetts can take particular pride in propelling it over the finish line. Prime movers include the indefatigable Alan Khazei, who co-founded City Year and now runs the civic engagement organization Be The Change; Alan Solomont, the new chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service; and, of course, Kennedy, who has promoted the service ethic since writing the first National Community Service Act, in 1989.

The possibilities are almost too vast. From full-time commitments with a living stipend attached, to a few hours a week pulling up weeds, helping needs its own clearinghouse. "You have this surge of interest," Khazei says, "but the legislation puts in place the architecture so you can take advantage of it."

National service has hit its political sweet spot. Already the 321-105 House vote is the first truly bipartisan victory of the Obama presidency, with 70 Republicans signing on. The urge to serve has been a pent-up demand since Sept. 11. How glorious it will be to see it unleashed.