As a member of the ServiceNation coalition, HandsOn Network is excited to partner with the Entertainment Industry Foundation's iParticipate campaign.

iParticipate is a multi-year effort launched by the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) on September 11 to make service and volunteerism a national priority. EIF has identified five key areas of service for which they will target service efforts: Education & Children, Health & Well-Being, Economic Development, Environmental Conservation and Support for Military Families.

Major networks such as ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC will promote volunteerism through service-oriented plots on popular shows, public service announcements, special appearances and other targeted efforts the week of October 19 to 25 to kick it off. More than 50 primetime shows are participating, including popular shows such as ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, NBC's 30 Rock, CBS's CSI: Miami or Fox's So You Think You Can Dance.

EIF will also engage volunteer leaders and promote local service heroes as real-life examples who will participate in publicity efforts. EIF is collecting stories of outstanding volunteers to incorporate into PSA’s and storylines of television shows at www.servicenation.org/heroes. Nominations will be reviewed on a rolling basis and will be accepted no later than October 18. They are looking for at least one volunteer hero from each of the 50 states, so please make your nomination today!

EIF is also issuing grants to several service organizations to assist them in building capacity and expanding their ability to meet pressing social needs. Grantees to date are ServiceNation and the UCLA Volunteer Center.

Because of the high-profile television coverage during the week of October 19 to 25, HandsOn Action Centers and their non-profit partners are planning creative ways to respond to, engage and retain enthusiastic new volunteers.

All volunteer opportunities currently posted on 1-800-Volunteer, HandsOn Tech and Volunteer Solutions will be automatically posted on the Serve.gov and iParticipate Web sites. If non-profit organizations have a technology solution other than those listed above, they should post projects on Serve.gov manually.

IN THE NEWS - TV: It's prime time for volunteerism