Clinton Sees Youths in Summer Service Projects as Trailblazers

President Clinton told participants of a two-month Summer of Service project Tuesday that they were “pioneers” of a national service program that will change America.

“Don’t you find that you see the world in a different way once you do this?” Clinton asked 79 young people who took part in service projects around the country. “I mean, you know what the problems are, but you also have a sense that you can solve them and make a difference.”

Clinton spent four hours at a Summer of Service forum at the University of Maryland, learning about the youths’ experiences and answering questions about his national service program.

The young people told Clinton about their work in a wide variety of areas, including projects to immunize inner-city children, clean up polluted rivers, deliver meals to AIDS victims and teach youngsters to avoid gangs and stay in school.

Terrence Senogles, whose group helped clean up a river for the Red Lake Indians in Minnesota, said the project “helped us feel connected to the land and part of our history.”

Matthew Rasmussen, a Denver youth who helped restore a Colorado wetlands area, told Clinton, “this summer we helped give back what had been taken away.”

The students, who participated in projects sponsored by the Commission on National and Community Service, will have $1,000 credited toward their college tuition. The program is seen as the precursor for Clinton’s national service program, expected to get final congressional approval next week.

The legislation would allow students to trade public service work for college tuition. Students who complete two years of community service work can earn $4,725 a year to apply toward college tuition. Participants also would receive living allowances of at least $7,400 a year and health care and child day care benefits.

One youth asked Clinton what he thought the program would look like in 10 years.

“I don’t believe it will be 10,000 kids a year or 50,000 or 100,000,” Clinton said. “I think that the program will become so popular and will so capture the imagination of the country that, in effect, anybody who wants to be a part of it to help defray their college costs or just because they want to serve will be able to do it.”