This year marks the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Organizations across the country will honor those who were lost and those who rose in service in response to the tragedy by participating in the September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance.

The September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance is the culmination of an effort originally launched in 2002 by 9/11 family members and support groups, led by the organization MyGoodDeed, who worked to establish the service day as a way to honor those who were lost and to rekindle the spirit of unity and compassion that followed the attacks.

The September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance was established into law by the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act in 2009, and furthers President Obama's call to service, United We Serve.

With hundreds of organizations throughout the nation planning and coordinating service and remembrance activities for the weekend of September 11, the need for volunteers is great. Did you know you can add your volunteer opportunities into the search engine on serve.gov? Here's how:

• Serve.Gov uses All for Good to help people post and find volunteer opportunities. Organizations with more than 10 volunteer opportunities, or that already have a volunteer management system can go directly to All for Good's posting page.
  
• If you need guidance or additional assistance, please contact All for Good directly at provider-support@allforgood.org.
  
• If you are an individual or an organization with less than 10 opportunities and would like to recruit volunteers for a service project, you can also list your project at one of the following sites: AARP Create The Good, Idealist, 1-800-Volunteer.org, 1Sky, Habitat for Humanity, HandsOn Network, Servenet, United Way / Volunteer Solutions (Truist).
  
• These sites have integrated their listings with All for Good, so anything you post there will automatically appear. (Note that this won't happen immediately, so don't worry if listings don't appear on All for Good instantly.)
  
• Most importantly, be sure to include September 11^th keywords in your description. Using terms like “9/11”, “September 11” or “National Day of Service and Remembrance” will ensure that your opportunity appears in a volunteer's search.
  
• It's also a good idea to spend a few minutes writing a dynamic volunteer description. The HandsOn Blog has a few ideas on how to interest volunteers with opportunity descriptions here and here.

Posting your opportunity at Serve.gov will bring attention to your project and connect you to the many others seeking to give back on a day that has already tied so many of us together.

It's been seven weeks since we arrived in Joplin to set up disaster relief efforts, and yet we still see new faces and register new volunteers. Last week, we were introduced to a few of the volunteers from across the country, and asked them what inspires them to join us.
 

The tireless efforts of our AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and other volunteers in disaster sites across the nation deserves recognition. On Thankful Thursday, we wanted to give others a chance to share in our gratitude.
 

The private sector spends many millions of dollars each year listening to its customers – but what about the nonprofit sector? And who are its customers?