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Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today addressed the 2009 National Conference on Volunteering and Service, the world’s largest gathering of volunteer and service leaders from the nonprofit, government, and corporate sectors. Governor Schwarzenegger encouraged all Californians, and people across the country, to tap into the renewed spirit of volunteerism and to help continue growing a thriving service movement.

“I created the first-in-the-nation Cabinet Secretary for service and volunteering to help make service a part of everything we do - and at this unique time in our history, the call to action has never been more important,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “Volunteerism is a very powerful force in California and it’s my hope that with champions of service in the White House, like First Lady Michelle Obama, it gains strength across the nation.”

Governor Schwarzenegger, who serves as honorary co-chair of the 2009 conference with First Lady Maria Shriver, was joined by First Lady Michelle Obama and California First Lady Maria Shriver as key note speakers at the opening plenary session of the conference. The national conference serves as a platform for government and service leaders, nonprofit innovators and volunteers to participate in vital conversations about the future of service and volunteering in America.

“We embrace the national conference as an opportunity to showcase the innovative and trailblazing contributions California has made to the service movement, largely due to the bold leadership and support of our governor,” said Karen Baker, secretary of service and volunteering and co-chair of the national conference host committee. “We also want to leverage the insights from the conference to bring the best practices from other states right here to California, and continue taking the service movement to the next level in our great state.”

Governor Schwarzenegger has embraced service and volunteering since stepping into office and has established himself as a leader in the service movement. In 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger took first-in-the-nation action to raise the profile of service in California to a national level by appointing the first Cabinet-level Secretary of Service and Volunteering. Under his leadership, California has also established the largest online database of volunteer opportunities, with more than 45,000 volunteer opportunities at CaliforniaVolunteers.org.

Governor Schwarzenegger also inspired the development of the CaliforniaVolunteers Disaster Corps to integrate volunteers into the state’s emergency management system and maximize volunteer resources during disasters. California also boasts one of the largest AmeriCrops portfolios in the nation, leveraging more than $23 million in federal grants to help AmeriCorps members address critical needs in communities across California.