overseas

Just before 2:00am on a chilly October night thousands of students at the University of Michigan became part of history as the 43-year-old presidential candidate stood on the steps of the Michigan Union and asked if they would embark on a journey that would take them potentially half way around the world to give assistance to underdeveloped nations and their people. John F. Kennedy was of course introducing his new international service organization that would later become the Peace Corps. Just having celebrated its 50 th anniversary last year, the organization to date has sent more than 200,000 Americans to more than 139 countries.

This is a guest blog post from Reed Sandridge.  Sandridge lost his job in 2009 and did the unthinkable - he started giving away $10 a day to complete strangers!  He captured the story of every recipient at www.yearofgiving.org.  A frequent writer and speaker on volunteering and micro-philanthropy, Sandridge lives in our nation's capital.