World's largest thanksgiving dinner

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
National Service Briefing


WORLD’S LARGEST THANKSGIVING DINNER
TO HELP HUNGRY AND HOMELESS
Youth Service America Supports Student-Led Service-Learning Campaign to Address 
Community Needs



America’s All Stars, Youth Service America, Salvation Army, and Campbell Soup 
announce the "The World’s Largest Thanksgiving Dinner." On November 20, 2003, 
the Thursday before Thanksgiving, schools across the nation will host 
fundraising dinners for the hungry and homeless. This dinner event, which 
emphasizes serving and giving, is America’s All Stars first in a series of 
character campaigns. 

The fundraising dinners will take place on school campuses and are organized 
and run by students. From selling the tickets to selecting the menus, students 
will learn what it means to be public servants. The moneys and donated items 
raised by the students will be handed over to local branches of The Salvation 
Army nationwide so they may better help those in need. Additionally, students 
are out to set a record in the Guinness Book of World Records. 

"This is an enormous opportunity for students to study the effects of hunger 
and homelessness, while applying those lessons in their hometowns,” said Steve 
Culbertson, president and CEO of Youth Service America. “As our greatest asset, 
it is only fitting that young people play a lead role in meeting community 
needs, while lending their time, energy, commitment, and experience,” 
Culbertson added. 

"The young people of America will be bringing their communities together to 
help those who are having a tough time," says Brian Roquemore, America’s All 
Stars’ founder and president who headed up the National Thanksgiving Foundation 
under the Reagan and Bush Administrations. "This is going to be a serving hands 
operation. It’s exciting to see young people experiencing the rewards of 
serving others and seeing this dedication translate into excellence in 
character," adds Roquemore. 

Students who participate in organizing the event will be able to earn community 
service hours toward graduation, which is valuable to seniors seeking certain 
scholarships that require an accumulation of community service hours. 

Visit www.ForAllStars.org to make your plans for the Largest Thanksgiving 
Dinner in history! 

Use these tools and resources to engage your school, peers, colleagues, or 
community: 

GET INVOLVED!
Whether you’re a student, educator, parent, sponsor, or community leader find 
out what you can do to change the word for the hungry and the homeless. 
http://www.forallstars.com/default.asp?SID=376244&SectionID=31 

A LETTER TO SCHOOL PRINCIPALS THROUGHOUT AMERICA From Brian Roquemore, 
President of America’s All Stars 
http://www.forallstars.com/default.asp?SID=229873&Section=ArticlePreview&ArticleID=44
 

POST YOUR PROJECT AT SERVEnet Recruit more volunteers, promote your project to 
the media, and find helpful tools, tips, resources, quotes, and funding 
opportunities. 


GET ANSWERS TO THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DINNER PROGRAM 
http://www.forallstars.com/default.asp?SID=376244&SectionID=5 

DOWNLOAD MATERIALS Get a Dinner Planning Guide, Action Planning Calendar, a 
sample Sales Script (Tickets & Advertising), and Student Media Release. 
http://www.forallstars.com/default.asp?SID=376244&SectionID=23 

USE "PROJECT PLAN-IT!" TO CREATE A PROJECT PLAN, PRESS RELEASE, AND FUNDING 
PROPOSAL Project Plan-It! is an innovative online tool to guide and support 
service project planning for youth. The interactive tool encourages preparation 
and reflection, which are integral aspects of both effective project planning 
and service-learning. 
http://www.YSA.org/PLANIT 

DOWNLOAD PROJECT PLANNING TIP SHEETS AND OTHER MATERIALS FROM YOUTH SERVICE 
AMERICA Get quick and easy tips to engage youth with disabilities, involve 
elected officials and the media, and download project planning materials in 
Spanish! 
http://www.ysa.org/nysd/nysd_resources_parent.cfm 

REGISTER TO BECOME AN ALL STAR
http://www.forallstars.com/default.asp?SID=376244&SectionID=14 

LEARN MORE ABOUT OTHER AMERICA’S ALL STARS PROGRAMS America's All Stars has 
designed a number of celebrity-oriented community service projects, many of 
which will serve as fundraisers for any and all local youth-serving nonprofit 
organizations. Every penny raised by participating nonprofits will remain with 
those nonprofits at the local level. This will broaden participation and 
include United Way agencies, American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and other 
youth serving organizations. 
http://www.forallstars.com/default.asp?SID=376244&SectionID=21 

AMERICA’S ALL STARS is a 501(c)(3), national, nonprofit organization dedicated 
to building and strengthening character in America's youth. This is 
accomplished by creating various programs and services that serve to challenge 
millions of young people nationwide. In addition to building and strengthening 
character, these programs and services help youth better understand the valued 
work ethic of our nation and the duties and responsibilities of citizenship. 
This year America's All Stars has formed a strategic alliance with The 
Salvation Army. 

YOUTH SERVICE AMERICA (YSA) is a resource center which partners with thousands 
of organizations committed to increasing the quality and quantity of volunteer 
opportunities for young people in America, ages 5-25, to serve locally, 
nationally and globally. Founded in 1986, YSA's mission is to strengthen the 
Effectiveness, Sustainability and Scale of the youth service and 
service-learning fields. YSA envisions a powerful network of organizations 
committed to making service and service-learning the common expectation and 
common experience of all young people in America. A strong youth service 
network will create healthy communities, and foster citizenship, knowledge and 
the personal development of young people. In addition to National and Global 
Youth Service Day, which take place concurrently each April, YSA also hosts 
SERVEnet (www.SERVEnet.org), an award-winning one-stop site for information and 
resources on service a! nd volunteering. 

Robert L. Bisi, Director of Outreach
Youth Service America
1101 15th Street, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20009
202/296-2992 ext. 24
Fax-202/296-4030
rbisi@ysa.org
www.YSA.org
www.SERVEnet.org
Youth Service America -- Making service the common expectation and common 
experience of all young people in America.

Volunteer Manager and Coordinator at http://www.bipolardream.com/
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"Someone has to start it" -- Stephanie Luibel