42 U.S.C. § 12653

(a) Methods of conducting activities The Corporation may carry out this section directly (except as provided in subsection (g)) or through grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements with other entities. (b) Innovation and quality improvement The Corporation may undertake activities to address emergent needs through summer programs and other activities, and to support service-learning programs and national service programs, including— (1) programs, including programs for rural youth, under division B or C; (2) employer-based retiree programs; (3) intergenerational programs; (4) programs involving individuals with disabilities as participants providing service; and (5) programs sponsored by Governors. (c) Conferences and materials The Corporation may organize and hold conferences, and prepare and publish materials, to disseminate information and promote the sharing of information among programs for the purpose of improving the quality of programs and projects. (d) Research The Corporation may support research on national service, including service-learning. (e) Youth leadership The Corporation may support activities to enhance the ability of youth and young adults to play leadership roles in national service. (f) National program identity The Corporation may support the development and dissemination of materials, including training materials, and arrange for uniforms and insignia, designed to promote unity and shared features among programs that receive assistance under the national service laws. (g) Global Youth Service Day (1) Designation April 24, 2009 , and April 23, 2010 , are each designated as “Global Youth Service Days”. The President is authorized and directed to issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe the day with appropriate youth-led community improvement and service-learning activities. (2) Federal activities In order to observe Global Youth Service Day at the Federal level, the Corporation and other Federal departments and agencies may organize and carry out appropriate youth-led community improvement and service-learning activities. (3) Activities The Corporation and other Federal departments and agencies may make grants to public or private nonprofit organizations with demonstrated ability to carry out appropriate activities, in order to support such activities on Global Youth Service Day. (h) Assistance for Head Start The Corporation may make grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, public or nonprofit private agencies and organizations that receive grants or contracts under the Foster Grandparent Program (part B of title II of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 [ 42 U.S.C. 5011 et seq.]), for projects of the type described in section 211(a) of such Act [ 42 U.S.C. 5011 ] operating under memoranda of agreement with the Corporation, for the purpose of increasing the number of low-income individuals who provide services under such program to children who participate in Head Start programs under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C 9831 et seq). (i) Martin Luther King, Jr., Service Day (1) Assistance The Corporation may make grants to eligible entities described in paragraph (2) to pay for the Federal share of the cost of planning and carrying out service opportunities in conjunction with the Federal legal holiday honoring the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Such service opportunities shall consist of activities reflecting the life and teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr., such as cooperation and understanding among racial and ethnic groups, nonviolent conflict resolution, equal economic and educational opportunities, and social justice. (2) Eligible entities Any entity otherwise eligible for assistance under the national services laws shall be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection. (3) Repealed. Pub. L. 105–354, § 2(b) , Nov. 3, 1998 , 112 Stat. 3244 (4) Federal share Grants provided under this subsection to an eligible entity to support the planning and carrying out of a service opportunity in conjunction with the Federal legal holiday honoring the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., together with all other Federal funds used to plan or carry out the service opportunity, may not exceed 30 percent of the cost of planning and carrying out the service opportunity. (5) Calculation of entity contributions In determining the non-Federal share of the costs of planning and carrying out a service opportunity supported by a grant under this subsection, the Corporation shall consider in-kind contributions (including facilities, equipment, and services) made to plan or carry out the service opportunity. (j) Call to Service Campaign Not later than 180 days after April 21, 2009 , the Corporation shall conduct a nationwide “Call To Service” campaign, to encourage all people of the United States, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, religion, or economic status, to engage in full- or part-time national service, long- or short-term public service in the nonprofit sector or government, or volunteering. In conducting the campaign, the Corporation may collaborate with other Federal agencies and entities, State Commissions, Governors, nonprofit and faith-based organizations, businesses, institutions of higher education, elementary schools, and secondary schools. (k) September 11th Day of Service (1) Federal activities The Corporation may organize and carry out appropriate ceremonies and activities, which may include activities that are part of the broader Call to Service Campaign under subsection (j), in order to observe the September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance at the Federal level. (2) Activities The Corporation may make grants and provide other support to community-based organizations to assist in planning and carrying out appropriate service, charity, and remembrance opportunities in conjunction with the September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance. (3) Consultation The Corporation may consult with and make grants or provide other forms of support to nonprofit organizations with expertise in representing families of victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and other impacted constituencies, and in promoting the establishment of September 11 as an annually recognized National Day of Service and Remembrance.