Giving Back: Actor Dennis Haysbert & AllState Insurance Want You to Volunteer

I’ve always been a huge proponent of giving back to my community… long before Mr. Barack Obama came on the scene and told me I should.
Over the years, I’ve mentored youth in many capacities. I was an active Girl Scout leader for 7 years, was a Sunday School teacher and helped with many church charity efforts, served on my children’s PTA board for 3 years, was a D.O.A.R. volunteer, have organized food, clothing, and used book drives for a local women’s domestic violence center, a wildlife shelter, and a local school for homeless children. I’ve coached high schoolers for speech competitions, I’m a United Blood Services “Gallon Club” member, and I support our deployed troops through cards, letters, and military care packages sent to the war zones. Our family currently supports three children in Africa through the former Christian Children’s Fund (now called ChildFund International). We give a donation every year to the USO, no matter how stretched our finances are.
I give more than some, MUCH less than others. Americans freely give more of their time, skills, energy, and money to worthy causes than any other group of people in the world. Most Americans are beyond generous when it comes to helping others in need or supporting valuable services.
So when POTUS says we must donate more, volunteer more, give more, part of me agrees, but the other part gets royally rankled because Americans who are already doing so much volunteer work are being disregarded. Snubbed, if you will, and that’s pretty insulting to those millions of Americans who are active, passionate volunteers. Also, it seems that only specific liberal programs are endorsed by Team Obama. Political bias is rampant, even for the worthy causes it showcases. Church volunteering and conservative causes are not encouraged nor recognized by the White House service websites (that may have changed since I last looked, but I doubt it).
I also believe that helping out charities must be VOLUNTARY, a personal choice, one not to ever be mandated. When it is mandated by our government, it becomes a form of slavery.

Actor Dennis Haysbert, AllState Insurance spokesman, endorses BeyondFebruary program

Therefore, when I read that actor Dennis Haysbert (I loved him as Pres. David Palmer on 24 and Jonas Blane on The Unit), is the spokesperson for AllState Insurance’s BeyondFebruary volunteer program, I was intrigued, but also skeptical. It sounded like it could be yet another welfare-entitlement-like or statist program that Team Obama was pushing.
But it appears that I was wrong.