Points of Light, Target, Corporation for National and Community Service Launch Year-Round Commitment to Service with America’s Sunday Suppers; First Supper to be Held in Washington, D.C. During Inaugural Weekend

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On Sunday, January 20, Points of Light, Target, and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) will launch the third annual America’s Sunday Supper campaign – a national, grassroots series of community gatherings designed to bring people together to share a meal and discuss ways people of all political persuasions, races and ethnicities, ages and faiths can collaborate to meet urgent local needs.

“Through America’s Sunday Suppers, we aim to create a year-round commitment to service, dialogue and civic engagement, bridge differences and come together in unity”

This first supper of 2013 will take place on Sunday at noon at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C. and will include 240 thought and industry leaders who will discuss societal challenges related to education and economic opportunity. The afternoon conversation will be moderated by MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry. General Colin and Alma Powell will be on hand to deliver the keynote address.

The first half of the conversation will focus on the topic of education and will feature remarks from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a panel including Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, Strive Network’s Jeff Edmondson, DC Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson and Public Allies’ Ernesto Morales, an AmeriCorps member.

The second half of the discussion will focus on economic opportunity and will include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, National Urban League’s Marc Morial, National Council of La Raza’s Janet Murguía, and Patty Stonesifer, former chair of White House Council for Community Solutions. The Corporation for National and Community Service’s Wendy Spencer will close the program.

(Note to the media: This is an invitation-only event. B-Roll and photographs will be available by 4:00 pm via FTP. Call Carrie Fox at 202-255-9214 to arrange.)

“Through America’s Sunday Suppers, we aim to create a year-round commitment to service, dialogue and civic engagement, bridge differences and come together in unity,” noted Points of Light CEO Michelle Nunn. “There’s no more fitting place than the nation’s capital, and no more fitting time than Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, to kick off this important series of discussions aimed at forging hands-on solutions to the challenges of our day.”

The goal for 2013 is to engage 100,000 people in Sunday Suppers, both in public venues, and in private homes across the country.

Additional cities that will be home to an America’s Sunday Supper in 2013 include:

Chicago (February 2013) Hosted by Chicago Bears’ Israel Idonije.
Los Angeles (April 2013): Invited special guests to include Points of Light Service Ambassador Jacob Soboroff and other celebrities.
Washington, D.C. (June 2013): Invited special guests to include Juan Williams (Fox News), Robert Griffin, III (Washington Redskins), and members of Congress.
Atlanta, GA (August 2013): Invited special guests to include Rev. Bernice King, Dikembe Mutombo and Tony Gonzales.

So far, more than 60,000 people across the country have pledged to participate in a supper, gather their neighbors and talk about how to move forward together. Future topics will include unemployment, homelessness, education, hunger, and the growing needs of our veterans and military families.

For more information on the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service, or to learn more about hosting an America’s Sunday Supper in your community, visit the Points of Light website or follow Points of Light on Facebook or Twitter.

About Points of Light

Points of Light – the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service – mobilizes millions of people to take action that is changing the world. Through affiliates in 250 cities and partnerships with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points of Light engages 4 million volunteers in 30 million hours of service each year. We put people at the center of change. For more information, go to www.pointsoflight.org.

About Target

Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) serves guests at 1,782 stores across the United States and at Target.com. The company plans to open its first stores in Canada in 2013. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its profit through community grants and programs; today, that giving equals more than $4 million a week. For more information about Target’s commitment to corporate responsibility, visit Target.com/hereforgood.

About the Corporation for National and Community Service

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than 5 million Americans in service through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and the Social Innovation Fund, and leads President Obama’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. CNCS supports Points of Light through grants that are distributed to sub-grantees to mobilize hundreds of thousands around the country in service on MLK Day.