The Final State of the Union
This is historical material “frozen in time”. The website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work.
Dressed casually in a vibrant blue cardigan and jeans and armed with a paintbrush, a passerby may assume the smiling volunteer was just another Habitat for Humanity worker. A double-take reveals, however, that standing alongside George Washington University students is none other than the First Lady, Michelle Obama.
First Lady Michelle Obama participates in a United We Serve service volunteer event at a Habitat for Humanity site in Washington, D.C., Sept. 11, 2009. She is joined by Julie Bindleglass, a junior at George Washington University, and Shakir Cannon-Moye, a senior, to kick off the First Lady's challenge to GW students to serve. Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton. View Full Size
As part of the first National Day of Service, the First Lady visited a DC Habitat for Humanity site, her presence an exciting start to what is sure to be GW's most service-oriented year ever.
With a promise to speak at GWU's May 2010 Commencement on the line, students accepted the First Lady's challenge to complete a collective 100,000 hours of community service by the end of the school year. She told them, "What’s taking place at The George Washington University is what United We Serve is all about. My challenge to the GW community is to make service a daily part of their lives."
First Lady Michelle Obama paints a wall at a Habitat for Humanity site in Washington, D.C., Sept. 11, 2009. She is joined by Julie Bindleglass, a junior at George Washington University, and Shakir Cannon-Moye, a senior, to kick off the First Lady's challenge to GW students to serve. Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton. View Full Size
They had one other set of hands to help them out as well:
President Obama paints a wall with volunteers at a Habitat for Humanity site in Washington, Friday, Sept. 11, 2009. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
