September 23, 2009
For Release: Immediately
Contact: Greg Epstein, the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard
(617) 495-5986

Atheist Community Assembles for Public Service

National Secular Service Day to Unite Nonbelievers Across America in Public Service

CAMBRIDGE, MA  - Atheist, Humanist, and nonreligious groups and individuals across the nation will participate in community service as a part of the first ever National Secular Service Day (NSSD) on October 18.

This nationwide event, spearheaded by the Harvard Secular Society, encourages nonbelievers of all kinds – from student organizations to local social groups – to get involved and give back to society. 

Some of the ways atheist organizations are engaging in community service include book drives, blood drives, and micro-finance loan campaigns.

In the Greater Boston area, local atheist and Humanist organizations will work together with local schoolchildren to cultivate garden space at Dharma Harvest, a nonprofit organization and farm featuring edible schoolyards and campus farms for the public schools in Harvard, MA.

According to Sarah Tracey, the director of Dharma Harvest, the Boston area group will “start with an open field, with nothing, and transform it into what will be a productive, growing garden space.”

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According to the organizers of NSSD, the objective of the event is two-sided.

“I see NSSD as tackling a problem on both ends,” said Kelly Bodwin, one of the undergraduates coordinating the event.  “On one hand, we want our nonreligious community to be able to offer the same fantastic service opportunities that churches and religious groups are known for.  On the other, we want to show the nation that we too are committed to charitable and ethical lives, with or without religion.”

Morality without religion is the central theme of this nationwide call to service.

“Humanists believe in life before death,” said Greg Epstein, the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard. “Because this world and this life are the only ones we’ll ever have, we have so much more responsibility to help each other and make the world a better place.”

Epstein, whose chaplaincy is co-sponsoring the event, wrote the upcoming Good Without God, which William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins, will release one week after NSSD. 

The nation’s nonbelievers – in Boston and beyond – will unify in their efforts for community service on October 18, both drawing attention to their cause and making a tangible difference in the world around them.

For more information on National Secular Service Day, visit secularserviceday.org or contact the organizers at secularserviceday@gmail.com.

Contact: Greg Epstein, the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard
(617) 495-5986

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