Community Renewal to participate in Clinton Global Initiative, Sept. 23-26

Both presidential candidates also invited to meeting

For release: Sept. 18, 2008

The Clinton Global Initiative - a non-partisan endeavor to tackle the world's most pressing challenges - has invited Community Renewal International Founder and Coordinator Mack McCarter to its fourth Annual Meeting next week in New York City.

The invitation-only event will bring together world leaders, business executives, faith leaders and other innovative thinkers for the Sept. 23-26 meeting. They will tackle issues like poverty, education and energy, coming away with concrete commitments to action. Since 2005, more than 80 current and former heads of state; hundreds of leading CEOs, philanthropists, and NGO leaders; and 10 of the last 16 Nobel Peace Prize laureates have attended the Clinton Global Initiative.

Community Renewal addresses many of the same issues by restoring safe and caring communities with a three-pronged strategy built on caring relationships. Through partnerships expected to come out of the Initiative, Community Renewal will strengthen its foundation and further position itself to help a wide range of people and communities, from those affected by recent Gulf Coast hurricanes to those affected by other types of storms - the storms of crime, racism, injustice, substance abuse, poverty and isolation.

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama are both scheduled to address the Clinton Global Initiative next week. McCain will give the opening remarks and Obama will appear by satellite. Clinton has included members of both political parties since starting the non-political initiative three years ago; Laura Bush spoke at the 2006 meeting.

"I am excited to work together with leaders from across the political spectrum and around the world to address critical global challenges, like the food and energy crises, at our Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting this year," President Clinton said. "Through our Annual Meeting, CGI members have made upwards of $30 billion in commitments to improve more than 200 million lives in over 150 countries, and I'm confident you will see our members redouble their efforts this year."

Distinguished participants scheduled to attend this year's meeting also include numerous presidents, prime ministers, Al Gore, Lance Armstrong, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tom Brokaw, T. Boone Pickens and many others.

President Bill Clinton launched the Clinton Global Initiative in 2005 as a non-partisan catalyst for action, bringing together a community of global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges. Members include current and former heads of state, top business executives, preeminent scholars, and representatives of key non-governmental organizations working together for a common cause.

McCarter said he expects many wonderful ideas and action plans to come out of the meeting.

"We are honored and very excited to be invited to join one of the most effective efforts working today to better the conditions of all people on a global scale. Community Renewal International is proud to be a part of that effort," he said.

The program for the 2008 Annual Meeting will concentrate on challenges and opportunities in four focus areas: education, energy & climate change, global health and poverty alleviation.

The meeting schedule will include a combination of working sessions for each of the CGI focus areas, as well as several plenary sessions that will address broader issues. These sessions will provide members with an opportunity to interact with experts, collaborate with other members who share common objectives, and ultimately, initiate a commitment to action that best matches their interests and resources.

A Shreveport native who pastored churches in West Texas for 18 years, McCarter returned home in 1991 to begin implementing his vision for developing strong, safe, healthy communities through caring relationships. Today, Community Renewal has 39,000 Renewal Team members around the world and more than 900 Haven House leaders who are building a sense of community in their own neighborhoods. The Center for Community Renewal is in development in downtown Shreveport and will serve as a training and resource center to replicate the Community Renewal model worldwide.

Community Renewal International is a nonprofit effort to restore safe and healthy communities through caring relationships. Founded in 1994, Community Renewal reaches at-risk youth through Friendship Houses built in impoverished neighborhoods, strengthens education through the Adult Renewal Academy, partners with The Fuller Center for Housing and connects caring partners who turn their neighborhoods into safe havens of friendship and support.

Contact: David Westerfield, director of communications
(318) 425-3222
davidwesterfield@communityrenewal.us