SEVERAL TIMES each week, commuters in Copley Square glimpse a curious scene — some 200 uniformed young people doing jumping jacks, toe-touches, and even dance steps as they chant, "Spirit! Purpose! Discipline! Pride!" This is the Boston contingent of City Year, one of the most successful — by dint of its high visibility, long tenure, and robust spirit — of the national not-for-profit groups that fall under the rubric of AmeriCorps, the country’s national-service program. Founded in 1988 in Boston by a pair of then–Harvard Law School roommates — Alan Khazei and Michael Brown, now respectively the group’s CEO and president — City Year, which inspired President Bill Clinton to press for the original National Service Bill in 1993, puts young people (ages 17 to 24) to work running after-school programs, teaching children to read, fighting domestic violence, and rebuilding playgrounds, among other activities. Such work is what philosopher William James called "the moral equivalent of war." Since the United States fell victim to the September 11 attacks, the group’s mission, described on its Web site (http://www.cityyear.org/) as promoting "the concept of national service as a means for building a stronger democracy," has become more immediate. City Year is one of the few outlets that has channeled the country's post–September 11 urge to serve into concrete action.

Among AmeriCorps groups, City Year is unique. Its members travel and work in teams. They are required to dress in uniform — bright red jackets with the group’s logo and the American flag. In contrast, not all AmeriCorps groups have their members wear uniforms, and few require the display of the American flag. "We try to establish a sense of patriotism," says Brown. "Young people need to be provided with a usable, practical patriotism. There’s been a lot of patriotic ambivalence in young people going back 30 years. It was really important to talk to people to let them know that when you go out and serve every day, it’s a way of loving your country." That doesn’t make the group mere jingoistic cheerleaders, however. To illustrate their approach, Brown invokes the example of Martin Luther King Jr., who said: "We like to say America isn’t perfect, but it’s perfectible because it has perfect ideals."

Taking part in the program requires sacrifices. City Year workers receive a stipend of $175 per week, which amounts to less than $10,000 a year. Finding a place to live in Boston becomes a challenge on that kind of pay. Many members squeeze as many as eight people into three- or four-bedroom apartments. But there are rewards as well. They have the satisfaction of knowing they have served their country. And, on a more tangible level, they are eligible to receive up to $4750 in scholarship money for higher education.

As successful as City Year has been — it now operates in 12 other locales across the country, including New Hampshire and Rhode Island — the program exists at the mercy of Congress. Each year, money for AmeriCorps is cut before friendly legislators (Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry are two of its strongest supporters) get together to put it back in. Advocates of the program are currently pushing for Congress to reauthorize the Citizen Service Act, which would, among other things, provide federal funds to match the money City Year already raises privately. Republican senator John McCain of Arizona and Democratic senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, meanwhile, are sponsoring the Call to Service Act, an even-more-comprehensive national-service plan that would expand the number of national-service participants from 50,000 to 250,000. "We are attempting to translate the positive feelings that Americans have toward service into concrete action," Bayh told the Phoenix in June, when he was in town to attend a National Summit on Public Service at the Kennedy Library. (McCain and numerous City Year participants also attended.)

Almost 42 years ago, President John F. Kennedy exhorted Americans, "Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country." To further that goal, he created the Peace Corps, one of the inspirations for AmeriCorps. Kennedy’s speechwriter, Theodore Sorensen, is a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics and a fan of City Year. "President Kennedy would say [City Year] is in the finest tradition of those who served their country and their fellow citizens since the founding of the country," says Sorenson.