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The day will involve a ceremony on the steps of the Capitol, a luncheon in the Capital, a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, and, of course, the Inaugural Balls.But there is another important part of the Inauguration celebration. One that says so much about our President and about our country. As he did in 2009, President Obama has declared Saturday, January . Millions of Americans across the country will volunteer in their communities to do something tangible to make our country a little bit betterMembers of our Embassy community here in Ottawa and in the seven Consulates across Canada want to do our part as well. Volunteers from the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa will be sorting food and making packages at the Ottawa Food Bank. Volunteers from Consulate General Vancouver will do likewise for the Vancouver Food Bank. Consulate General Toronto is organizing a blood donation drive. Our Consul General’s family in Québec City has been serving meals to the homeless and helping the Québec City Women’s Club raise funds for scholarships for women returning to university. Consulate General Montreal will devote time to help the Omega Community Resources Agency, a local mental health center. Consulate General Halifax is collecting books for a Nova Scotia library that was broken into and had their new book fund stolenI encourage all American citizens living in Canadaand any of our Canadian friends who want to join us – to volunteer in your communities. Find an organization that needs help. Visit a lonely neighbor. Shovel the sidewalk of a senior citizen who has trouble doing it on his or her own. Do something to make your community just a little bit better.I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the peaceful passage of power in the United States of America.It hasn’t been an easy year to be a Chicago sports fan. There’s the perennial story of the Cubs. God love ‘em. Then the collapse of the Bears. Maybe they’ll do better next year with a new coach. The Bulls star player, Derrick Rose, is out for the season.The light at the end of the tunne has belonged to the shining blades of American Hockey League. And now…the World Juniors.Not long after I arrived in Canada I watched the United States beat the Canadian Team to win the Championship Plate. To me the amazing thing about the game was not that won, but that it to Americans how much Canadians love hockey.If there has been a paradigm shift in economic policy thinking in the past five it has been the embedding of entrepreneurship as a key concept for economic progress. Almost every day, there are new signs that entrepreneurship is considered the cornerstone of economic and social well-being in a growing number of countries which do not fit any one development or income classification. At the same time, the understanding of entrepreneurship has deepened through solid research and data. For example, we now know that startups are integral to creating net new jobs in the United States.