New Generation of Activists Channels Their Idealism

By Meg Sommerfeld

Even when put on hold, callers to the Boston offices of City Year cannot escape the idealism that sparked the creation of this youth-service corps.

In those idle moments that another business might fill with soothing background music or advertisements, callers to City Year are likely to hear a recording of Martin Luther King Jr. speaking of his dream of racial harmony.

Alan Khazei, the co-director of City Year, quips that callers complain about being taken off hold. "I can't tell you how many people say, 'You took me off hold! I want to hear the...