Mayor Michael Bloomberg will attend an event today in Union Square Park at 10:30am as part of a week long series of events to honor the 91st Birthday of Nelson Mandela.

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Mayor Michael Bloomberg will attend an event today in Union Square Park at 10:30am as part of a week long series of events to honor the 91st Birthday of Nelson Mandela.  Mayor Bloomberg will be volunteering in a "City Harvest" in which volunteers will package fresh produce to be delivered to families in need. Anyone wanting to volunteer for this or other Mandela Day events this week is encouraged to show up or go to www.mandeladay.com to view the list of events. Here is a portion of the "About Mandela Day" from the website:

In an effort to celebrate the legacy of South Africa's former President Nelson Mandela, 46664 and the Nelson Mandela Foundation are urging people all over the world to join them in a bid to create an official Mandela Day, which would be held on Mr Mandela's birthday each year, July 18.

Mandela Day is an annual celebration of Nelson Mandela's life and a global call to action for people to recognize their individual power to make an imprint and change the world around them.

"We would be honoured if such a day can serve to bring together people around the world to fight poverty and promote peace and reconciliation," according to a statement issued on Mr Mandela's behalf.

A global movement for positive change begins with small actions. MandelaDay.com was created to inspire people to embrace Mr Mandela's values and make an imprint through service to their communities.

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Some of the other events this week in NYC include:

Wednesday July 15

Volunteers are needed to assist Housing Works with packaging and shipping online book orders and also to canvass the area around the Housing Works Soho location to create awareness for Mandela Day & Housing Works. Morning and afternoon shifts are available, the location is Housing Works, 126 Crosby Street @ Houston St.

A dinner and auction will be held at the Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Station. The dinner will be hosted by former US President Bill Clinton and attended by a number of international celebrities and stars such as Paul Gambaccini, Morgan Freeman, Forest and Keisha Whitaker, Harry Belafonte, Beyoncé and Jay Z. Guests will be treated to multiple performances and speeches by former President Clinton, Jonathan Butler and the Soweto Gospel Choir and others.

Friday, July 17th

Volunteers are needed to help clean Sara D. Roosevelt Park between 8am and 12:00 noon. Volunteers will help weed, plant and clean up this beautiful neighborhood park. The park is located in the Allen Street Mall between Houston and Delancey.

The Mandela Day Celebrations culminate in a July 18th concert at Radio City Music Hall featuring performances by Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Will.i.am, Jesse Clegg, Gloria Gaynor, Dave Stewart, Aretha Franklin, Wyclef Jean, Cyndi Lauper, Queen Latifah, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Josh Groban, Angelique Kidjo, Baaba Maal, Jesse McCartney and nearly a dozen artists from continental Africa. This event can be attended remotely by streaming video.

Anyone interested in participating or attending any of the volunteer events should browse to www.mandeladay.com/participate/  and/or www.volunteermatch.org . Tickets for the July 18 celebration can be obtained at www.ticketmaster.com  or www.mandeladay.com.

Authors Website: http://www.ibtimes.com/blog/steven-leser_103/bio/

Authors Bio:
A political blogger for the International Business Times, Steve Leser is a hot national political pundit. He has appeared on MSNBC's Coundown with Keith Olbermann, Comedy Central's Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Russia Today's (RT) Crosstalk with Peter Lavelle. But, Leser is most known for his work as commentator and the progressive counterpoint on the very conservative FOX News cable network. Steve Leser has been frequently featured on Your World with Neil Cavuto, Bulls & Bears, and Cashing In against such FOX notables as Neil Cavuto and Stuart Varney. Leser gave the stirring live commentary on FOX as news broke of the resignation of Sarah Palin as Governor of Alaska.

Steve Leser is in demand in New York as keynote speaker for his authority on the power and machinations of Republican think tanks, the economy, health care reform and various other political topics.

Leser is also a political organizer and has held positions within the Democratic Party including District Chair and Public Relations Chair within county organizations.