We are family.

The first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina will be marked by the release of a new version of the 1979 Sister Sledge hit We Are Family, in conjunction with an effort by the Points of Light Foundation (POL) and other national partners to increase services designed to strengthen displaced American families. The foundation also has made family volunteering a cornerstone of this year's campaign.

Produced by Rodney Jerkins, We Are Family 2006: Artists & Friends for Hurricane Relief will feature Clam, Chris Brawn, Patti LaBelle, Ray J, Brian McKnight, Sister Sledge, Mary Mary, BeBe Winans, Lyfe Jennings, George Clinton, Christina Milian, Branford Marsalis, Serena Williams and Alfre Woodard. In addition, the album will feature nine other previously unreleased songs by the artists, along with a We Are Family poster designed for the Points of Light Foundation by Thomas Kinkade, and a behind-the-scenes DVD narrated by Woodard with the artists discussing the role that service plays in their lives.

Proceeds from the campaign will benefit organizations "meeting the needs of families displaced or otherwise affected by the devastating hurricanes of 2005," officials said.

Robert K. Goodwin, president and CEO of the Points of Light Foundation, said producer Rodney Jerkins wants to be to the We Are Family initiative what Quincy Jones was to We Are The World, the 1985 campaign to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia that featured dozens of popular musical artists of the time.

The We Are The World: U.S.A. For Africa album sold more than 3 million copies, while the single sold 7.5 million copies in the U.S., ultimately raising about $50 million, including proceeds from video and related merchandise. A remake of We Are Family also was used in a campaign following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The We Are Family Foundation was founded by the song's original producer and writer, Nile Rodgers, with the message of promoting tolerance.

"Rebuilding a sense of community is key to rebuilding people's lives," Goodwin said. "Reaching out as a global family, we believe, can be the antidote to a lot of problems."

Goodwin said that he is confident that the campaign "will return handsomely," but the foundation is hesitant to forecast actual dollar figures. He pointed out the three themes of the initiative: disaster recovery, strengthening families, and service learning.

Money raised will be re-granted to nonprofits helping families, with particular emphasis on those affected by the Gulf Coast hurricanes, that are now scattered around the country.

Points of Light partners, like the Ann E. Casey Foundation, "have shared interest in family building," Goodwin said, and many nonprofits working with the We Are Family campaign "have an ongoing focus of strengthening family."

Artists collaborating on We Are Family will talk about the importance of volunteering, family, and giving back to the community, for the behind-the-scenes DVD that will speak to the service learning theme. "We believe this will be a very effective tool to be used by teachers and adult supervisors of service learning programs that will both validate for those serving, and recruit additional students to see it as their responsibility ... to get involved as volunteers in their communities," Goodwin said.

Family Volunteer Day, held the Saturday before Thanksgiving to kick off National Family Week, tries to showcase the benefits of families working together for community service, encouraging others to volunteer as a family.

Volunteering as a family provides quality time, strengthens communication and provides opportunities for family members to be role models, while making significant contributions to their communities, according to the foundation. "This year, communities around the country will be working with families, corporations, nonprofits and Volunteer Centers to make family volunteering a national tradition."

Families, specifically couples with children, have the highest volunteering rates, according to the foundation, at 52 percent, followed by couples alone, 38 percent. Singles with children volunteer at a 32 percent clip, while singles alone registered at, 23 percent. The rate of volunteering also cresses racial and ethnic lines, with blacks and Hispanics following the same pattern of rising percentages with children in the family, according to the POL.

The foundation suggests that families volunteer at a higher rate because they decide how to best spend their time, and what to spend it on, us a group. "For one family member to make a resource allocation decision, the other family members have to agree to some extent with that allocation. Therefore, when one family member seeks an! gains approval to allocate time to volunteering, others agree."

That s why Points of Light recommends nonprofit organizations engage family members of their current volunteers and consider adding new activities to current programs to facilitate the involvement of family members.