Caroline Kennedy joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday to launch a public service project aimed at making New York City "the easiest city in America in which to serve."
The mayor's office said the program, NYC Service, was designed to channel the power of volunteers in response to President Barack Obama's nationwide call to service.
On Tuesday, Obama is to sign the legislation named for Kennedy's cancer-stricken uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.
The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act is meant to create 175,000 new volunteer opportunities around the country.
Caroline Kennedy has remained largely out of the public eye since her bid to be named U.S. senator from New York collapsed.
Kennedy's brief flirtation with politics could not have ended worse for the political neophyte with the famous name.
Her name was bandied about for months as the replacement for Hillary Clinton, who vacated her senate seat to serve as secretary of state, but Kennedy's run for the appointment ended disastrously when he rumors circulated about her marriage and whether she was fit for office.
