The original baby boomer, Bill Clinton, is issuing a ringing call to action in his new book, Giving.

The book, subtitled How Each of Us Can Change The World and set to be released on Monday, appears to be less a manifesto than an exercise in pattern recognition. That is, he describes a “global flood tide” of individual and organizational activity that is solving problems and saving lives, “down the street and around the world.”

As the blurb from his publisher states: “These remarkable stories demonstrate that gifts of time, skills, things, and ideas are as important and effective as contributions of money.” Clinton himself says his goal is “to demonstrate that citizen activism and service can be a powerful agent of change in the world.”

That, of course, is at the core of the encore idea as well, and in the excerpt on the book’s website Clinton features an encore couple, Sheri Saltzberg and Mark Grashow, who found their lives’ work on a trip to Africa.

Retired from careers in public health and teaching, Saltzberg and Grashow were appalled by the lack of basic educational resources in Zimbabwe. They formed a non-profit organization, found a local partner and set about signing up U.S. schools to partner with schools in Zimbabwe, benefiting students in both countries. So far, they’ve shipped four shipping containers worth of books, supplies, sports equipment, bicycles, tools and other equipment.

“I believe that each of us has an obligation to level the playing field of life,” Grashow tells Clinton. “We all have a capacity to make a difference somewhere. We just have to decide if we have the will to do it.”

Clinton’s foundation has put together a resources guide for such work at http://www.clintonfoundation.org/giving.