NEW YORK -- The United States approaches its 250th anniversary with goals to rally citizens around broad volunteer efforts and national brand tributes. Prominent nonprofits aim for historic volunteer participation, while firms including Walmart and Coca-Cola back events and release special products.

Yet corporate hopes for togetherness face uneven reactions amid a tense national climate. Recent polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows fewer citizens view the country as unique than a decade earlier, reflecting a wider drop in national pride. Opinions on the American flag, central to anniversary events, split along political, generational and racial lines.

Separate programs from two commissions heighten the tension. President Donald Trump established Freedom 250 late last year as a nonprofit run by supporters to stage alternative activities alongside America250, the official bipartisan commission created by Congress in 2016.

“The American dream is alive again. That’s something that nobody thought they’d be saying when you went through that last four years of incompetence,” Trump said at his June 24 campaign-style rally launching Freedom 250's Great American State Fair, which lost nearly all scheduled musical performers over concerns the event had grown too politically charged.

The approach differed from America250’s key program America Gives, which promotes service by urging citizens to volunteer with partner groups and record hours via an online platform.

Salvation Army USA National Commander Merle Heatwole noted that some potential volunteers have linked political motives to the neutral initiative, which his faith-based group co-sponsors. He still praised thousands of churches that backed their “Good Neighbor Day” volunteering in May.

“Some people have shied away because they’re not sure whether this is a nonpartisan effort, or whether it’s connected to the Trump administration versus the Democratic administrations,” Heatwole said. “That, I think, has hindered it slightly. But I think that overall, people are excited about having an opportunity to get involved.”

The America Gives tracker logged just over 38 million hours of service heading into the holiday weekend. It remains unclear what total would break the annual record. Americans logged 4.99 billion service hours across one year from 2022-2023, per an AmeriCorps review of Census Bureau figures.

America250 Chair Rosie Rios predicted a strong end-of-year surge as many partners add hours at the final moment. She stressed that promoting service value remains their sole focus.

Most nonprofits are not running anniversary campaigns, according to one consultant. Jayne Cravens, with three decades in nonprofit work including volunteer management, observed that groups often lack capacity for impactful service projects, worsened after the Trump administration cut AmeriCorps in 2025. Organizations then struggled to fill gaps in staff and resources.

Audra Watson, who directs youth civic programs at the nonprofit C&S, leads a three-year push to boost civic involvement among 20 million people ages 14 to 24.

She observes that most young adults engage through topics unrelated to the 250th. While the anniversary has generated “some excitement for some young people,” she noted those involved tend to be “hand-raisers” already “deeply excited about history.”

The more they steer youth toward local impact where influence feels strongest, the more partisan tones fade, she added.

“For some young people, the 250th is their thing,” she said. “But for many, many more of them this is about really taking that energy and catalyzing that energy around issues of their community.”

Marketing advisers caution brands to proceed with care given national divisions and waning pride.

Adding complexity to anniversary marketing, executives pointed to the two rival logos. The America250 mark shows a bold red, white and blue ribbon forming “250.” The Freedom 250 mark displays the words “Freedom 250” in classic serif type inside a circle of 13 stars referencing the original U.S. flag.

“Once you have two competing logos, it’s confusing,” said Allen Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce.

Walmart, an America250 founding sponsor, supports a traveling recording studio gathering oral histories nationwide. The Library of Congress will preserve selected accounts, the company stated.

Coca-Cola introduced “Paint the Nation,” a major public art project yielding dozens of murals made with local artists. The firm said each piece will capture local culture and community pride, building a “visual legacy that extends beyond the anniversary year.” Special mini-cans are also planned for all 50 states plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.

Aaron Hilton of Suffolk, Virginia reports seeing many paper plates, cups and T-shirts referencing America 250. He shows little interest, citing the current administration for his reluctance.

“I’ll end up getting the Coke because I do drink Coke, but otherwise I really don’t want to buy anything like that,” said Hilton, 36. “I’m not feeling really patriotic about this.”

Darrell Brown, 60, of Alexander, Arkansas, has purchased commemorative T-shirts and flags. He annually decorates his yard with a 7-foot inflatable Uncle Sam and added extra flags this year for the occasion.

Brown says he prefers items tied to America250 references. He views the dual logos as politically divisive.

“I don’t believe this should be a political issue,” he said. “I think it should be just about celebrating the country, regardless if you’re a Democrat or Republican.”

Future generations may appreciate the community achievements tied to the milestone, according to M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska, a cultural historian and author of a book on the 1976 bicentennial.

She noted that the Vietnam War and Watergate remained recent during those events. President Richard Nixon initially shifted Lyndon B. Johnson’s bipartisan planning group to one of political appointees favoring a top-down focus on American strength.

Yet Nixon later replaced those plans with federal support for local programs, which evolved into lasting civic practices, Rymsza-Pawlowska said. Environmental cleanups and voter mobilization became typical bicentennial service activities.

Private donors continue backing similar work, though not at prior government levels. State humanities councils started a “By the People” drive to finance community programs on national culture and future visions. Her Washington, D.C. chapter launched an oral history effort offering “an intimate and complex portrait of what it means to call the nation’s capital home” today.

“We don’t really know what the ultimate legacy of the 250th will be,” Rymsza-Pawlowska said. “A commemoration is just an opportunity to do a thing that you were already doing but have an occasion for it. And possibly get some money for it.”