VETERANS PRESS: The average American volunteer
The average American volunteers about 48 hours per year (4 hours/month) to charitable causes.
Statistics
• The No. 1 reason people volunteer, is because they are asked!
• In 2021, more than 64 million Americans volunteered through an organization. It was a five-year high, the end result nearly 8 billion hours. In addition to that, most Americans helped their neighbors in some way, and more than a third actively participated in a civic, religious or school group.
No one counted the acts of kindness and charity committed on an individual basis by those who simply knew someone with a need and tried to meet it: People who helped families that would otherwise do without at Christmas time, who taught someone to read, or manned a desk at the local homeless shelter, or gathered books for an informal rural library. No one gathered statistics on how many people cleared their neighbor's sidewalk, or picked up a few items at the store for a home-bound elderly neighbor when they did their own shopping. (Volunteering and Civic Life in America; Corporation for National & Community Service)
• One-third (34.4%) of those who volunteered in 2021 did so through religious organizations, the highest percentage in any sector. Religious organizations often provide the best structure for organized volunteering and the best insight into on-the-ground-needs.
What you can do
• Nonprofits are facing an increasing demand for their services. Volunteer to step in and provide help that will benefit you and our community.
• Find a volunteer opportunity that works for you. Your service can make a difference.
• "I am fortunate God gave me a talent. I have a duty to share it. My point is not what I have done, but what I have done for someone else." — Dick Carpenter, founder of Spokane's Inland Northwest PET Project
• "To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, find a solution, and deliver impact." — Bill Gates
• "Don't just go for the safe projects, take on the really tough problems." — Warren Buffet
• "No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted." — Aesop's Fables