Oregon Millennials Among Top in Nation for Volunteering, Dec. 18

More of Oregon’s Millennials are making a difference in their communities by volunteering; in fact, so many of them are volunteering that Oregon now has one of the nation’s highest volunteer rates for their generation. That’s according to a report entitled “Volunteering and Civic Life in America,” (http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/) released Monday, Dec. 16, by the Corporation for National and Community Service (http://www.nationalservice.gov/). The annual report uses Current Population Survey data to paint a picture of volunteerism and civic engagement in the country. In 2012, the percentage of Oregon’s Millennial generation that volunteered increased to 30.6, up from 27.9 percent the year before, according to the report. It was the biggest jump of any of the age groups. (Note: For the report, Millennials are considered those who were 16 years old to 30 years old; the 2011 and 2012 numbers are based on three-year moving averages.) Oregon is now third in the country in terms of its Millennial volunteering rate, trailing only Utah (No. 1 at 38.2 percent) and Vermont (No. 2 at 31.3 percent). Some other take-aways from the report: * About 1 in 3 Oregonians volunteer. Nationwide, the number of people volunteering is about 1 in 4. * Oregon boasted an average of 42.1 volunteer hours per resident in 2012, an increase of 5.8 percent over the previous year. For more information on volunteering in Oregon, go to OregonVolunteers.org.