Voluntarism can cure summer boredom

OREM — Teenager Julie Gonzales began volunteering for United Way of Utah County a year ago to stave off summer boredom.

"It was just for something to do. But I liked it so I started doing it more," said the 15-year-old Mountain View High School student.

This summer she is participating in United Way's Summer of Service program at the American Red Cross Blood Service Division two days a week.

She makes sure people read the "Red Book," which details what donors need to know before they donate blood.

"I probably have the pages in the Red Book memorized, I've gone through it so often," she said.

She also makes sure donors get something to eat. The blood donor center offers a variety of snacks.

"We have lots of stuff full of sugar," Gonzales said.

Young people like Gonzales have no reason to be bored this summer.

United Way has many opportunities to keep them busy. In fact, the clearing agency for voluntarism has hundreds of opportunities, said center manager Kristen Pratt.

Pratt oversees finding volunteers to assist 285 nonprofit organizations in Utah County that must have volunteers to keep their doors open. For the summer the United Way is focusing on its own brand of summer service, which the governor's Utah Commission on Voluntarism, under the federal Corporation for National Service, is promoting.

The program in Utah County is strictly local, said United Way Executive Director Bill Hulterstrom. The list for volunteer opportunities for youths on the agency's Web site, www.unitedwayuc.org, is loaded with ideas. And if volunteer groups or individuals can't find something that meets their fancy, Hulterstrom suggests they give United Way a call (374-6400) "and we'll find them something."

"We have everything from Eagle projects to whatever," he said. "We're involving hundreds of youth this summer."

Utah County doesn't take a back seat when it comes to offering a leg up. According to a Corporation for National Service study, Utah ranks No. 1 nationally in service with 45.9 percent of the state's population volunteering.

"Voluntarism is a huge part of our (local) economy," said Pratt. "They make a huge contribution to the well-being of the community."