Utah tops community service list

SALT LAKE CITY — New government data released Thursday reveal Utah is the most prolific state in the U.S. at rendering volunteer service.

According to the first official report ever issued by the federal agency Corporation for National and Community Service, the Beehive State sits atop state-by-state rankings for both "Volunteering for an organization" (44.2 percent of Utah citizens, contrasted against a national mean of 26.5 percent) and "Working with neighbors to fix a community problem" (19.2 percent of Utahns, compared to a national average of 7.9 percent).

The findings, titled "Civic Life in America," stem from statistics furnished by the U.S. Census Bureau.

In Utah, Lt. Gov. Greg Bell has oversight of volunteerism in general and, specifically, the Utah Commission on Volunteers. Paul Neuenschwander, the lieutenant governor's chief of staff, believes Utah's proclivity for rendering service is deeply embedded in its culture.

"It's a real cultural kind of thing," Neuenschwander said. "The culture of the people here (has) a sense of doing and of helping your neighbor. It's the barn-raising kind of mentality."

Utah displayed its collective zest for service through Summer of Service, a program sponsored by the Utah Commission of Volunteers that ran from June 1 to Aug. 31. More than 600 volunteers performed over 8,000 hours of service in conjunction with Summer of Service.

"We encourage Utahns, all citizens of all ages, to get involved (with service) in the summer," Shar Lewis, executive director of the Utah Commission on Volunteers, told KSL-TV last week. "Use some of that time off, family time, to do service for others."

The three age-group winners for Summer of Service are Scott Warner, 14, with 236 hours rendered at the Christa McAuliffe Space Center in Pleasant Grove; Jacque Baumer, 23, with 315 volunteer hours at Child Rescue; and 52-year-old Dale Greenland, who donated 424 hours of his time during the last three months to the Veterans Administration Hospital.

The trio received their awards from Lt. Gov. Bell during a special luncheon Sept. 8.

"I give my time to these vets because they have given so much to us," Greenland said in a news release. "The award is great, but I win every day because of my association with these great servicemen and women."

Lewis believes that a common thread uniting Warner, Baumer and Greenland with all Utahns who regularly give service is a pure enthusiasm for the work they perform.

"It's critical for any age. It doesn't matter how old you are; you've to find that something that you're passionate about," she said. "That something that you love will motivate you to keep going back."

e-mail: jaskar@desnews.com