Utah ranks first in U.S. for volunteering

Utah has been ranked the top state for volunteering for the fourth year in a row.

The Beehive State's victory is supplemented by high rankings for Provo and Salt Lake City, which earned first- and second-place recognition, respectively, in their national categories.

The report lauding Utah was published Wednesday by the Corporation for National and Community Service, which works with the U.S. Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to study volunteering demographics and trends for large and midsize cities.

Utah's volunteer rate was found to be 43.5 percent. Also ranking in the top five were Nebraska, Minnesota, Alaska and Iowa. The percentage counts the number of people 16 and older who work without pay anytime within a 12-month period.

"As I've said before, volunteerism is encoded into America's cultural DNA, and nowhere is that more true than in the great state of Utah," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

The report found that volunteering increased nationwide in 2007 and 2008 despite the economic recession. It also found that volunteers were much more likely than nonvolunteers to donate to charitable causes.

To read the study, visit volunteeringinamerica.gov/research-papers.cfm. To lend a helping hand in Utah, visit volunteers.utah.gov.

— Rebecca Palmer