Volunteerism

In a conversation with a trusted adviser last week, I was told that to go volunteer. Not only is volunteer service a good thing to do in it's own right, it also connects you to people and organizations where employment opportunities may be hiding.

So it's interesting that the Corporation for National and Community Service study on volunteer rates across the country is coming out today. Among it's key findings are that higher rates of home ownership and longer commuting times both relate to the rate at which people in a given area volunteer; more home owners means more volunteers, longer commutes means fewer volunteers.

The report is already being covered as a referendum on different regions of the country, since it found that places like Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, and Austin have far higher rates of volunteers than cities like New York and Los Angeles. The implication is that people in coastal metropolii are self-involved and not altruistic. But that's hardly the whole story.

Whatever the case, I'm off to visit the site of my local United Way to find a good volunteer opportunity.