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Summarized by Kent Larsen
LDS Church Credited for High Teen Volunteer Rate In Utah
(Utah Teens Volunteer More Than Peers Across the Nation)
Salt Lake Tribune 5Jun00 D6
Associated Press
OGDEN, UTAH -- A report from the Volunteers of America indicates that teens
in Utah volunteer more time than teens elsewhere in the US. Nationwide,
teens volunteer 3.5 hours of service a month, while in Utah, 73% of teens
volunteer at least 4.75 hours a month and 80% volunteer at least 3 hours a
month.
The Utah Commission of Volunteers' Kathleen Parrish Smith credits the
influence of the LDS Church for the strong volunteer numbers. "Children are
raised with a background of service," she said. "They grow up with their
parents doing service projects and it instills something in them; they want
to serve." The state's numbers may also have benefited from volunteer
programs in the schools, some of which even require volunteer work as part
of the curriculum.
Brynn Janke, youth service director of Utah's Promise, says that the service
improves the teenagers as well as provides needed effort, "Service is not
how we change the world, but how the world changes us."
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