The Corporation for National and Community Service released a report last week titled Volunteering in America 2011. This report analyzes trends on the local, state and national levels. Among the findings:

Nationwide

• In 2010, 62.8 million Americans volunteered to help their communities. The national average is 28.8%
• These volunteers provided services estimated in value of $173 billion. This is an incredible economic force within our nation.

Asheville

• 34.6% of Asheville residents volunteer each year; ranking us 16th within the 75 Mid-size cities. (National average 28.8%, Provo, Utah led the nation for the fourth year in a row with a volunteer rate of 61%, followed by Ogden, Utah (52.2%), Iowa City, Iowa (50.9%), Boulder, Colo. (44.8%), and Fort Collins, Colo (42.2%))
• Asheville volunteers gave a total of 11 million hours of service last year.

Locally, Hands On Asheville-Buncombe knows just how generous our community is. A program of United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County, Hands On Asheville-Buncombe is a one-stop shop for agencies seeking to list their volunteer projects and for individuals and groups to find the volunteer opportunities that best fit their interests and schedules.

Sarah Wohlmuth, director, said “We continue to see a rise in the number of people using Hands On Asheville-Buncombe to connect with meaningful and easy to access volunteer opportunities. In fact we’ve seen a 40 percent increase in the number of service hours contributed by Hands On volunteers from 2007 to 2010.”

In addition to maintaining an online database with more than 200 different volunteer opportunities supporting hundreds of nonprofit and public entities, Hands On hosts several specialty events throughout the year :

• For 20 years, Hands On Asheville-Buncombe has coordinated Day of Caring, where companies send employees out in droves to accomplish important work for area schools and non-profits. Look for 1000+ Day of Caring volunteers throughout the community on September 1, 2011.

• Every year Hands On coordinates an annual School Supply Drive to support students whose families struggle to buy the necessary supplies for their children. This year, 600 students went back to school with a brand-new, fully-stocked backpack thanks to the generosity of countless individuals and groups such as Mission Health Systems, Eaton, Festiva Resorts, Asheville Savings Bank and many others.

For more information, contact:
Sarah Wohlmuth, Hands On Asheville-Buncombe Director- 255-0696

Subscribe to XpressMail. Free Sneak Peek. Every Week.

Want to know what's coming out in Xpress this week before the paper even hits the stands? We've got your free sneak peek, along with deals available in XpressMail, our weekly email newsletter. (It's the best we can do without time travel.)

Name:
Email:

We respect your email privacy. More information.