ABSTRACT
Recent statistics show that America’s children, youth, and young adults are volunteering in record numbers. In a 2003 survey sampling 924 colleges, 1.7 million students were involved in service, 22,000 faculty members reported service-learning involvement, and 37 courses was the average number of courses being offered per campus, all substantial increases from ve years previously (Campus Compact, nd). Additional gures showed in 1999, 64% of all public schools had students participating in service activities, and that between 1984 and 1999 the number of high schools offering community service opportunities rose from 27% to over 80% (National Center for Education Statistics, nd). Finally, 65 million American adults are currently volunteering, which is an increase of 10% from 2005, contributing close to $150 billion in service work (Corporation of National and Community Service, 2006). Given the economic value of volunteering to our nation, one should not be surprised that national leaders are calling the American people to service.
