"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the time you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."

-- John Wesley

• Teenagers volunteer 2.4 billion hours annually (1996)
• Youth volunteering is up 12% over the last 10 years
• Teenage service is worth $34.3 billion to the US economy (1999)
• Youth who volunteer just one hour a week are 50% less likely to abuse drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, or engage in destructive behavior
• 73% of America’s 60 million youth believe they can make a difference in their communities (1998)
• 73% of high school seniors report engaging in community affairs or volunteer at least a few times a year.  Of that, 28% report service involvement at least once or twice a month
• Youth who volunteer are three times more likely to volunteer as adults
• Teens rank volunteering, the environment, and healthy eating as top three activities they consider “cool” (1998)
• 48 states are administering service learning programs through their state education agencies
• 64% of all public schools, including 83% of public high schools, had students participating in community service activities recognized by and/or arranged by the school
• 55% of youth volunteer ( while only 29% of adults volunteer)
• Virginia ranked number 42 among states for rates young adult volunteers, with 21.5%.
• Virginia ranked 31^st among states for overall rate of volunteering

--Statistics from Youth Service America