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."