The District saw a large spike in volunteerism by its residents in 2009 after President Obama’s successful White House run calling for hope and change campaign, but bump proved short-lived. Still, the District, Maryland and Virginia’s volunteer hours rate among the nation’s best.
On average, Washingtonians volunteered 33.9 hours last year, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service’s annual “Volunteering in America” report released Tuesday. That was a major drop-off from the city’s average of 50.1 volunteer hours per resident in 2009.
| By the numbers |
| Average hours volunteered each year, per resident: |
| Maryland Virginia DC |
| 2008 – 49.6 36.1 33.9 |
| 2009 – 43.2 41.2 50.9 |
| 2010 – 39.2 36.6 33.9 |
| Source: “Volunteering in America” report |
Billy Fettweis, director of volunteer services for HandsOn Greater D.C. Cares, said his organization experienced a wave of volunteers in 2009 ?– and the president wasn’t the only reason. Fettweis pointed to high unemployment in the area, which meant people had time on their hands and were looking to fill gaps in their resume or get back into an office environment.
The volunteering report examined data nationwide for 2008 through 2010. Maryland residents volunteered 43.9 hours on average and ranked sixth-highest in the three-year study. D.C. residents came in 14th, giving an average of 39.4 hours a year. Virginians were 17th with 38 hours. Utah led the nation with an average of 89.2 hours.
In April 2009, President Obama signed The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act and many predicted the “Obama effect” — a huge rise in volunteerism to follow.
“There was a huge call to serve starting with MLK Day in 2009 with Obama volunteering in the city. The huge message was that people need to do their part,” Fettweis said.
It seems Washingtonians heeded the president’s call, but not for too long. The average number of volunteer hours last year fell back near the 2008 rate of 33.5 hours a year.
Applications to the Peace Corps followed a similar spike. They jumped from 13,430 nationwide in 2008 to 15,286 in 2009, but fell back to typical levels (13,081 applicants in 2010), according to Peace Corps spokesperson Janice Laurente.
Susan Ellis, founder of volunteerism consulting firm Energize, Inc., said she was not surprised that Obama’s call for service never stuck.
“Just because you give your time to something doesn’t mean you’ll give your time to anything,” she said.
According to Ellis, political interest failed to translate to a desire to volunteer. “People are confusing activism with going out and providing human services,” she said.
