With jobs scarce, volunteering on the rise

AP via MSNBC:



With jobs scarce, volunteering on the rise
Peace Corps, Teach America among those seeing increase in applications


BOSTON - Meghan McCloskey heard the call to service when she was in college, applying to the Peace Corps during her senior year. That call only got louder as she realized her shrinking job options in the faltering economy.

"Just having some sort of security for two years and not going through the job application process every two months and internships until someone wants to pay you is good," said McCloskey, 23, an administrative assistant who completed the Peace Corps application process and is awaiting her country placement. "It's a good way to gain a lot of experience in a short amount of time and after the job I have now, I don't know if I could find another job in the economy."

Volunteer organizations such as the Peace Corps and Teach for America say the floundering economy and President Barack Obama's call for service have led to a major increase in applications.

Teach for America received a record 14,000 applications by November, an almost 50 percent increase over the previous year. And Peace Corps applications rose 16 percent from fiscal year 2007 to 2008, with a big spike registered around the time of Obama's inauguration. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29263824/

I'm involved with various agencies in my town and they are hurting because they used to have lots of corporate groups volunteering. The corporations are not only laying off employees which makes the groups smaller, but the fact is the workers left are working harder and less time is available for the organizations.

The people who get to work for PeaceCorps or any similar organization will be enriched. Win-win, and they might not even realize it yet.