The holidays are a time for giving, and maybe helping out those less fortunate than ourselves, but according to a new report, folks have been doing that all year, and more than ever before.
According to a report by the Corporation for National and Community Service, more Americans have been volunteering this year than ever before. In fact, the report finds that 77.4 million adults, or 30.3%, volunteered through some organization last year. Just how big is that? Well, those folks put in about 6.9 billion hours volunteering, which translates to about $167 billion in economic value.
And that’s not the only way folks are helping others. The report finds that about 51.4% of folks have done favors for neighbors, while 52.2% have donated to charity. And folks who volunteer are also more likely to donate a well, with nearly 80% of volunteers also donating to charity, twice as much as those who don’t volunteer.
Source: National & Community Service