Giving Tuesday: Volunteering in America is on the rise — here’s how you can get involved

LOS ANGELES - Giving Tuesday is meant to encourage people around the world to transform their communities and in the U.S., more Americans than ever are volunteering, according to the National and Community Service Office.

In 2012, Giving Tuesday was created as a way for people to do good in their communities, encouraging many to volunteer and donate to local organizations. It’s held annually on Dec. 3.

If you want to get involved, the National Community Service Office suggests getting involved locally.

• Contact a local school, nonprofit or other charitable organization and ask if they need volunteers
• Make volunteering one of your New Year’s resolutions
• Plan to volunteer on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Jan. 20, 2020
• Visit serve.gov as a resource for volunteering opportunities in your area

The office’s recent Volunteering in America report indicated that 30.3 percent of Americans volunteered overall in 2018 – that’s about 77 million adults.

Those 77 million Americans volunteered nearly 6.9 billion hours, which is an estimated $167 billion in economic value, according to the service office.

Nearly 80 percent of those volunteers also donated to charity, which is twice the rate of Americans who did not volunteer.

Volunteers also participate more frequently in civic causes and organizations. They help out in the community, attend public meetings, do favors for neighbors and vote in local elections, according to the office.