The Corporation for National and Community Service released a national study Monday (June 12, 2006) indicating that Utah residents lead the nation in the amount of time they spend serving as volunteers.

According to the study, Utah volunteers devote an average of 96 hours per year to service, while the national average is 50 hours per volunteer. In addition to the highest number of hours per volunteer, Utah also boasts the highest percentage of volunteers in the nation.

College students are among those in Utah who spend their time in service - 62.9 percent of Utah college students choose to serve. This is the highest average in the nation, with Georgia coming in last with only 21.4 percent of college students volunteering.

Tiffany Ransom, 22, a BYU senior studying nursing, has given time towards serving others throughout her life, as she has grown up with a mentality that service is a way of life.

Ransom gave 100 hours of her time serving in a hospital as a project in the young women's program for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In completing her project, she realized she wanted to become a nurse and spend her life giving this kind of service.

"The benefit of service was I got to learn more about nursing by being in that atmosphere," Ransom said. "It helped me learn what I wanted to do with my career. That was a huge benefit."

In the future, Ransom would like to go on a service mission for the Church of Jesus Christ with her husband and help individuals throughout the world.

"The ripple effect [from service] makes a difference in the lives of people serving and in the lives of those being helped," said Shelley Reed, a nursing faculty member at BYU.

BYU has a center on campus that gives information for students to get involved in the community. Sarah Westerberg, director for the Center for Service and Learning, said students come to BYU prepared to make a difference through service.

There are about 27 programs that run through the center, and during Fall 2005 and Winter 2006, students who served through the center gave over 30,000 hours of service.

"BYU students have a major impact on the local community," Westerberg said.

Students such as Ransom and those who have volunteered their time through the center have assisted in making Utah the top in the nation with individuals who give of their time.

It's not difficult for college students as well as Utahns to find places to serve because of the many resources and venues available to find people and organizations to serve.

"[The Center for Service and Learning] is a great venue for people to come to and find service opportunities," Westerberg said. "People can research an opportunity based on their interest."

Copyright Brigham Young University 15 Jun 2006