Axios Event: Volunteering could help youth mental health crisis, Utah Lt. Gov. says

Community leaders are aiming to get more people involved in volunteerism – not just to help others, but to also improve youth mental health and foster civic engagement.

• Axios business reporter Erica Pandey and Atlanta reporter Kristal Dixon moderated virtual conversations with Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, United Way Worldwide CEO Angela Williams and The Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander, which was sponsored by AmeriCorps.

Why it matters: In an era where many people are feeling the stress of political division and a loneliness epidemic, volunteering is a way for people to give back to their communities while also potentially improving their mental health along the way.

What they're saying: "Certainly service impacts those who are being served, but truly it also impacts the people giving the service. We have been known as one of the happiest states in the nation as well, and I think that these two things correlate," Henderson said.

• Utah has the highest rate of formal volunteerism of any state in the union at around 47%, according to a new AmeriCorps report informed by U.S. Census data.

To get more young people involved in service initiatives and try to foster connection amidst a youth mental health crisis, Utah is piloting a service program in high schools across the state.

• Over 30,000 students will participate in the service initiative pilot program this year, with the goal of eventually implementing the program statewide.
• "The goal is to get every single high school student in the state of Utah to participate in meaningful service by the time they graduate from high school," Henderson said.

There are signs that the national culture of formal giving could be waning as charitable donations have been dropping and the latest national rate of volunteering has risen from post-pandemic lows but is still lower than it has historically been.

Yes, but: There are many other ways to give back aside from forms of formal giving like monetary donations and logging volunteer hours.

• Informal giving can look like supporting friends and family through difficult times or even engaging in civic discourse to find solutions to community issues.
• Alexander called civic engagement a "core tenet" of democracy.

Sponsored content:

In a View From the Top sponsored segment, AmeriCorps chief executive officer Michael Smith expressed enthusiasm for the future of volunteerism in America following report findings showing improved rates of involvement from pandemic-era lows.

• "Volunteering is rebounding, we actually have seen a 5 percent increase in the number of Americans that are volunteering formally with nonprofits, that's 75 million Americans, that's 28.3 percent of the population," Smith said.
• "We're also seeing a steady growth in the number of Americans that are doing that informal neighbor-helping-neighbor work," he continued.RSVP here.