Georgians are volunteering again
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It's getting more popular to lend a helping hand — both formally, through organized volunteering, and informally.
Why it matters: Volunteer work — assisting those in need and providing a sense of purpose to those who do help — is a bedrock of American civic life.
Driving the news: Around 26% of Georgians volunteered through a formal organization at least once between September 2022 and 2023, per a new AmeriCorps report based on survey data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau.
- That's up 6 percentage points from 2021, when the pandemic disrupted almost all facets of American life — volunteer work included.
- The report also found a rise in the share of Georgia residents who informally helped their neighbors, with 44% saying they lent a hand to someone nearby.
The intrigue: Those rates are lower than the national average, with about 28% of Americans across the country saying they volunteered through a formal organization and 54% saying they helped others informally.
By the numbers: 64% of Georgians reported that they'd had a conversation or spent time with their neighbors in the past year, up from 58% in 2021.
- 44% donated $25 or more to charity during that time, down slightly from 46% in 2021.
The bottom line: Volunteering and looking out for your friends and neighbors is back, baby. And that's something we can all be thankful for.