said Alison Young, Deputy Director of USA Freedom Corps at the White House. "Americans are continuing to answer the President's call to service, and their compassion is bringing hope and help to communities across America."

The Volunteering in America research is produced by the Corporation for National and Community Service to help national, state and local leaders better understand volunteering trends and demographics and use the data to develop effective strategies for recruiting and retaining volunteers. The website that houses the report includes detailed information on volunteering by regions, states, and cities; historical and trend data; links to other volunteering research, and interactive features including customizable reports and a volunteer search engine. Find out more at www.VolunteeringInAmerica.gov.

"Volunteering in America: 2008 State and City Trends & Rankings" is based on data obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics through a "volunteering supplement" to the Current Population Survey (CPS) from 2002 to 2007. The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households (100,000 individuals). Volunteers are defined as persons who did unpaid work through or for an organization. The Census Bureau administers the CPS volunteer supplement. The report includes information for all states and 162 cities, using Metropolitan Statistical Areas. This information includes the volunteer rate compared to the average rate for MSAs and the nation; the types of organizations through which residents serve; their main volunteering activities, the average hours per year and volunteer rates for age and gender demographic groups, and key trends and highlights.

For more information, visit www.NationalService.gov.