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PROVO — Utah is widely recognized as one of the top states for volunteering in the country, with Provo recently being crowned as the king of mid-sized cities in that arena.
But a new report out of Utah Valley University revealed the majority of that volunteerism is faith-based.
The Corporation for National and Community Service named Provo the top mid-sized city for volunteerism in the nation, with 56.5 percent of residents actively engaged in service of some sort. In response to the ranking, Provo city leaders commissioned an independent analysis of the volunteer work being done.
Not surprisingly, that study found that the volunteerism is almost entirely faith-based, according to study lead Luke Peterson, director of UVU’s Office of New Urban Mechanics.
“Everybody is doing something,” he said. “Everybody is serving in a different capacity. That brings up the volunteerism rate significantly for Utah.”
While an abundance of faith-based volunteerism isn’t a bad thing, Peterson said, it’s important to find a way to maximize the impact of the service being rendered.
“If you look at the top five states for volunteerism, the other four are fairly focused on civic service,” he said. “Utah is the outlier in that we’re not necessarily high in those other areas of volunteerism. It’s not to say Utah is bad at volunteerism, there are only so many hours in a week and so if you are already doing significant volunteering your church calling, it leaves less time for other types of volunteering.”
Peterson presented his findings to the Municipal Council Tuesday, where he encouraged leaders to tap into Provo’s unique “hyper-localism.” It’s a place where people know and serve their neighbors on a daily basis.
“If you look at your average LDS ward’s service project, it will likely be something like cleaning up a park. That certainly does some good, but was there a higher-impact thing that the city could have facilitated to better the community in a greater way?” -Luke Peterson, study lead
“Is there something we should be doing as a city to organize and direct this untapped resource to benefit the community?” he said. “Are there ways a community like Provo can utilize this to strengthen and better the community, to make some of that service more purposeful?”
The answer, Peterson said, is a definitive yes. It comes down to identifying the key priorities of the community and facilitating a relationship between city, religious and community leaders who are willing to work together to get things done.
“If you look at your average LDS ward’s service project, it will likely be something like cleaning up a park,” Peterson said. “That certainly does some good, but was there a higher-impact thing that the city could have facilitated to better the community in a greater way?”
One area in which Utah struggles greatly is participation in local elections and involvement with public officials.
“Utah’s extremely poor voter turnout rate — particularly with local elections — suggests a general disconnect with civic affairs in favor of church and neighborhood engagement,” the study reads. “In fact, subtracting church-based volunteerism brings Utah’s volunteerism rate to 14.5 percent, below the national average of 16.5 percent.”
This issue can potentially be addressed by encouraging interaction between neighborhoods, wards and community leaders, Peterson said.
