Peace Corps volunteer total hits a 40-year high

By Ed O'Keefe
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 28, 2010; 10:08 PM

More people are volunteering with the Peace Corps than at any point since 1970, the agency said Thursday as it touted a 13 percent year-to-year increase in head count.

As of Sept. 30, there were 8,655 Peace Corps volunteers working in 77 host countries, up almost 1,000 volunteers from 2009, the agency said. The new total falls short of the 9,000 volunteers who worked with Peace Corps in 59 countries in 1970.

New host countries, extended volunteer stays and the agency's $400 million operating budget - its largest ever- contributed to the jump. The Peace Corps reopened programs in Colombia, Indonesia and Sierra Leone and reopened its suspended program in Madagascar, it said.

The agency's volunteer head count fell to a low of 5,380 in 1982 but climbed steadily through the 1980s. In 1985, Congress set a goal of having 10,000 volunteers in the field by 1992, a mark not yet reached.

The average age of Peace Corps volunteers is 28, but 7 percent are over age 50 (the oldest is 86). Nineteen percent of volunteers are minorities, 60 percent are women and 90 percent hold at least a bachelor's degree.

Education remains the most popular sector of service for volunteers, but others have worked on health and HIV/AIDS prevention, business development, youth development, and environmental and agricultural projects. Volunteers are almost evenly divided across Latin America, Africa and Europe/Asia, the agency said.

"Every day, Peace Corps volunteers strive to make a difference and have improved the lives of millions of people - not just in communities around the world, but also in their local communities in the United States once they return home," said Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams. "This is the legacy of [President John F. Kennedy's] concept of international service, an idea that continues to capture the imagination of thousands of service-minded Americans today."

More than 200,000 Americans have served in 139 countries since Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961. It became an independent federal agency in 1981.

Vermont ranks number one in per-capita Peace Corps volunteers

(NECN: Anya Huneke, Burlington, VT) - When it comes to volunteering and helping others, Vermont is at the top of the list, according to new information released by the Peace Corps. And some who have worked with the Peace Corps say the rankings don't come as much of a surprise.

Five years ago, Erin Roche and her husband signed up for an experience that would take them halfway across the world- to the kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific.

They were looking for a change and an adventure that would benefit them- but more importantly, others.

They joined the Peace Corps, and for two years, taught English at a post-secondary school. They returned to the west coast to restart their careers...

Erin "But we got back to Seattle and our real lives weren't the same."

So, they moved to Vermont, and Roche got a job at the center for rural studies at the University of Vermont in Burlington.

Erin "Vermont seemed like a really interesting place- it had a lot of the same values that the Peace Corps makes you think about."

That could explain Vermont’s latest ranking by the Peace Corps as the number one volunteer-producing state - per capita - in the country.

According to data released this week, Vermont has the highest number of Peace Corps volunteers - almost 10 per 100-thousand.

Washington, D.C. ranks second- with almost eight, and Maine third- with almost six.

Not only is Vermont at the top of the list, but

its largest city, Burlington, is in the top ten in the country per capita for peace corps volunteers. Some are recent college graduates... but many others are residents-who are already involved in community service.">

Ned McMahon\Prof., Int'l Devel., UVM "Burlington is a progressive city- with a long history of civic engagement."

Ned McMahon - professor of international development at UVM - says he isn't surprised by the rankings.

Ned “It's not anything new, but it's certainly something I hope will continue."

Chances are, it will.

Jake Evans - a Peace Corps recruiter - says interest in Vermont has been steady, and applications across the country are up 18-percent over last year.

Jake: "It could be the economy... a new president... people looking for something else to do..."

Hisashi Kominami is among those considering the peace corps- after grad school at UVM.

Kominami ”It's something I always thought about doing."

And now, he says, may be as good a time as any.