USA Today article discusses the trend of young people serving, but says it’s not all about a shaky economy:

University of Florida senior Maria Fitzgerald never expected to be deployed to New York on her fourth day of volunteering with the American Red Cross.

But after Hurricane Irene hit the East Coast, Fitzgerald and another full-time intern at the Red Cross, Molly Jansen, were asked to drive from Florida to New York.

"We were just told to pack our bags and go help," Fitzgerald says. "We ended up staying in New York for a month."

Fitzgerald and Jansen are two of a growing group of college students and recent graduates engaging in longer-term service activities.

Anna Oakley, a member of Americorps' National Civilian Community Corps, teaches kids about river life at the National Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque, Iowa.

The number of college students who volunteer actually decreased from 2009 to 2010, but the total number of volunteer hours increased, a 2010 study conducted by Volunteering in America showed.


Read the full article.