In communities with increasingly strained budgets, citizens and municipal governments have turned more frequently to unconventional means to get things done. For example, Keystone Crossroads previously reported that citizens and governments are using crowdfunding to complete civic projects that budgets don’t cover. We also reported that some municipalities are merging to leverage limited resources. And most recently, we ran a story about the city of Pittsburgh using volunteers to help evaluate its vertical infrastructure, i.e. steps.
Volunteerism is as American as apple pie — think volunteer firefighters, for example. Pennsylvania, a largely rural state, has a whole network of safety-focused volunteers. According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, more than 60 million Americans volunteer annually. In Pennsylvania nearly 30 percent of residents volunteer, which ranks the Commonwealth about average (26th) among the states and Washington, D.C. (the rate of volunteerism is just below the state average in Philadelphia and just above average in Pittsburgh).
Read the full version of this report at Keystone Crossroads' website. Keystone Crossroads is a new statewide public media initiative reporting on the challenges facing Pennsylvania's cities. WPSU is a participating station.
