In Monday’s Eagle, staff reporter William Pitts provided a bit of insight into area volunteerism and some of the organizations that rely it to function.

In the same edition, community editor Paula Grubbs told us about an upcoming Day of Hope, an event from Allison Park Church’s Butler Campus intended to provide food or some service that would be a good way to help people in need in the Butler community.

There was also the news of a fatal motor vehicle crash, in which Pitts told us about an East Butler Volunteer Fire Department ambulance taking an injured motorist to a hospital.

This is all to say there’s a lot of volunteering going on.

A quick search to determine the rate of volunteerism in Pennsylvania turned up few numbers but lots of opportunities.

An interesting set of numbers did pop up, from AmeriCorps, which, according to its website, is a federal government network of local, state and national service programs that connects more than 70,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet community needs in education, the environment, public safety, health and homeland security.

In their ranking of states and cities by volunteer rates, Pennsylvania came in 21st among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. In the ranking of cities, Pittsburgh and its metro area ranked seventh nationally for volunteerism.

The state also came in fourth for veteran volunteerism.

The interesting balance in those numbers is that the commonwealth as a whole comes in toward the middle of the list, while Pittsburgh as a city and metro area comes in near the top of the list. That says something pretty awesome about the people in our region.

And while these rates are impressive, they aren’t nearly enough. There remains an emergency medical services staffing crisis, which is a particularly stressful area to volunteer in. The Salvation Army pointed out they’ve had to pay people to work as bell ringers for their annual Red Kettle Campaign, and even that hasn’t brought in enough people.

And that’s in this region, the one ranked seventh for volunteerism in the country. What does that mean for Miami, which has the worst rates for volunteerism among cities in the country? Or New Mexico, which is ranked last among states for volunteerism?

Volunteering isn’t for everyone, but there’s a good chance there’s something most people can find satisfaction in volunteering for.

For those who haven’t, take a look at volunteering. It’s good for your soul, the souls of your fellow volunteers, and the folks who benefit from the work of volunteers.

And who knows, maybe one day the Pittsburgh metro area could out-volunteer No. 1-ranked Minneapolis.

— RJ