Surge in Peace Corps volunteers

The Peace Corps, which used to bill itself as “the toughest job you’ll ever love,” suddenly doesn’t look as tough anymore.

A new generation of idealists and a slumping economy are pushing a record number of Georgians to volunteer for the corps.

“We are seeing our numbers go up every month, and I expect an increase in applications and inquiries in 2009,” said David Leavitt, Peace Corps spokesman at the Atlanta regional headquarters. “Nationally, the number [of applicants] is up 16 percent,” he said.

Leavitt said the Peace Corps placed 271 Georgians in 2006, and 270 in 2007. It sent 354 Georgians overseas in 2008, a 31 percent increase.

Recruiters are hearing a mix of reasons for the surge. The poor U.S. job market is driving people to consider new ways to gain real-world experience and a hiring advantage on their return. Also, the younger generation has a heightened sense of civic duty, which President Barack Obama’s call to serve sharpened, they say.

The president called for doubling the Peace Corps’ budget, and on Tuesday he signed the Serve America Act, which will triple the size of the AmeriCorps program in the next eight years. The federal Corporation for National and Community Service, which operates AmeriCorps, is also seeing a surge in applicants for its one-year U.S. service program. Applicants have tripled since 2008.

Leavitt said he was struck on a recent recruiting trip by the idealism of Morehouse College students, and he heard Obama’s emphasis on service reflected from them.

“They want more out of a job than just long hours,” he said.

The surge in applications means the organization will take only the strongest candidates who can offer needed skills, such as health care training or education, he said.

Krisanne Post, 21, a Georgia State University graduate student, will head to Eastern Europe this spring to teach English. She was looking for a way to integrate her studies in linguistics with real-world experience. She also thought she would need something to give her direction on returning.

“It’s more practical for me,” she said. “My experience with the Peace Corps will help me figure out what I want to do when I get back.”

Stephen Karaga, 22, of Lawrenceville is an idealist.

He applied for the Peace Corps before graduating from Georgia Tech last December with a degree in management. He will head to Malawi this spring to work with nonprofits, and with business development and youth programs.

“I wanted to do something to contribute to improve the lives of other people,” said Karaga, who also has tutored Atlanta students.

The corporation surveys American youth to find what is driving their growing sense of volunteerism.

Sandy Scott, a spokesman, said that in 1989, 12 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds did some volunteer service. That proportion nearly doubled by the last survey in 2005 to 23 percent. Scott agreed a mix of economic conditions and idealism is driving the youth movement. This generation deeply feels a call to serve, having grown up in the age of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and Hurricane Katrina. They have seen great need and been moved by it, he said.

“There are big problems, but this generation thinks that volunteers can make a difference,” Scott said.

BY THE NUMBERS

7,876 Current volunteers

60% Female

27 Average age

5% Volunteers over 50

76 Countries served