Young people's volunteering discussed at conference
Former Sen. Sam Nunn among panel members at community service gathering.

By CHRISTOPHER QUINN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
June 3, 2008

Millennials, that massive bulge of young Americans born starting about 1982, have been portrayed in media as spoiled, distracted, indulged, obsessed with technology and dependent on their parents.

Less often heard are stories about how much good they do.
 
They volunteer — build playgrounds, tutor, travel to the Gulf Coast to rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and raise money for causes — at twice the rates their parents did, said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service.

...

Darell Hammond, head of KaBoom, which builds playgrounds using volunteer labor, said after the discussion that millennials are different from their parents in other ways as well. They want results now, and they will not wait around for orders at a helping event. They jump right in and start working, creating their own order as they go.

"They have energy and ambition. And they don't ask for permission; they ask for forgiveness," Hammond said.

"They have this smart mob mentality. They just show up and start doing stuff." [More]

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