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Volunteers
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It is impossible to find out exactly how many volunteers
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are at work today in the United States.
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Thirty-seven million or so
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are known to belong to organizations like the Pink Ladies,
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Travelers’Aid, or Big Brothers;
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but those who work alone
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or in small informal groups cannot be counted.
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The total number of men and women
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who give their time to help others
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appears to be between fifty and sixty-eight million.
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They do almost anything:
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they sew, clean, scrub, paint, cook, repair things,
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record books for the blind, amuse sick children in hospitals,
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or escort senior citizens who do not want to go out alone.
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They give their blood; they work in libraries and schools;
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they translate documents for new citizens with a language problem
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or raise money to support local symphony orchestras;
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they answer the telephone calls of the desperate
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who are thinking of killing themselves,
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and who need a friendly ear.
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Volunteers start community projects
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too small to attract the attention of organized agencies,
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or work at jobs for which no funds are available.
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A handful of city folk will turn an empty lot into a playground
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for the children of their neighborhood;
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others decide to repair
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and paint a few dilapidated houses in their street.
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Somewhere else women cook and deliver two hot meals a day
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to elderly people living alone,
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and too sick or too tired to prepare their own food.
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Another group calls lonely old people once a day
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to chat a little and find out if they are all right.
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Some college students teach English,
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mathematics, or drawing to the inmates of a local jail.
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Young men and women spend part of their weekends
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collecting empty cans
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and bottles for the recycling center of their community,
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and some children pick up the trash left
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on the beach by the crowd of a summer holiday.
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Anywhere one looks, the army of volunteers is hard at work —
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not only in the United States,
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but in many other countries where “volunteerism” is spreading.