Last week the Corporation for National and Community Service released the 2011 version of their annual report “Volunteering and Civic Life in America”, which ranks cities and states according to the percentage of their population who perform some type of volunteer service over the course of a given year. Seattle’s been ranked #4 every year since 2008, but in 2011 we moved up one position to #3, behind only Rochester and Minneapolis-St Paul. It’s appropriate that the report comes out around the holidays each year, because this is the perfect time of the year for all of us to take the time to get out and give back to our communities. There are still many of our neighbors who find themselves in need of a little extra help this holiday season.

Estela Ortega, Executive Director of El Centro de la Raza

On Monday I visited El Centro de la Raza to help deliver some food to families in need. They have a regular hot meal program that provides lunch during the day to those who need it. Thanks to generous funding from the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, El Centro de la Raza was also able to distribute holiday meal baskets to 69 families who are part of their community. These families will now be able to have turkey dinners with all the fixings thanks to the generosity of their fellow Seattleites, and I was honored to be able to volunteer my time handing out meal baskets.

If you’re among the 33.4% of the residents of the greater Seattle area who volunteered your time last year helping someone in need, thank you very much for your service. If you’re not, now’s the perfect time to get involved–check out the City’s community volunteering portal to get started.

Happy holidays.

Images by Thao Tran

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Posted by: Mayor Mike McGinn