Hawai'i trails most of the country when it comes to volunteering, according to the results of a study released yesterday that surprised local groups that rely on volunteers.

From 2002 to 2005, Hawai'i had a "volunteering rate" that saw 24.8 percent to 27 percent of residents donating their time, according to the study by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency whose programs include Senior Corps and AmeriCorps.

The group looked at all 50 states and the District of Columbia and ranked Hawai'i 44th in the country.

"That's surprising," said Cassandra Isidro, executive director of USO of Hawai'i. "We do fine. What I've experienced is that people in Hawai'i do volunteer. As long as we're doing our recruitment part, we have lots of people."

Utah's volunteering rate of 48 percent led all states. Nevada, at a rate of 18.8 percent, was last.

The study found that the number of Hawai'i volunteers ranged from 226,500 in 2002 to 259,500 in 2005. With an average volunteering rate of 25.4 percent from 2003 to 2005, Hawai'i fell behind the Western region's 29 percent and the country's 28.8 percent.

But a higher percentage of blacks in Hawai'i volunteered — at a rate of 31.7 percent — than did blacks in the West (24.6 percent) and the nation (20.9 percent).

"My experience is that people in Hawai'i do want to help," said Margot Schrire, who manages 3,000 volunteers at the Institute for Human Services. "That (the survey) does surprise me because at IHS volunteers are really the backbone of what we do here. Volunteering is a real powerful way that people can make a tangible difference in their community."

Butch Dela Cruz, executive director of the Aloha Medical Mission, said the results of the study surprised him because his group has had little trouble finding its 3,000 volunteers.

"From the board to the people who go on our missions, they're all volunteers, and they all pay their own costs," Dela Cruz said.

'WE'RE DOING TERRIFIC'

The report said that more than 65.4 million Americans performed service of some kind in 2005 alone, compared to 59.8 million in 2002.

"Overall, we're doing terrific," said David Eisner, chief executive of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that did the survey. "We seem to be having a renaissance of civic engagement."

Data for the survey were collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau.

Nationally, the study found that women volunteered more often than men, married people did more volunteer work, and blacks volunteered more than any other nonwhite group. The most committed age group was Americans 35 to 44 years old.

Most Americans — 34.8 percent — said they volunteered primarily through religious organizations, with 26.2 percent of volunteers giving time to educational or youth-related organizations.

More than 35 percent said they volunteered as coaches, referees, tutors or mentors, followed by fundraising at 29.7 percent and collection, preparation or distribution of foods at 26.3 percent.

"We need volunteering to be as much a part of people's lives as their work, their families and their social time," Eisner said.

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.