Preface<br > here is good news in America! That is important infor-<br > mation for those whose steady diet of newspapers and<br >telecasts have begun to make them believe that the vast<br >majority of Americans are either involved in crime， drugs，<br >dishonesty， or violent behavior or at best are indifferent to<br >them.<br > It is true our society has all of these problems， and<br >unfortunately in many communities they are escalating.<br >What is not true is that most of our citizens are either<br >involved in creating these problems or uninvolved in sear-<br >ching for solutions.<br > In my opinion， it is time that the "good news" stories are<br >heard. There are， in fact， more people giving significantly of<br >their time， energy， and resources to improve the quality of<br >life in this country than ever before and many of them are<br >doing it as volunteers， which means they are not being paid<br >for their efforts. These quiet heroes are in every town and<br >city and they are 80 million strong. They contributed 19.5<br >billion hours of voluntary effort worth $150 billion in 1987<br >alone (according to the 1987 Gallup Survey "Giving and<br >Volunteering in the United States"). These numbers indicate<br >over 45 percent of adult Americans not only do care， but have<br >invested their time and energy to prove it. That is not just<br >good news， it s incredible news!<br > Why do people work hard for causes they care about<br >without even getting paid for doing it? That question is often<br >asked of volunteers， and there is no simple answer. Each<br >volunteer has his or her own unique reason for being in-<br >volved.<br > Deciding to volunteer is a very personal commitment<br >and covers the vast range of causes， concerns， beliefs， at-<br >titudes， and needs of our riL~xly diverse populace. It may not<br >be for everyone， but when close to half our adult population<br ><br >