Natalie DiBlasio

USA TODAY

There must be something in the maple syrup: Vermonters volunteered for the Peace Corps in larger proportion than any other state in 2014.

It is the third time in five years that tiny Vermont has claimed the top spot in the U.S. organization known for sending its volunteers to serve in the toughest spots on the planet, according to an annual report produced by the Peace Corps.

"Vermont is the happy hunting ground for Peace Corps. It really is Peace Corps heaven," Elizabeth Chamberlain, spokeswoman for Peace Corps Northeast Regional Recruitment Office, said. Chamberlain attributes the volunteer enthusiasm to a New England heritage of community service and involvement.

"These small states really overproduce for the number of people who live in them," Chamberlain said.

Since 2009, the Peace Corps has ranked the top 10 overall and per-capita volunteer-producing states and metropolitan areas across the country, Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet. The per-capita rankings measure the rate of volunteers per 100,000 of the population.

After Vermont, producing the most volunteers per capita are Washington, D.C., Washington state, Colorado, New Hampshire, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Minnesota and Maine, the report said.

Among metropolitan areas, New York City produces the most volunteers overall, followed by D.C. and Los Angeles. .

As for stand-alone cities, Ithaca, N.Y., Missoula, Mont., and Burlington, Vt. claim the top per-capita spots, the report said.

"Missoula, Mont., made the biggest jump," Hessler-Radelet said. Montana's per-capita ranking climbed from 10th spot to seventh and its metro area, Missoula, moved from sixth to second.

Sally Kintner of Kalispell, Mont., has been serving in Bonga, Ethiopia, since October 2012 as a community economic development volunteer. She just extended for a third year.

Kintner said she was inspired by her high school French teacher, who served in Tunisia.

"It was on my mind from age 16," she said. "I just knew it was something I wanted to do."

Peace Corps regional recruiter Erin Erickson in the Seattle regional office said she often works with universities to get volunteers.

"It's easy to recruit when the college culture is about service and making a difference in the community," Erickson said.

Washington state broke several records after jumping to the third spot for total volunteers and volunteers per capita, with 320 volunteers. For four years in a row, Washington has appeared in the top 10 in all four ranking categories, which no other state has done, the Peace Corps records show. Washington is also the first state to earn a top three spot in both state overall and per-capita rankings.

Each area boasts volunteers with unique sets of skills, Hessler-Radelet said.

"Montana is a great place to get someone with environmental or agricultural education," she said.

Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire are hot spots for French speakers and volunteers with backgrounds in health care, education, agriculture, environment and forestry, Chamberlain said.

"We take diversity very seriously," Hessler-Radelet said. "We are really just looking for Americans who want to serve and who are resilient and who have a huge interest in developing multicultural skills."

Changes this year to the Peace Corps' application and selection process resulted in a 22-year high in the number of applicants, Hessler-Radelet said. She expects interest to continue to grow.

"You should want to work internationally because we live in a global economy now," Hessler-Radelet said. "Our own nation is increasingly multicultural.

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