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Mitch Behrmann is precisely the kind of person Salt Lake County Volunteer Services is seeking.

He's 25, a University of Utah student originally from New Jersey who is working as an America First Credit Union teller while pursuing a mathematics degree.

In his spare time, he volunteers at Salt Lake County's animal shelter, where he works mostly with dogs, primarily those canines that require a lot of work to become adoptable.

"Baby boomers have been our key source of volunteers, and now they need help," county Volunteer Services Director Sheryl Ivey said this week when she presented her annual report to the County Council. "We definitely need some young people."

Her report showed that 23,803 volunteers logged 719,721 hours during 2014, doing work valued at $16.6 million, based on a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' listing of the county's average hourly wage as $23.10 per hour.

The number of volunteers is down from about 25,000 in 2013, Ivey said, noting the decline is consistent with a national trend attributed to the fact that members of the post-World War II "baby boomer" generation are moving from helping others to needing help.

That's where Behrmann and his contemporaries come in. Baby boomers, Ivey said, "grew up with the idea of volunteerism. Generation X and millennials are connected in other ways, but we're hoping to increase their numbers and are actively reaching out to young people."

Behrmann said he's grateful to volunteer at the animal shelter.

"It's almost therapy for me," he said. "I enjoy it a lot. There are lots of rewards that go with it."

Kiera Packer, the shelter's volunteer coordinator for special programs, said Behrmann has shown animal-handling skills that have prompted her to entrust him with training more difficult dogs.

"He's one of my best and most advanced volunteers," she said, noting that he is assigned to dogs that struggle with shelter life and also mentors other volunteers as they prepare stray animals for adoption as family pets.

"Mitch is a Sunday volunteer, which is an assignment I give to only a handful of volunteers, letting them work here without my supervision," Packer added. "He takes part in adoption events. He helps where it's needed."

Ivey said volunteer help is an integral part of 70 programs spread across county government. Needs range from the three people who serve on the Career Service Council to 105 foster grandparents and 1,611 individuals donating time to the jail system.

Packer said she needs all 377 of her volunteers.

"Without them, it would be much harder around here. We couldn't do this," she said. "They socialize our animals. They get them out of their cages and into the sunshine. They groom the cats. They help make [the animals'] stays here as pleasant as possible while they await their new owners."

The work is rewarding, Behrmann said.

"I've had a couple of dogs that were very fearful or had a biting history, one in particular recently that had some very bad behavior," he recalled. "She was one that was on the fence, that they were thinking of euthanizing."

Behrmann worked patiently with her, kept notes of how she progressed from one session to the next, and, eventually, the dog mellowed out enough to be put up for adoption.

"Now she has a really good home," Behrmann said. "Those cases are the ones that it's all about."

Inspired by Ivey's presentation, County Councilwoman Aimee Winder Newton "put out a cry for help" to all of her midvalley constituents to get involved and reverse the declining number of volunteers.

Giving their time

Salt Lake County saved an estimated $16.6 million in 2014 from the services of more than 23,800 volunteers who dedicated nearly 720,000 hours to providing community assistance. The programs that received the most help, in terms of individual volunteers, were:

Parks and Recreation, adult and youth services • 4,079

Million Tree Project • 2,386

Jail services • 1,611

Library community services • 1,561

Senior centers • 1,428

Mount Olympus Community Council • 1,152

Meals on Wheels • 1,092

Recycling information office • 1,040

Sheriff's home detention/labor detail program • 920

Center for the Arts patron services • 653

4-H • 506

Source: Salt Lake County Volunteer Services —

To volunteer

Contact Salt Lake County Volunteer Services, 385-468-7093, http://www.slco.org/volunteer