Youth from low-income backgrounds have a volunteer rate of 43 percent, compared with 59 percent for other youth and are less likely to participate in other service or school civic clubs, the Corporation for National and Community Service said Sunday.

'Over and over, we've seen how service can have a powerful impact on a young person's life,' chief executive David Eisner said in a statement.

The group, which promotes volunteering through federal programs such as Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America, said it found that poor youth are more likely to volunteer with religious organizations than with youth civic or leadership groups.

Some 48 percent of youths from disadvantaged backgrounds who volunteered said they did so because of religious or spiritual beliefs.

By volunteering, poor youth are 40 percent more likely to believe they can make a difference in their community and 50 percent more likely to say they probably will graduate from a four-year college, according to the report.

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