A recent report released by the Corporation for National and Community Service ranked Hawai'i 43rd in the nation for volunteerism. We can do better.

I took a long time to get going as a volunteer. I had been interested in getting involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters for years. I am an Eagle Scout and feel a consistent desire, perhaps fueled by guilt, to contribute to the community. It's a feeling that was probably generated from those early years in scouting. Despite this desire, I was hesitant; always brushing it off, telling myself I didn't have the time to donate — that I was too busy.

But one day, about two and a half years ago, I was sitting around watching TV, and I decided to look up Big Brothers Big Sisters online. I got the number and called. They told me all I had to do was spend about three hours every other week and I could help make a real difference in a child's life. At the time, I was enrolled at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa as a full-time student and was working a full-time job.

I have been volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters as a mentor for more than two years. My Little Brother turns 13 this month and has had more challenges than anyone should have had as a child. His father disappeared before he was born. His mother, incapable of taking care of him, moved to the Mainland to try to pull her life together. So my Little Brother has been staying with his very loving grandmother and his great-grandparents. Recently, because of their health issues, he has been spending much of his time at the home of his uncle, who has three children of his own. It has been a confusing childhood, with many disruptions and much pain, not always expressed.

Today, I work full-time with a marketing communications firm and I still spend time with my Little Brother. We often "hang out" together on a weekly basis, and frequently well in excess of three hours. We've gone to fairs, sporting events and movies, played video games and basketball, and studied together. There are few people I would rather spend my time with than my Little Brother.

Just weeks ago, my Little Brother told me he had made the honor roll for the first time.

Despite his hardships, he is prevailing. It is my hope that the time we continue to spend together will help keep him on a path to success. Then maybe one day he'll make it on the dean's list at a college. I'll look back and know that he did it, and flatter myself by thinking that I helped.

So maybe it's a little ego-gratification. Maybe it's because I get more out of it than I put in. But it's certainly because there's a need in our community, and helping fill that need makes me feel good. Try it. That's why I volunteer.

There are so many ways to help. We can all make a difference — one person at a time.

Jason Jutz, a Makiki resident and political science graduate from the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, is an account executive for Loomis-ISC. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.