ACROSS THE board, volunteerism has come into vogue since September 11. "We have these information-request sign-up sheets. I had 200 people request additional information in a day, between 11 and five o’clock," says Joshua Tootoo, a recruiter for the Peace Corps’ Boston office who works primarily at Harvard University. "People are fevering about wanting to volunteer," says Krista Bascis, another recruiter, who works mostly at Boston University. She regularly fields calls from people who don’t know much about the Peace Corps and who want to donate their skills. "We have had a lot of people calling to inquire about Peace Corps, people with very unusual backgrounds," she says. "I had a helicopter pilot call. He was like, ‘What can I do? I just want to do something.’ "

Indeed, an upsurge in the volunteer spirit is hardly confined to college campuses. Richard Denby, a 47-year-old owner of a sled company in Vermont and a contributing editor to Food Arts magazine, also saw September 11 as his cue to join the Corps. "Volunteerism has come to the floor," he says with resolve. This summer, he’s leaving his wife, his 20-year-old son, and his business to head off to wherever the organization chooses to send him. "[Joining the Peace Corps] was one way that I can do something besides sitting around at dinner parties and talking. As well thought-out and vehement as dinner chatter is, it’s not enough."

Still, a lack of competition for students’ attention is fueling PC recruitment at colleges and universities. "When I was at the MIT job fair in late October, there were some booths where the companies didn’t even show up," marvels Bascis. Marie McCool, assistant director of career counseling at Tufts, says she’s had a difficult time getting businesses to man tables at career fairs. "The number of companies who are recruiting in finance is down significantly," she says. "They’re not hiring the same number of students as before. Their recruiting budgets have been cut, and it’s more financially feasible to just collect rŽsumŽs." Conversely, she notes, "we had Peace Corps come recently and they had a full schedule of interviews and they were doing a lot on-site." Doreen Sabina, a press officer in the Peace Corps’ Boston recruitment office, puts it bluntly: "The economy is working in our favor."

National statistics support the anecdotes. "More people are getting involved in volunteering and giving," says Patricia Nash Workman, a spokesperson for Independent Sector, a coalition of 700 nonprofit organizations that conducts studies on issues in the nonprofit sector. A recent Independent Sector study found that 70 percent of Americans donated time, money, or blood in response to the terrorist attacks. Young people, Workman adds, are especially quick to get involved. "College-age students are extremely active in nonprofit groups. Anecdotally what we’ve seen is that when people don’t have as much money to give, sometimes they overcompensate by giving more of their time."

Or it could just be that they don’t have anything better to do. Richie Moriarty, vice-president of the student body at Boston College, notes that friends who had been plowing full steam ahead toward business careers have quickly shifted gears. "One of my roommates is in the school of management. He was looking at the top five firms — you know, Goldman Sachs, Accenture," Moriarty says. "Now he’s looking at volunteering or grad school. He’s kind of re-evaluating. So many of my friends are looking at volunteering after school."

Tufts senior Karina Weinstein concurs. "My friend’s boyfriend is Business Finance Guy — and he’s thinking about the Peace Corps," she giggles. Then she grows reflective. "That’s good, I guess. That’s a good thing." Krista Bascis is certainly seeing a different kind of recruit in her tours of area universities. "I’ve seen more people who are in IT or business coming up and saying, ‘I’m a business major and I’m concerned about what there is for me after I graduate.’ " And, Bascis notes, the new volunteers are great for the Peace Corps, because they bring needed skill sets with them, including business acumen helpful in building community centers, and technology skills, good for setting up computer resources. "Anyone who’s in IT or in a business field," she says, "I think [their skills] might be beneficial to us."

For students who have always been interested in volunteering, the events of September 11 and the troubled economy are simply additional reasons to serve. Weinstein, who hopes to go to Nicaragua, says that given other circumstances, she still would have applied for the Peace Corps. But she probably would also have pursued a position at a non-governmental agency. "And maybe I’d get an offer," she muses, "and I’d be like, ‘Well, should I take this job or should I join the Peace Corps?’ Now it’s easy," she says definitively. "Peace Corps."

Fellow Tufts senior Beth Thompson is in a similar situation. "I was actually thinking about applying before September 11, but definitely thought after September 11 there was no better reason to go," she says. "I’m about to jump into a world that I know nothing about, and I want to learn about how people relate to each other and parts of different cultures. There’s no better way for me to learn than to teach others, too."

Richie Moriarty is sifting through several options, from the Jesuit Volunteer Corps to Appalachia Volunteers. Over the course of his four years at BC, he’s already done extensive volunteering and community service. Now many of his friends are joining him. "Everyone’s talking about how this is one of the hardest times to get a job," says Moriarty. "It’s the perfect time to do something else and wait for the economy to turn."

RECRUITERS AND volunteers alike welcome the surge in interest in the Peace Corps. "We need [volunteers] now more than ever," says recruiter Chris Lins, who works primarily at Boston College. He adds, only half-joking, "Where’s your application? I’ll bring you one. Are you ready?"

Of course, being interested, picking up an application, and watching a video don’t automatically mean getting accepted and shipping off. The application process can take six months to a year, and many say it’s constructed to separate the wheat from the chaff: it requires two essays, three references, extensive medical exams, and an in-depth, 90-minute interview. Last year, about 10,000 people applied; just under half actually got on a plane.

At the Welcome Back/Sendoff event, folks gather in a downstairs room at a church in Harvard Square, munching on chips and salsa, candy, and unrecognizable ethnic treats. Some returned volunteers are initially enthusiastic to hear about the increased interest in the Peace Corps. "That’s great," enthuses Maria Royston, who served in Cameroon in the mid 1990s. "We need ’em." But on second thought, she grows wary of the idea of volunteering as a back-up plan for some of today’s soon-to-be-unemployed business majors. "I’d hate to think the trend is that people are joining because they can’t get a job," says Royston. "When people drop out in the middle, it really sucks," adds Eric Studer, who served in Mauritania from 1997 to 1999. "Some of those villages have been waiting years for a volunteer, and [the dropout] took a spot that someone else could have occupied."

Tufts senior Beth Thompson feels conflicted, too. "Any good help is good help," she says. "It’s wonderful for the Peace Corps to have increased numbers, but as a second option, I don’t know. I don’t see PC as a back burner. I see it as a priority."

Still, Royston feels confident that the application process is rigorous enough to weed out those for whom the Peace Corps is only a fleeting interest in the absence of more lucrative offers. "The process is so strenuous you really have to stick with it," she says.

Studer agrees, launching into a tirade about the reasons people dropped out of his group in Africa: malaria, colon illness, broken bones, lovesickness for a faraway significant other. He pauses, grinning conspiratorially, and takes a swig of beer. "I’ll definitely be interested to see how many of them actually go," he says.

Nina Willdorf can be reached at nwilldorf[a]phx.com