Giving our time for free is something most people reserve for their family, friends, and hobbies. After all, it’s not as if we typically work at jobs out of the goodness of our hearts, nor that our bank will forgo mortgage payments if we’re seen to be doing enough good in the world.
That said, from time to time it can be deeply healthy and rewarding to volunteer your time in a positive pursuit. For some, that might mean picking up trash in their local neighborhood, taking the time to help out at a homeless shelter, or acting as a traffic warden for a fundraising event.
It’s said that work can help people feel better and productive, and serves a worthwhile means of regulating your emotions and investing your energies in something that helps you. When volunteering for the good of your community, or a cause you believe in, or even people you like, this goes double.
But how and why can someone get involved in volunteering? In this post, we’ll discuss that and more:
Volunteering Comes In All Shapes & Sizes
Volunteering isn’t solely limited to the homeless shelter or picking up trash from your local park. It might be that you decide to fundraise for a marathon to help bring value to a chosen charity. You might decide to help your child’s school sports team by crafting the appropriate lineup cards or even helping their coach with lifts to away games. Volunteering might also mean volunteering your time to spread awareness about an issue, such as mental health support for men in your local area, working with charities aimed at spreading awareness on the street. If one thing doesn’t appeal to you, try the next, and you may find your calling.
Volunteering Can Be Great Fun
It can often seem as though volunteering is a grim duty that you have to bear with a smile, but that’s not the case at all. Volunteering helps you make new friends, take part in fun tasks like fundraising, cleaning up a local community, committing to conversation, helping chaperone people around your local museum during events, and more. In some cases it might even open up opportunities in certain fields - as mentioned, would-be museum employees gain real credit for volunteering in cultural institutions. Volunteering can give you access to places you may not have gone otherwise, or works towards results you care for.
Volunteering Gives You New Skills
Volunteering can give you new skills and may even help you build networked contacts in the best way. For instance, those who help out in homeless shelters may become able to assist with wider government programs, from the rollout of humanitarian aid in the city centre. We saw that during Covid-19, where many routine volunteers were responsible for assisting people in the vaccination drive, in helping underserved communities access that, and more. In other words, volunteering helps you get better at communication, thinking clearly during tough times, and making good on empathy instead of just speaking about it. All valuable characteristics in any human.
With this advice, you’re sure to get involved in volunteering in the healthiest way possible.