20 Reasons Why Volunteering is Good For You

bymariamcm

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11 years ago

20 Reasons Why Volunteering Is Good For You

Volunteering can bring you a great deal of personal satisfaction. I remember one time I was in church in Abu Dhabi. The Vicar was talking about giving back to the community, and asked everyone to think about what we contributed to others in our day to day lives. He went on to say that the Thrift Shop which was on the church grounds, could not open on Friday (the equivalent of Sunday in the UAE) because there were not enough volunteers to run it. It was only open for a few hours on two weekdays. I was surprised because the church grounds are home to several houses of worship, and the place was always packed on Friday. The Vicar said that if people would be willing to give up just two hours of their time on a Friday, the shop could open.

I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I thought ‘I could give up two measly hours a week to do that!’ So I spoke to a couple of friends and asked if they would be willing to help. They were. I then set about getting enough people to open the Thrift Shop on Friday. I realized that we needed a lot more people if the shop were to remain open every Friday, permanently. So I rallied! I wrote up a flyer and handed them out to in church. I got free advertising in a local magazine, calling for volunteers. I trained everyone, including Team Leaders. Within 3 months, I had managed to recruit 7 sets of Team Leaders and had a list of 40 volunteers. It was great fun and as a result, just from a little bit of effort and a lot of support from caring people willing to give up a couple of hours, the Thrift Shop is open every Friday…for 4 hours a day. That was 3 years ago and it’s still going strong.

Have you thought about the benefits you will get from volunteering? If you consider the many benefits you will receive, you might start asking yourself why you aren't more involved with helping a cause. Consider these 20 reasons to volunteer some of your time:

1. To make new friends

2. To build personal and professional contacts

3. To build your self-esteem and self-confidence

4. To develop new job skills

5. To make a difference in the world

6. To increase personal satisfaction

7. To add experience to your resume

8. To develop people skills

9. To develop communication skills

10. To do something as a family

11. To explore career possibilities

12. To feel needed and appreciated

13. To share your skills with others

14. To be challenged

15. To do something different

16. To earn academic credit

17. To improve your health

18. To have fun!

19. To get a great feeling of personal satisfaction

20. Giving (of your time or money) sends a powerful message to the Universe – the more you give out, the more you get back

You will get more out of your volunteer experience than you put into it. Don't hesitate to identify some worthy causes in your area and donate some of your time to volunteer. You will be glad you did.

Relax, focus, achieve

Maria