Benefits of Volunteering in the Community

May 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

 

Volunteers fit new windows at The Sumac Centre... 

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There are many benefits to volunteering and community service. Volunteering in the community provides a multi-facet of benefits any of which is reason enough to take the big step. Find fulfillment in yourself by using volunteering to advance your career, find personal fulfillment and help the lives of others.

1.) Advancing your career- Volunteering to advance your career begins with high school. It is a requirement in many high schools to perform a set number of volunteering hours in order to graduate. Even if it isn’t required, you should be volunteering if you have plans to attend college. Admissions offices love to see a solid history of volunteer work on your resume.

2.) Advancing yourself personally- There is a great joy that comes with volunteering and helping others. While we customarily trades our services for money, it is great for the soul to give of yourself with no intentions other than helping others.

3.) Helping the less fortunate- There are plenty of people in your community who are less fortunate than yourself. By virtue of the fact that you are reading an article on the internet dictates you are better off than someone living on the street. You will receive general appreciation from people who needed your help and will remember your contribution for years to come.

Volunteering has a number of benefits but none of them make a difference if you don’t go out and start. Few people ever regret volunteering and it’s usually something a person will do time and time again once they start.

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Education Breakdown of Volunteers

February 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Each year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases statistics related to volunteering. The statistics break down the various demographics of volunteers such as breaking the volunteer population down by sex and race. One of the more interesting breakdowns is how the volunteering population splits by education level. Below is the breakdown of which groups volunteer from most to least:

1.) Bachelor’s Degree or Higher- More than 43 percent of those who volunteer have at least a bachelor’s degree. This comprises the highest category of volunteers. Many people pick up goof volunteering habits on their way to their degree and contine the tradition after they graduate. Others are just thankful at their good fortune and want to give back to the community.

2.) Some College- Those who didn’t quite get a degree but did attend some college comprise 31 percent of the volunteer population. That means 74 percent of those who volunteer have at least some form of college.

3.) High School Graduates- A high school diploma is the level of schooling achieved for about 19 percent of volunteers. Many times it is a requirement to graduate high school to fill about 20 hours out on the community volunteering. Though it is largely in the hands of the students, there are certain criteria that must be met in order for the volunteering to count towards graduation.

4.) Non-graduates- Less Than 10 percent of volunteers have not graduated high school. This group can include those who got their GED diploma or have no diploma at all. It is certainly uncommon to find people who didn’t graduate high school yet still have the opportunity to get out and volunteer.

It isn’t overly surprising that volunteers tend to be the better educated members of society. They are often in the best position to volunteer if they are economically secure and have the time and desire to get out there and make a difference.

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As Jobs Are Lost, Many Turn to Volunteering

February 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The economy is still shaky and many and turning to volunteering. A job loss can feel devastating and the process to re-join the workforce is often painstaking and tedious. However, that does not mean it can’t be productive. Volunteering is a great way to stay busy and feed the soul as you search for a new place of employment or a new career. Below is a list of you are likely to run into in the volunteering circuit:

1.) The Recently Unemployed- Your next employer does not want to hear that while you were looking for a job these last months, you didn’t really work on anything but a beer gut. Showing the motivation to commit to volunteerism while you await your next paycheck shows that you are a hard worker. Your next employer will be impressed that you would rather make a difference that catch up on beauty sleep.

2.) High School Kids- Volunteering is a fun way to connect with today’s youth. Remember when you were in high school and had to volunteer to satisfy high school requirements? Well, many schools are still sending high school kids out to gain some valuable experience in the real world. Get on out and talk with them.

3.) Housewives- Women who have any extra time in their day after taking care of their home will often get out and volunteer. Making a home and all the tasks that go along with raising a family is no small feat, but volunteering allows moms a different sort of community interaction than they might otherwise experience.

Regardless of your reason, you will not regret the decision to volunteer. Enriching the soul may sound cliche but the benefits are undeniable. A good nights sleep follows a bust and productive day. Get out and touch base  with your community and you’re guaranteed to find it a rewarding experience.

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Creating A Volunteering Event

September 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Volunteering has so many and varied opportunities for those retirees or a busy mom or a teenager just finishing high school. But there are those individuals who want something unique rather than a volunteering opportunity that anybody can find out about. So here is an idea which will fill a need and give you a unique volunteering job. If you are living in a town of any size, there will be a hospital with a children’s floor. Or if you are in a large metropolitan area there may even be a children’s hospital. In either case, contact the volunteer coordinator at the hospital and tell them that you want to do something special for some of the kids that are hospitalized either for a short period or for a longer period of time. If you want to do your project with several kids then perhaps with the parent’s permission you could take the child’s picture and write up a little about them. If the child is elementary age, take your collection of pictures to a local elementary school and ask to speak to the class or classes of kids the same age. Show them the pictures and leave them there for a week. Challenge the kids to make a cheery card for the hospitalized child and maybe include a stick of gum, some mints, or a little bag of nuts, etc in the card. Tell the teacher and the kids that you will be back to collect the cards in a week. You are volunteering and you are giving a classroom of kids the opportunity to see how good it feels to do something for someone else. You can do this for multiple children in the hospital and even for older kids in middle school or high school. It takes a little time to launch the project, but once you have contacts at the hospital and at the schools, you will be able to stream line the process. Get other moms or dads involved also so that as many of the kids in the hospital will be covered as possible.

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