benefits of voluntary work essay

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Why volunteer?

Benefit 1: volunteering connects you to others, benefit 2: volunteering is good for your mind and body, benefit 3: volunteering can advance your career, benefit 4: volunteering brings fun and fulfillment to your life, how to find the right volunteer opportunity, getting the most out of volunteering, volunteering and its surprising benefits.

Volunteering can help you make friends, learn new skills, advance your career, and even feel happier and healthier. Learn how to find the right volunteer opportunity for you.

With busy lives, it can be hard to find time to volunteer. However, the benefits of volunteering can be enormous. Volunteering offers vital help to people in need, worthwhile causes, and the community, but the benefits can be even greater for you, the volunteer. The right match can help you to find friends, connect with the community, learn new skills, and even advance your career.

Giving to others can also help protect your mental and physical health. It can reduce stress, combat depression, keep you mentally stimulated, and provide a sense of purpose. While it’s true that the more you volunteer, the more benefits you’ll experience, volunteering doesn’t have to involve a long-term commitment or take a huge amount of time out of your busy day. Giving in even simple ways can help those in need and improve your health and happiness.

Benefits of volunteering: 4 ways to feel healthier and happier

• Volunteering connects you to others.
• Volunteering is good for your mind and body.
• Volunteering can advance your career.
• Volunteering brings fun and fulfillment to your life.

One of the more well-known benefits of volunteering is the impact on the community. Volunteering allows you to connect to your community and make it a better place. Even helping out with the smallest tasks can make a real difference to the lives of people, animals, and organizations in need. And volunteering is a two-way street: It can benefit you and your family as much as the cause you choose to help. Dedicating your time as a volunteer helps you make new friends, expand your network, and boost your social skills.

Make new friends and contacts

One of the best ways to make new friends and strengthen existing relationships is to commit to a shared activity together. Volunteering is a great way to meet new people, especially if you are new to an area. It strengthens your ties to the community and broadens your support network, exposing you to people with common interests, neighborhood resources, and fun and fulfilling activities.

Increase your social and relationship skills

While some people are naturally outgoing, others are shy and have a hard time meeting new people. Volunteering gives you the opportunity to practice and develop your social skills, since you are meeting regularly with a group of people with common interests. Once you have momentum, it’s easier to branch out and make more friends and contacts.

Volunteering as a family

Children watch everything you do. By giving back to the community, you’ll show them firsthand how volunteering makes a difference and how good it feels to help other people and animals and enact change. It’s also a valuable way for you to get to know organizations in the community and find resources and activities for your children and family.

Volunteering provides many benefits to both mental and physical health.

Volunteering helps counteract the effects of stress, anger, and anxiety. The social contact aspect of helping and working with others can have a profound effect on your overall psychological well-being. Nothing relieves stress better than a meaningful connection to another person. Working with pets and other animals has also been shown to improve mood and reduce stress and anxiety.

Volunteering combats depression. Volunteering keeps you in regular contact with others and helps you develop a solid support system, which in turn protects you against depression.

Volunteering makes you happy . By measuring hormones and brain activity, researchers have discovered that being helpful to others delivers immense pleasure. Human beings are hard-wired to give to others. The more we give, the happier we feel.

[Read: Cultivating Happiness]

Volunteering increases self-confidence. You are doing good for others and the community, which provides a natural sense of accomplishment. Your role as a volunteer can also give you a sense of pride and identity. And the better you feel about yourself, the more likely you are to have a positive view of your life and future goals.

Volunteering provides a sense of purpose. Older adults, especially those who have retired or lost a spouse, can find new meaning and direction in their lives by helping others. Whatever your age or life situation, volunteering can help take your mind off your own worries, keep you mentally stimulated, and add more zest to your life.

Volunteering helps you stay physically healthy. Studies have found that those who volunteer have a lower mortality rate than those who do not. Older volunteers tend to walk more, find it easier to cope with everyday tasks, are less likely to develop high blood pressure, and have better thinking skills. Volunteering can also lessen symptoms of chronic pain and reduce the risk of heart disease.

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I have limited mobility—can I still volunteer?

People with disabilities or chronic health conditions can still benefit greatly from volunteering. In fact, research has shown that adults with disabilities or health conditions ranging from hearing and vision loss to heart disease, diabetes or digestive disorders all show improvement after volunteering.

Whether due to a disability, a lack of transportation, or time constraints, many people choose to volunteer their time via phone or computer. In today’s digital age, many organizations need help with writing, graphic design, email, and other web-based tasks. Some organizations may require you to attend an initial training session or periodical meetings while others can be conducted completely remotely. In any volunteer situation, make sure that you are getting enough social contact, and that the organization is available to support you should you have questions.

If you’re considering a new career, volunteering can help you get experience in your area of interest and meet people in the field. Even if you’re not planning on changing careers, volunteering gives you the opportunity to practice important skills used in the workplace, such as teamwork, communication, problem solving, project planning, task management, and organization. You might feel more comfortable stretching your wings at work once you’ve honed these skills in a volunteer position first.

Teaching you valuable job skills

Just because volunteer work is unpaid does not mean the skills you learn are basic. Many volunteering opportunities provide extensive training. For example, you could become an experienced crisis counselor while volunteering for a women’s shelter or a knowledgeable art historian while donating your time as a museum docent.

[Read: Finding the Right Career]

Volunteering can also help you build upon skills you already have and use them to benefit the greater community. For instance, if you hold a successful sales position, you can raise awareness for your favorite cause as a volunteer advocate, while further developing and improving your public speaking, communication, and marketing skills.

Gaining career experience

Volunteering offers you the chance to try out a new career without making a long-term commitment. It is also a great way to gain experience in a new field. In some fields, you can volunteer directly at an organization that does the kind of work you’re interested in. For example, if you’re interested in nursing, you could volunteer at a hospital or a nursing home.

Your volunteer work might also expose you to professional organizations or internships that could benefit your career.

When it comes to volunteering, passion and positivity are the only requirements

While learning new skills can be beneficial to many, it’s not a requirement for a fulfilling volunteer experience. Bear in mind that the most valuable assets you can bring to any volunteer effort are compassion, an open mind, a willingness to pitch in wherever needed, and a positive attitude.

Volunteering is a fun and easy way to explore your interests and passions. Doing volunteer work you find meaningful and interesting can be a relaxing, energizing escape from your day-to-day routine of work, school, or family commitments. Volunteering also provides you with renewed creativity, motivation, and vision that can carry over into your personal and professional life.

[Read: Building Better Mental Health]

Many people volunteer in order to make time for hobbies outside of work as well. For instance, if you have a desk job and long to spend time outdoors, you might consider volunteering to help plant a community garden, walk dogs for an animal shelter, or help out at a children’s camp.

There are numerous volunteer opportunities available. The key is to find a position that you would enjoy and are capable of doing. It’s also important to make sure that your commitment matches the organization’s needs. Ask yourself the following:

• Would you like to work with adults, children, animals, or remotely from home?
• Do you prefer to work alone or as part of a team?
• Are you better behind the scenes or do you prefer to take a more visible role?
• How much time are you willing to commit?
• What skills can you bring to a volunteer job?
• What causes are important to you?

Consider your interests

You will have a richer and more enjoyable volunteering experience if you first take some time to identify your goals and interests. Think about why you want to volunteer. What would you enjoy doing? The opportunities that match both your goals and your interests are most likely to be fun and fulfilling.

What are your volunteering goals?

To find a volunteer position that’s right for you, look for something that matches your personality, skills, and interests. Ask yourself if there is something specific you want to do or achieve as a volunteer.

For example, you might want to:

• Improve your neighborhood.
• Meet new people with different outlooks or experiences.
• Try something new.
• Do something rewarding with your spare time.
• See new places or experience a different way of living.
• Try a new type of work that you might want to pursue as a full-time job.
• Expand on your interests and hobbies.

Consider several volunteer possibilities

Don’t limit yourself to just one organization or one specific type of job. Sometimes an opportunity looks great on paper, but the reality is quite different. Try to visit different organizations and get a feel for what they are like and if you click with other staff and volunteers.

Where to find volunteer opportunities

• Community theaters, museums, and monuments.
• Libraries or senior centers.
• Service organizations such as Lions Clubs or Rotary Clubs.
• Local animal shelters, rescue organizations, or wildlife centers.
• Youth organizations, sports teams, and after-school programs.
• Historical restorations, national parks, and conservation organizations.
• Places of worship such as churches or synagogues.
• Online directories and other resources (see below).

How much time should you volunteer?

Volunteering doesn’t have to take over your life to be beneficial. In fact, research shows that just two to three hours per week, or about 100 hours a year, can confer the most benefits—to both you and your chosen cause. The important thing is to volunteer only the amount of time that feels comfortable to you. Volunteering should feel like a fun and rewarding hobby, not another chore on your to-do list.

You’re donating your valuable time, so it’s important that you enjoy and benefit from your volunteering. To make sure that your volunteer position is a good fit:

Ask questions. You want to make sure that the experience is right for your skills, your goals, and the time you want to spend. Sample questions for your volunteer coordinator might address your time commitment, if there’s any training involved, who you will be working with, and what to do if you have questions during your experience.

Make sure you know what’s expected. You should be comfortable with the organization and understand the time commitment. Consider starting small so that you don’t over commit yourself at first. Give yourself some flexibility to change your focus if needed.

Don’t be afraid to make a change. Don’t force yourself into a bad fit or feel compelled to stick with a volunteer role you dislike. Talk to the organization about changing your focus or look for a different organization that’s a better fit.

If volunteering overseas, choose carefully. Some volunteer programs abroad can cause more harm than good if they take much-needed paying jobs away from local workers. Look for volunteer opportunities with reputable organizations.

Enjoy yourself. The best volunteer experiences benefit both the volunteer and the organization. If you’re not enjoying yourself, ask yourself why. Is it the tasks you’re performing? The people you’re working with? Or are you uncomfortable simply because the situation is new and unfamiliar? Pinpointing what’s bothering you can help you decide how to proceed.

VolunteerMatch  – Find opportunities that match your volunteer interests, from location to type of work. (VolunteerMatch)

Idealist  – Find volunteer opportunities in your local area or internationally. (Idealist)

National and Community Service  – Federal organization offering volunteer positions across the U.S. (National Service)

Volunteer  – Directory of environmental volunteer opportunities. (Volunteer.gov)

U.S. Peace Corps  – Offers volunteer opportunities overseas and includes a  50 Plus  division. (Peace Corps)

American Red Cross  – Volunteer in any of the Red Cross’s key service areas. (Red Cross)

More Information

• Simple Changes, Big Rewards - A Practical, Easy Guide for Healthy, Happy Living. (Harvard Medical School Special Health Report)
• The Health Benefits of Volunteering: Recent Research (PDF) - Research on the benefits of volunteering, especially for seniors. (Corporation for National and Community Service)
• The many ways volunteering is good for your heart - Includes resources for finding volunteer positions. (Harvard Health Publications)
• 10 Tips on Volunteering Wisely - Tips to make the most of your volunteering experience. (Network for Good)
• Carr, D. C., Kail, B. L., & Rowe, J. W. (2018). The Relation of Volunteering and Subsequent Changes in Physical Disability in Older Adults. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B , 73(3), 511–521. Link
• Kim, E. S., Whillans, A. V., Lee, M. T., Chen, Y., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2020). Volunteering and Subsequent Health and Well-Being in Older Adults: An Outcome-Wide Longitudinal Approach. American Journal of Preventive Medicine , 59(2), 176–186. Link
• Lawton, R. N., Gramatki, I., Watt, W., & Fujiwara, D. (2021). Does Volunteering Make Us Happier, or Are Happier People More Likely to Volunteer? Addressing the Problem of Reverse Causality When Estimating the Wellbeing Impacts of Volunteering. Journal of Happiness Studie , 22(2), 599–624. Link
• Okun, M. A., Yeung, E. W., & Brown, S. (2013). Volunteering by older adults and risk of mortality: A meta-analysis. Psychology and Aging , 28(2), 564–577. Link
• Salt, E., Crofford, L. J., & Segerstrom, S. (2017). The Mediating and Moderating Effect of Volunteering on Pain and Depression, Life Purpose, Well-Being, and Physical Activity. Pain Management Nursing , 18(4), 243–249. Link

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how to write a great community service essay.

College Admissions , Extracurriculars

Are you applying to a college or a scholarship that requires a community service essay? Do you know how to write an essay that will impress readers and clearly show the impact your work had on yourself and others?

Read on to learn step-by-step instructions for writing a great community service essay that will help you stand out and be memorable.

What Is a Community Service Essay? Why Do You Need One?

A community service essay is an essay that describes the volunteer work you did and the impact it had on you and your community. Community service essays can vary widely depending on specific requirements listed in the application, but, in general, they describe the work you did, why you found the work important, and how it benefited people around you.

Community service essays are typically needed for two reasons:

#1: To Apply to College

• Some colleges require students to write community service essays as part of their application or to be eligible for certain scholarships.
• You may also choose to highlight your community service work in your personal statement.

#2: To Apply for Scholarships

• Some scholarships are specifically awarded to students with exceptional community service experiences, and many use community service essays to help choose scholarship recipients.
• Green Mountain College offers one of the most famous of these scholarships. Their "Make a Difference Scholarship" offers full tuition, room, and board to students who have demonstrated a significant, positive impact through their community service

Getting Started With Your Essay

In the following sections, I'll go over each step of how to plan and write your essay. I'll also include sample excerpts for you to look through so you can get a better idea of what readers are looking for when they review your essay.

Step 1: Know the Essay Requirements

Before your start writing a single word, you should be familiar with the essay prompt. Each college or scholarship will have different requirements for their essay, so make sure you read these carefully and understand them.

Specific things to pay attention to include:

• Length requirement
• Application deadline
• The main purpose or focus of the essay
• If the essay should follow a specific structure

Below are three real community service essay prompts. Read through them and notice how much they vary in terms of length, detail, and what information the writer should include.

From the Equitable Excellence Scholarship:

"Describe your outstanding achievement in depth and provide the specific planning, training, goals, and steps taken to make the accomplishment successful. Include details about your role and highlight leadership you provided. Your essay must be a minimum of 350 words but not more than 600 words."

From the Laura W. Bush Traveling Scholarship:

"Essay (up to 500 words, double spaced) explaining your interest in being considered for the award and how your proposed project reflects or is related to both UNESCO's mandate and U.S. interests in promoting peace by sharing advances in education, science, culture, and communications."

From the LULAC National Scholarship Fund:

"Please type or print an essay of 300 words (maximum) on how your academic studies will contribute to your personal & professional goals. In addition, please discuss any community service or extracurricular activities you have been involved in that relate to your goals."

Step 2: Brainstorm Ideas

Even after you understand what the essay should be about, it can still be difficult to begin writing. Answer the following questions to help brainstorm essay ideas. You may be able to incorporate your answers into your essay.

• What community service activity that you've participated in has meant the most to you?
• What is your favorite memory from performing community service?
• Why did you decide to begin community service?
• What made you decide to volunteer where you did?
• How has your community service changed you?
• How has your community service helped others?
• How has your community service affected your plans for the future?

You don't need to answer all the questions, but if you find you have a lot of ideas for one of two of them, those may be things you want to include in your essay.

Writing Your Essay

How you structure your essay will depend on the requirements of the scholarship or school you are applying to. You may give an overview of all the work you did as a volunteer, or highlight a particularly memorable experience. You may focus on your personal growth or how your community benefited.

Regardless of the specific structure requested, follow the guidelines below to make sure your community service essay is memorable and clearly shows the impact of your work.

Samples of mediocre and excellent essays are included below to give you a better idea of how you should draft your own essay.

Step 1: Hook Your Reader In

You want the person reading your essay to be interested, so your first sentence should hook them in and entice them to read more. A good way to do this is to start in the middle of the action. Your first sentence could describe you helping build a house, releasing a rescued animal back to the wild, watching a student you tutored read a book on their own, or something else that quickly gets the reader interested. This will help set your essay apart and make it more memorable.

Compare these two opening sentences:

"I have volunteered at the Wishbone Pet Shelter for three years."

"The moment I saw the starving, mud-splattered puppy brought into the shelter with its tail between its legs, I knew I'd do whatever I could to save it."

The first sentence is a very general, bland statement. The majority of community service essays probably begin a lot like it, but it gives the reader little information and does nothing to draw them in. On the other hand, the second sentence begins immediately with action and helps persuade the reader to keep reading so they can learn what happened to the dog.

Step 2: Discuss the Work You Did

Once you've hooked your reader in with your first sentence, tell them about your community service experiences. State where you work, when you began working, how much time you've spent there, and what your main duties include. This will help the reader quickly put the rest of the essay in context and understand the basics of your community service work.

Not including basic details about your community service could leave your reader confused.

Step 3: Include Specific Details

It's the details of your community service that make your experience unique and memorable, so go into the specifics of what you did.

For example, don't just say you volunteered at a nursing home; talk about reading Mrs. Johnson her favorite book, watching Mr. Scott win at bingo, and seeing the residents play games with their grandchildren at the family day you organized. Try to include specific activities, moments, and people in your essay. Having details like these let the readers really understand what work you did and how it differs from other volunteer experiences.

Compare these two passages:

"For my volunteer work, I tutored children at a local elementary school. I helped them improve their math skills and become more confident students."

"As a volunteer at York Elementary School, I worked one-on-one with second and third graders who struggled with their math skills, particularly addition, subtraction, and fractions. As part of my work, I would create practice problems and quizzes and try to connect math to the students' interests. One of my favorite memories was when Sara, a student I had been working with for several weeks, told me that she enjoyed the math problems I had created about a girl buying and selling horses so much that she asked to help me create math problems for other students."

The first passage only gives basic information about the work done by the volunteer; there is very little detail included, and no evidence is given to support her claims. How did she help students improve their math skills? How did she know they were becoming more confident?

The second passage is much more detailed. It recounts a specific story and explains more fully what kind of work the volunteer did, as well as a specific instance of a student becoming more confident with her math skills. Providing more detail in your essay helps support your claims as well as make your essay more memorable and unique.

Step 4: Show Your Personality

It would be very hard to get a scholarship or place at a school if none of your readers felt like they knew much about you after finishing your essay, so make sure that your essay shows your personality. The way to do this is to state your personal strengths, then provide examples to support your claims. Take some time to think about which parts of your personality you would like your essay to highlight, then write about specific examples to show this.

• If you want to show that you're a motivated leader, describe a time when you organized an event or supervised other volunteers.
• If you want to show your teamwork skills, write about a time you helped a group of people work together better.
• If you want to show that you're a compassionate animal lover, write about taking care of neglected shelter animals and helping each of them find homes.

Step 5: State What You Accomplished

After you have described your community service and given specific examples of your work, you want to begin to wrap your essay up by stating your accomplishments. What was the impact of your community service? Did you build a house for a family to move into? Help students improve their reading skills? Clean up a local park? Make sure the impact of your work is clear; don't be worried about bragging here.

If you can include specific numbers, that will also strengthen your essay. Saying "I delivered meals to 24 home-bound senior citizens" is a stronger example than just saying "I delivered meals to lots of senior citizens."

Also be sure to explain why your work matters. Why is what you did important? Did it provide more parks for kids to play in? Help students get better grades? Give people medical care who would otherwise not have gotten it? This is an important part of your essay, so make sure to go into enough detail that your readers will know exactly what you accomplished and how it helped your community.

"My biggest accomplishment during my community service was helping to organize a family event at the retirement home. The children and grandchildren of many residents attended, and they all enjoyed playing games and watching movies together."

"The community service accomplishment that I'm most proud of is the work I did to help organize the First Annual Family Fun Day at the retirement home. My job was to design and organize fun activities that senior citizens and their younger relatives could enjoy. The event lasted eight hours and included ten different games, two performances, and a movie screening with popcorn. Almost 200 residents and family members attended throughout the day. This event was important because it provided an opportunity for senior citizens to connect with their family members in a way they aren't often able to. It also made the retirement home seem more fun and enjoyable to children, and we have seen an increase in the number of kids coming to visit their grandparents since the event."

The second passage is stronger for a variety of reasons. First, it goes into much more detail about the work the volunteer did. The first passage only states that she helped "organize a family event." That really doesn't tell readers much about her work or what her responsibilities were. The second passage is much clearer; her job was to "design and organize fun activities."

The second passage also explains the event in more depth. A family day can be many things; remember that your readers are likely not familiar with what you're talking about, so details help them get a clearer picture.

Lastly, the second passage makes the importance of the event clear: it helped residents connect with younger family members, and it helped retirement homes seem less intimidating to children, so now some residents see their grand kids more often.

Step 6: Discuss What You Learned

One of the final things to include in your essay should be the impact that your community service had on you. You can discuss skills you learned, such as carpentry, public speaking, animal care, or another skill.

You can also talk about how you changed personally. Are you more patient now? More understanding of others? Do you have a better idea of the type of career you want? Go into depth about this, but be honest. Don't say your community service changed your life if it didn't because trite statements won't impress readers.

In order to support your statements, provide more examples. If you say you're more patient now, how do you know this? Do you get less frustrated while playing with your younger siblings? Are you more willing to help group partners who are struggling with their part of the work? You've probably noticed by now that including specific examples and details is one of the best ways to create a strong and believable essay .

"As a result of my community service, I learned a lot about building houses and became a more mature person."

"As a result of my community service, I gained hands-on experience in construction. I learned how to read blueprints, use a hammer and nails, and begin constructing the foundation of a two-bedroom house. Working on the house could be challenging at times, but it taught me to appreciate the value of hard work and be more willing to pitch in when I see someone needs help. My dad has just started building a shed in our backyard, and I offered to help him with it because I know from my community service how much work it is. I also appreciate my own house more, and I know how lucky I am to have a roof over my head."

The second passage is more impressive and memorable because it describes the skills the writer learned in more detail and recounts a specific story that supports her claim that her community service changed her and made her more helpful.

Step 7: Finish Strong

Just as you started your essay in a way that would grab readers' attention, you want to finish your essay on a strong note as well. A good way to end your essay is to state again the impact your work had on you, your community, or both. Reiterate how you changed as a result of your community service, why you found the work important, or how it helped others.

Compare these two concluding statements:

"In conclusion, I learned a lot from my community service at my local museum, and I hope to keep volunteering and learning more about history."

"To conclude, volunteering at my city's American History Museum has been a great experience. By leading tours and participating in special events, I became better at public speaking and am now more comfortable starting conversations with people. In return, I was able to get more community members interested in history and our local museum. My interest in history has deepened, and I look forward to studying the subject in college and hopefully continuing my volunteer work at my university's own museum."

The second passage takes each point made in the first passage and expands upon it. In a few sentences, the second passage is able to clearly convey what work the volunteer did, how she changed, and how her volunteer work benefited her community.

The author of the second passage also ends her essay discussing her future and how she'd like to continue her community service, which is a good way to wrap things up because it shows your readers that you are committed to community service for the long-term.

What's Next?

Are you applying to a community service scholarship or thinking about it? We have a complete list of all the community service scholarships available to help get your search started!

Do you need a community service letter as well? We have a step-by-step guide that will tell you how to get a great reference letter from your community service supervisor.

Thinking about doing community service abroad? Before you sign up, read our guide on some of the hazards of international volunteer trips and how to know if it's the right choice for you.

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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Benefits of a Volunteering Essay Sample

The main advantage of the following volunteering essay sample is that you can use it to write your own paper. If you have difficulties with writing, this essay will help you.

What Are the Benefits of Volunteering and Giving Back? Volunteering means that you willingly give your free time for a cause. You are not paid for volunteer work, but can help people or animals in need, or the environment. But how does the volunteer benefit from volunteering? What do volunteers gain from doing this? 1. Improves your social and relationship skills 2. Improves your well-being 3. Gives new experiences for your career 4. Makes you feel self-fulfilled Improves Your Social and Relationship Skills When you volunteer, you will meet new people with similar interests and have new connections. In the future, these people might support you and help you when you are in need. Volunteering helps you practice and develop your social skills especially if you are reserved (Segal & Robinson). If you volunteer as a group with friends or family, it boosts your relationship with each other as you collaborate in your volunteer work. It also improves teamwork in general whether you are working with people you know or with new people. Improves Your Well-Being Volunteering aids in fighting stress, anxiety, and even in combating depression. It also redirects your attention away from your daily tasks, thus helping you to clear out your mind and feel relaxed. When you connect with people, you will have a support system to help in combating depression, and you will feel less lonely and isolated. It also improves your outlook in life. Meanwhile, working with animals in shelters can ease stress and uplift your mood (Segal & Robinson). Physically, volunteer work makes you more active, especially in a crisis or in emergencies. It also helps to burn fats, as well (Fritz). For seniors, it reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. This improves the elasticity of the brain, according to studies from the Journal of Gerontology (Fritz). Moreover, it slows down aging, as seniors feel younger when they are active. Gives New Experiences for Your Career You can volunteer for work that is related to your dream job and add this as working experience in your resume. You can also add the skills in your resume and discuss this during the interview. Some volunteer work needs specific skills like project management, public speaking, and other communication skills. For fresh graduates, volunteer jobs could already serve as work experience since most of them do not have paid working experience yet. Even if your volunteer work is not related to your dream job, some soft skills such as being a team player, responsiveness, and being people-oriented can be added to your cover letter and interview. Makes You Self-Fulfilled When you volunteer, you feel rewarded in assisting others. Making a difference in someone else’s life improves your self-worth and self-esteem, as this can make you feel that you have a purpose in life. Making strangers feel better also makes you feel better and happier. Also, when you willingly work on something that you are passionate about, it energizes you. It is also a way to find out your interest and passion. You can also work for free on similar jobs that you would have liked to work before but were unable because of some criteria you did not meet. A good example of this is working as a reserve for military service. Volunteer work may not make you rich but it is the fulfillment that makes you feel complete as a person. In conclusion, volunteering does not only benefit the recipient of the help, but also the volunteer. You may not receive money from it, but the experience itself is enough payment for the work that you have done. Works Cited Fritz, Joanne. “15 Unexpected Benefits of Volunteering that Will Inspire You.” The Balance Small Business, 24 June 2019, www.thebalancesmb.com/unexpected-benefits-of-volunteering-4132453. Accessed 29 July 2019. Segal, Jeanne, and Lawrence Robinson. “Volunteering and Its Surprising Benefits.” Help Guide, June 2019, www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-living/volunteering-and-its-surprising-benefits.htm. Accessed 29 July 2019.

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What Are the Mental Health Benefits of Volunteering?

Barbara is a writer and speaker who is passionate about mental health, overall wellness, and women's issues.

Dr. Sabrina Romanoff, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and a professor at Yeshiva University’s clinical psychology doctoral program.

Halfpoint Images / Getty Images

What Is Volunteer Work and Why Is It Important?

• Mental Health Benefits
• Physical Health Benefits

Ways to Volunteer

When you spend your time volunteering, you’re certainly using your time constructively. Whether it’s building houses for Habitat for Humanity or working at a food bank on the weekends, volunteering also makes you feel good.

At the same time that you’re giving back to others, volunteering also gives you a variety of physical and mental health benefits.

When you volunteer, you freely give your time with no expectation of any compensation. Many people enjoy assisting in their community. You can also volunteer at your work place or through various charities and philanthropic organizations online. 

Altruism , which focuses on acting out of concern for others’ happiness and well-being even if it’s at a cost, might be one reason people volunteer. Driven by empathy , humans put themselves in the shoes of others facing hardships and often want to help.

Volunteering enables you to feel that you’re part of something greater than yourself. That might mean being part of your child’s education when you volunteer to put on a Career Day for the high school. Or feeling more connected to the world after the GoFundMe you set up for your Ukranian friend generates thousands of donations from across the world.

You don’t feel lonely , isolated or alone when you volunteer. Volunteering prevents you from worrying about your own battles and gives you a new perspective. It also enables you to contribute positively to the world.

Mental Health Benefits of Volunteering

Behaviors that help others are often called pro-social behaviors by psychologists. Helping a great cause is a pro-social behavior that can elevate your mood. It can also affect your health in myriad ways.

Volunteering Makes You Feel Good

Giving really does make you feel good. Your body releases endorphins which Harvard Health calls the “brain’s natural pain reliever” when you volunteer or do something you enjoy. Endorphins create a sense of well-being. Sometimes people call what you’re feeling a “helper’s high.”

Volunteering Boosts Your Happiness

Enjoyable and meaningful activities like helping others can increase your happiness . In a study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies , researchers found that people who volunteer are happier than those who do not.

Using data from about 70,000 participants in the United Kingdom, scientists found that compared to participants who didn’t volunteer, those who volunteered in the past year were more satisfied with their lives. They rated their overall health as better, too.

Another outcome of the study: the researchers found that people who volunteered at least once a month reported better mental health than those who volunteered rarely or not at all.

Volunteering Reduces Loneliness and Stress

Lacking human contact or feeling alone can flood your body with cortisol. According to the Cleveland Clinic, high levels of cortisol in your system not only cause more stress, but you risk impairing your cognitive performance. You also increase your risk of developing inflammation and heart disease as well as impairing your immune system.

Volunteering Builds Friendships, Social Interaction, and Engagement

Participating in a shared activity brings people closer together. You’ll likely be actively walking and getting more exercise. You won’t be thinking about your troubles for a while and you’ll probably make new friends.

Having friends is important as friends offer emotional support, build your confidence, and help you reduce stress.

When volunteering, you’ll also become more socially engaged. Social engagement promotes brain health .

Volunteering Reduces Depression

Saying yes to a volunteer opportunity can also contribute to diminishing your rate of depression. Scientific research has shown that volunteering lowers depression levels for those over 65. So, volunteering is beneficial for seniors.

Physical Health Benefits of Volunteering

Based on one study that included adults over age 50, those who volunteered regularly were less likely to develop high blood pressure than the non-volunteering participants. High blood pressure is a key health indicator because it contributes to heart disease, stroke, and premature death.

Being of service to others and participating with others in a group to better the world can lift our spirits. It can also have real-world effects on our bodies. As you keep your brain and body active, you ward off cognitive decline and keep yourself healthy.

Volunteering by dropping off dinner for a sick friend is also valuable. Performing acts of kindness , like cleaning the house for your mom who worked a double shift at the hospital the night before matters, too. You don’t necessarily have to volunteer in a consistent manner.

If you do want to volunteer regularly, which has many benefits as discussed previously, there are deserving organizations that would welcome your help. In fact, some organizations, like non-profits, count on volunteers to carry out some duties due to limited funding.  

Here are possible ways you can volunteer in your community:

• Deliver food for programs like Meals on Wheels
• Tutor students in reading, English or math
• Visit or play games at a senior center
• Sing or dance in performances that raise money for your favorite charity
• Coach at a local middle school
• Participate in beach cleanup days for the Surfriders Foundation
• Drive neighbors to doctor appointments
• Mow the lawn of elderly community members
• Restock shelves of books at your local library
• Work on behalf of human rights organizations like Amnesty International
• Play music for those in hospice
• Host a neighborhood block party
• Fundraise on disaster relief efforts for the International Red Cross
• Help with park clean-up events
• Serve food at a soup kitchen
• Offer apples and oranges whenever you see the homeless
• Help promote an animal rescue center
• Sit on the board of your condo association
• Facilitate activities like Bingo games at a nursing home
• Help with a community center’s building maintenance projects

Remember that if you can’t volunteer in these ways, you might make use of a special talent or skill instead. For example, if have great tech skills, you can volunteer to be the “go to” person for an organization’s computers and printers once a week.

If you’re good at and love taking pictures, you might volunteer to submit photos for an institution’s brochure or update a charity’s website over the summer. Don’t forget that if you can’t volunteer with your time, you can also donate financially.

Digital Ways to Find Volunteer Opportunities

You can find opportunities in your community as well as online. Check out these two great organizations online to find out about amazing groups and how you can help those in need:

• Volunteer Match is an award-winning database that has been around for over 20 years. You’ll find many ways to volunteer on the web’s largest and most popular volunteer recruiting platform. It connects a million interested volunteers per month with 130,000 nonprofits.
• DoSomething.org is the largest not-for-profit digital platform for young people devoted to social change issues. With millions of members across the world, members join to volunteer for social change and civic action campaigns. Their goal is to make an impact on the causes they are passionate about.

Harvard Health Publishing. Endorphins: The Brain's Natural Pain Reliever .

Lawton RN, Gramatki I, Watt W, Fujiwara D. Does Volunteering Make Us Happier, or Are Happier People More Likely to Volunteer? Addressing the Problem of Reverse Causality When Estimating the Wellbeing Impacts of Volunteering . Journal of Happiness Studies . 2021;22(2):599-624.

Cleveland Clinic. What Happens in Your Body When You're Lonely?

Musick MA, Wilson J. Volunteering and depression: the role of psychological and social resources in different age groups .  Soc Sci Med . 2003;56(2):259-269. doi:10.1016/s0277-9536(02)00025-4

Sneed RS, Cohen S. A prospective study of volunteerism and hypertension risk in older adults .  Psychol Aging . 2013;28(2):578-586. doi:10.1037/a0032718

By Barbara Field Barbara is a writer and speaker who is passionate about mental health, overall wellness, and women's issues.

The power of volunteerism

People the world over engage in volunteerism for a great variety of reasons: to help to eliminate poverty and to improve basic health and education, to tackle environmental issues, to reduce the risk of disasters or to combat social exclusion and violent conflict. In all of these fields, volunteerism makes a specific contribution by generating well-being for people and their communities.

Volunteers are motivated by values like those of justice, equality and freedom as expressed in the United Nations Charter. A society which supports and encourages different forms of volunteering is likely to be a society which also promotes the well-being of its citizens.

More than 1 billion people volunteer globally , the majority of them serving in their own countries. Many are in the forefront of efforts to improve the way they and their fellow citizens are governed and engaged. Moreover, volunteers are playing a vital role in making governments worldwide more accountable and responsive to their citizens.

They are working with governments and civil society to hold those in power to account and to represent the voices of those who are often left out of development decisions such as women, youth and marginalized groups. The end result is more inclusive –and ultimately more effective– development.

Volunteerism is a basic expression of human relationships. It is about people’s need to participate in their societies and to feel that they matter to others. We strongly believe that the social relationships intrinsic to volunteer work are critical to individual and community well-being. The ethos of volunteerism is infused with values such as solidarity, reciprocity, mutual trust, belonging and empowerment, all of which contribute significantly to quality of life.

Volunteerism and well-being

People the world over engage in volunteerism for a great variety of reasons: to help to eliminate poverty and to improve basic health and education, to provide safe water supply and adequate sanitation, to tackle environmental issues and climate change, to reduce the risk of disasters or to combat social exclusion and violent conflict. In all of these fields, volunteerism makes a specific contribution by generating well-being for people and their communities.

Volunteerism also forms the backbone of many national and international non-governmental organizations and other civil society organizations, as well as social and political movements. It is present in the public sector and is increasingly a feature of the private sector.

There is a widespread view today that gross domestic product (GDP) does not provide an adequate picture of a society because it does not account for the well-being of individuals and their communities. Nor does it include activities that have an economic value but that fall outside the market and therefore have not, traditionally, been reflected in national accounts.

Where mainstream economics fosters values of self-interest and competition to achieve maximum satisfaction, a focus on well-being finds greater reason to value compassion and cooperation, both core values of volunteerism. The discourse on quality of life and well-being, and its place in the evolving development paradigm, must recognize the solidarity and reciprocal values of volunteerism as part of the dynamics that enhance human wellbeing.

A healthy society is one in which importance is given to formal and informal relationships that facilitate interaction and engagement and thus engender a sense of belonging. It is also one in which there is broad participation by all sections of the population. Communities with these characteristics do better in moving forward to meet common aspirations.

Volunteers are more likely to develop civic skills, to attach more importance to serving the public interest as a personal life goal and to be more politically active. Thus, in going about their voluntary activities, individuals are also cultivating an outlook that contributes to a social environment that nurtures the well-being of all.

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THE BENEFITS OF DOING VOLUNTEER WORK

IELTS essay THE BENEFITS OF DOING VOLUNTEER WORK

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Volunteering Essay

Volunteering is a responsible work which requires time, effort, and talent but gives an exciting impressions, helps to meet new people, acquaintances and gives an opportunity to help those in need. Working with an association as a volunteer in the sphere of helping international students is an interesting and inspiring experience. Studying in a foreign country can be difficult and stressful. Coming from abroad with an aim of studying can cause different personal, relationship, psychological, study troubles and distresses. It is easy to make the life of foreign students not so stressful by just helping them avoid all the tense worrying problems. This is a core mission of the association.

Each volunteer works as an organizer. My responsibilities were to arrange students’ get-together and be in control of meetings of students of my group in this association. I tried to coordinate students in the main points during some organized planned activities. Services of our association include working with international students in different aspects, including Michigan ID, finding an apartment out of campus if they want, and discover the community of Ann Arbor. Michigan ID should be got by foreign students, volunteer is to help to apply for the ID, it can be enhanced license or ID card which heightens security. Students are to be informed in the types of document needed to be fulfilled: identity verification, legal presence, and proof of Michigan residency, social security number or letter of ineligibility. Volunteer instructs students of all the details and necessities in getting an ID. It is possible for students to live out of campus. As it is difficult for students to orientate quickly my work as a volunteer is to assist and consult students in the way of finding an appropriate apartment with all the required by each student conditions. The first thing to do is to inform that living off the campus has its pros and cons, freedoms and concerns. The meeting on this subject can be organized and all the advantages and disadvantages discussed. Living outside the campus can be cheaper, students will have more freedom, privacy and personal space, no destruction during studying, preparing of own meals, on the other hand it can be more expensive to live in a private flat, student will have lots of domestic responsibilities and duties. It is also should be decided personally with each student if he wants to live without student society, far away from others or not. Discovering the community of Ann Arbor is important and exciting activity. A trip around the City can be planned including all the sights to see and get acquainted with. Ann Arbor is famous for the professional theatre, arts community, lively downtown, numerous festivals, and historical places. Museums are quite an essential part in discovering a community of the City, including Museum of main Street, Museum of Art, Museum of Dentistry. There are more than 250 different science and technology exhibits to see. I combined a plan of sightseeing activities in the town for my group of students including the most famous and important in discovering the community. Organization of important events is the work the volunteer should devote his time to. Volunteer should encourage international students participate in such kinds of events, thus help them get used to the environment of the university taking part in student’s social life.

Volunteer work with international students presupposes completing of different types of activities and assistance work directed on getting over the difficulties of students in the process of adaptation of them to new environment.

Working as a volunteer is a one’s own free will activity and useful work which develops organizational abilities, allows to expand social life of a student, helps making of new friends, enables a volunteer to collaborate with foreign students, organize, guide and direct the projects, meetings, events, congregations, enables to leadership and helping to those in need. Difficulties of foreign students are of different character. These are stressful situations, connected with the change of living environment, the change of country to study in, difficulties of accommodation to new conditions of life and studying. Volunteering gives an opportunity to find out something new about cultures of other countries.

The vision of this association is working regularly with foreign students on their possible, existing and worrying problems and questions.

I work as an organizer with a big team in association. My sphere of activity includes consulting students on the questions connected with finding of a flat, organization of special events, helping in learning the locality, people and society of Ann Arbor. I advise and consult on various questions, organize meetings, excursions, celebrations and festivals for international students.

Association provides many services: – Michigan ID (Consulting students about the necessity of ID card, requirements on the ways they can get it); – Find a flat out of campus if necessary; – seeing and learning something of the locality, residence and society of Ann Arbor, organizing of important events and international Celebrate. Finding a flat outside campus can be difficult and stressful for students. Thus volunteer association provides services explaining and assisting in searching an apartment. International students can be aware or not about advantages and disadvantages of living in campus. The decision to live in or out of campus is personal and depends on certain preferences of a student. The main is whether a student likes privacy or social life, whether he is able of managing domestic chores and problems or is willing to have somebody organized it. Volunteer is to help students in this decision with the help of consultations.

Learning locality, people and society of Ann Arbor is an important aspect in the work of association for international students. Volunteers provide excursions, meetings, seminars, which expand an outlook of students, help adapt faster and get used to the culture which is different from that of their own. The main aim of expansion of knowledge about culture, society of town is joining and accustoming to students’ life. The work held is of the following kinds: presentations of the history of the city, outstanding people of the city, exhibits in the city, meetings, seminars on the topics connected with social life of Ann Arbor, excursions aim of which is an acquaintance with culture, customs and traditions of the state and the country. Celebration of important events is also organized by volunteers in the association as it improves an atmosphere of communication and brings together students.

All in all, volunteer association provides useful range of services for international students.

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Should Voluntary Work Be Paid? Essay

Introduction, categories of voluntary work, benefits and drawbacks, reference list.

Mooney (2004) defines work as the effort put in a certain task in order to attain a specific goal or output. It may be on payment basis where one receives payment at the end of the month as salary or paid wages according to work done. Work may also be performed on unpaid basis, for example volunteering.

Voluntary work entails being motivated and using your time and effort working towards a project you are interested in; most cases without monetary compensation. However, there may be benefits associated with voluntary work. This paper will look into various aspects of voluntary work including categories of voluntary work, benefits and drawbacks of voluntary work and whether voluntary work should be paid.

Voluntary work can be categorized into three forms; long term -paid, short, medium and long term unpaid, and short term conservation projects. The long term unpaid benefits entail professional and qualified volunteers working on long term projects that may take a long duration e.g. over one year. They may be sent far from their home areas to exercise their knowledge and skills and therefore it requires sacrifice and determination.

Short, medium and long term unpaid basis takes one year or less. Volunteers are expected to cater for their expenses through out the execution of the entire project for example transport cost. It is good for those people who may want to gain practical experience in their area of profession or those that takes breaks from work.

Short term conservation projects entails taking part in part time wildlife conservation and surveying projects especially for those people with limited time. The projects are usually in remote areas and volunteers are expected to fund themselves on the expeditions (VWIS & Working Abroad 2010).

Potter (2004) asserts that volunteering is away of helping or giving back to the community without necessarily gaining monetary benefits.

Nonetheless, there are other benefits that surpass money, for instance; One can use the opportunity of being a volunteer to develop new skills like better interpersonal and communication skills, gain work experience, develop leadership and teamwork spirit and networking hence improving ones social life and personal growth in general.

Volunteering also helps one attain a sense of achievement and personal satisfaction which help in building up ones confidence. The reputation built by volunteering is also beneficial and may bring long term benefit to the volunteer, for example, in future job opportunities since it shows a caring and self motivated character which pleases most employers.

Barnes, Parry & Lakey (2002) states that the biggest challenge is usually choosing a volunteer chance that suits you well and where you can perform your duties passionately and achieve self satisfaction. Volunteering can also be very time consuming and you may not have the best living conditions. Volunteering for the wrong reasons for example to pass time can also lead to disappointment.

My personal opinion on whether voluntary work should be paid is that since the main aim of volunteering is to help, money should not be a priority although it may be offered.

However, it should be upon the organization to ensure that the volunteers’ well being is catered for in all ways and that they receive support that helps them undertake their duties effectively. There should also be recognition and appreciation in terms of rewards and awards for work well done so as to motivate the volunteers to even work harder. The rewards can be in form of money.

Voluntary work is essential especially to the needy communities. The main aim of volunteering is to help the less fortunate with the skills and knowledge one has acquired irrespective of the benefits involved. The advantages of voluntary work outweigh the drawbacks and it is therefore a good practice to adopt for those people who can have time to do so (Morris 2003).

Barnes, H., Parry, J., & Lakey, J., 2002. Forging a New Future and Expectations of People Leaving Paid Work Over 50 . United Kingdom, The Policy Press.

Mooney, G. ed., 2004. Work: Personal lives and Social policy . United Kingdom, the Open University.

Morris, M., 2003. Voluntary Work and the Welfare State . London, Routledge.

Potter, R., 2004. Worldwide Volunteering 4th ed . United Kingdom: How To Books Ltd.

VWIS & Working Abroad . 2010, What is Voluntary work Web.

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1. IvyPanda . "Should Voluntary Work Be Paid?" December 24, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/should-voluntary-work-be-paid/.

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IvyPanda . "Should Voluntary Work Be Paid?" December 24, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/should-voluntary-work-be-paid/.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Volunteering — The Benefits Of Volunteering For Both Students And Communities

The Benefits of Volunteering for Both Students and Communities

• Categories: Benefits of Volunteering Student Volunteering

About this sample

Words: 1377 |

Published: Mar 18, 2021

Words: 1377 | Pages: 3 | 7 min read

Benefits of volunteer work for students (essay)

Works cited.

• Sutton, Anne. Personal Interview. 10 July. 2019.
• Fraga, Juli. “Helping Strangers May Help Teens' Self-Esteem.” NPR, NPR, 13 Jan. 2018, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/01/13/577463475/helping-strangers-may-help-teens-self-esteem. Accessed 20 July 2019.
• Burger, Eric. “Helping Organizations.” VolunteerHub, www.volunteerhub.com/. Accessed 21 July 2019.
• “Should School Have Community Service?” The Premier Online Debate Website | Debate.org, www.debate.org/. Accessed 21 July 2019.
• Gazette, Kalamazoo. “Should High School Students Be Forced to Volunteer? (Our Turn Column).” Mlive.com, Mlive.com, 13 Aug. 2011, www.mlive.com/opinion/kalamazoo/2011/08/should_high_school_students_be.html. Accessed 22 July 2019.
• Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Volunteering in the United States, 2015,” released February 25, 2016.
• Gupta, Simrin, and Claire Koenig. “Pro/Con: Should Student Service Learning Hours Be Mandatory for High School Graduation?” Silver Chips, Silver Chips Online, 10 Mar. 2011, silverchips.mbhs.edu/content/procon-should-student-service-learning- hours-be-mandatory-for-high-school-graduation-28198/. Accessed 23 July 2019

Should follow an “upside down” triangle format, meaning, the writer should start off broad and introduce the text and author or topic being discussed, and then get more specific to the thesis statement.

Provides a foundational overview, outlining the historical context and introducing key information that will be further explored in the essay, setting the stage for the argument to follow.

Cornerstone of the essay, presenting the central argument that will be elaborated upon and supported with evidence and analysis throughout the rest of the paper.

The topic sentence serves as the main point or focus of a paragraph in an essay, summarizing the key idea that will be discussed in that paragraph.

The body of each paragraph builds an argument in support of the topic sentence, citing information from sources as evidence.

After each piece of evidence is provided, the author should explain HOW and WHY the evidence supports the claim.

Should follow a right side up triangle format, meaning, specifics should be mentioned first such as restating the thesis, and then get more broad about the topic at hand. Lastly, leave the reader with something to think about and ponder once they are done reading.

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