Perspectives on Volunteering to Help Others Essay

Throughout history, volunteering has evolved into a cultural connection; a common characteristic of humans on a local, national, and global level is the desire to help one another. Although this statement is not necessarily true for every individual, most people feel an urgency to assist friends, family members, coworkers, and/or strangers in need or in crisis. Why should we volunteer? Many people donate their time for varying reasons whether it’s fundraising for disaster relief or collecting, preparing, and serving food for a food bank (Moore). Maybe it’s the warm sensation in your heart after you play a game of chess with a bedridden cancer patient, or the contagious smiles shared between servers and recipients at a soup kitchen that†¦show more content†¦As an active member of the community, I did not want to see my church and library flood into a watery mess. A call for help was made to locals, like myself, who were willing and able to combine efforts in pre paration for the â€Å"great† flood of Iowa City. My dad, mom, sister, and I participated in the sandbagging event, a whole three hours of shoveling orange, dusty sand into two-feet-deep bags and placing them into wooden crates. This process was monotonous and demanding, but with the help of thousands of local citizens, thousands of sandbags were filled in a matter of a couple days. Community members helped protect precious historic buildings and houses that may have resulted in a damaged downtown. The sandbagging event was, like I said, repetitious and grueling; therefore, I can understand the displeasure in partaking in an event like this, but the â€Å"satisfaction of saving someone’s home is priceless,† (What Volunteering). Where do you spend your money? Is it put towards purchasing the latest iPhone or attending the anticipated Miley Cyrus concert (even though you don’t like her music)? Many people feel content and satisfied sticking with the â€Å"in† crowd. What if a trend wasn’t materialistic; rather, what if it was contributing to improve the world? Don’t you think you would receive an equally as gratifying feeling regardless of whether you buyShow MoreRelatedBenefits of Volunteering1075 Words   |  5 PagesBenefits of volunteering 19 October 2005 Volunteering has a meaningful, positive impact on your community. But did you know that it can have many benefits for you too? Here are some reasons to volunteer: Learn or develop a new skill   Volunteering is the perfect vehicle to discover something you are really good at and develop a new skill. As Mahatma Gandhi said, â€Å"Live as if you were to die tomorrow.  Ã‚  Learn as if you were to live forever.† It is never too late to learn new skills and no reasonRead MoreBenefits Of Volunteer And Incentives959 Words   |  4 Pagestrends show that volunteering has become increasingly popular over the past few decades, (Anheier and Salamon, 1999). Volunteering can be seen as a combination of unpaid work, activism and serious leisure. The definition of voluntary ethos includes three principles. First, volunteering should not be primarily involved financial gain for individual. Furthermore, the activity should be undertaken voluntarily, according to an individual’s own free-will. And last, it should be benefit to other individualsRead MoreThe Importance Of Volunteering In Community Service764 Words   |  4 PagesVolunteering in my community services programs for various activities has been the most important and influential thing that I can offer to my community. It has allowed me to show honestly, integrity, and hard work. Volunteering far supersedes financial gain since time has the ability to expand one’s perception of availability. Activities such as volunteering at the local food bank, trash pick-up, or mentoring at elementary schools are considered meaningful volunteering activities, which I have beenRead MoreCommunity Service Persuasive Essay1261 Words   |  6 Pagesyou or does it make you cringe? One important question we should be asking in today’s society is whether community service is an opportunity to unite and help others or is it something we avoid for our selfish means? Society today illuminates the self and is primarily centered only on oneself. Thus, volunteering for the sake of helping others does is rare, unless it has personal benefits. People were once united and helped one another, but today the c entral focus has shifted from the community toRead MoreHrpyc81953 Words   |  4 Pageswho volunteer has long been a recurring theme preoccupying much of literature on volunteering. According to research by Esmond and Dunlop (2004), what actually motivates a person to volunteer is a complex and vexing question, yet understanding these motivations can be of great assistance to organisation. Every year millions of people around the world give of their time and energy to make a difference through volunteering (Esmond, 2004). The types of volunteer activities engaged in by people areRead MoreThe Volunteer Stages And Transition Models : Organizational Socialization Of Volunteers1355 Words   |  6 Pagesan organization and proposes learning and interaction models within the context of volunteering. The abstract of the article provides a strong context of the research question and by reading the abstract, I was able to understand the crux of the paper and the need for this research at an abstract level. The introduction provides a detailed background on what the authors perceived as areas of concern in volunteering. The authors connect all fragments of the research area and describe the need for aRead MoreCommunity Service: The Benefits Volunteering: The great experience no one can afford to lose.900 Words   |  4 PagesCommunity Service: The Benefits Volunteering: The great experience no one can afford to lose. Opposers say, mandatory community service can have several negative effects on students. â€Å"Community service hours are impressive additions to college applications and can provide a student with a great sense of accomplishment; however, the mandatory hours will have many negative consequences† (Cydney Hayes, 2012). Many students are barely even passing the regular school curriculum, and opposers believeRead MoreThe Qualities Of A Speech Pathologist Essay1271 Words   |  6 Pagespathologist. Success as a speech-language pathologist is not only contingent upon being able to communicate with patients. Indeed, the purpose of our job revolves around rehabilitating or habilitating patients who may have had a stroke, dysphagia, and other speech and language disorders. Social skills concerning a patient necessitate positivity and motivation, we have to empower However, one has to consider familial involvement and the medical team, conversing with a parent or a teacher can greatly differRead MorePersuasive Speech On Volunteering At The United States1349 Words   |  6 PagesMe to We† Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that volunteering in service to others will make them (the audience) happier and healthier people. Central Idea: We are part of the Millennial Generation, known as the â€Å"Me Generation†, and I want to encourage you to recognize our tendency to be self-focused, to step out to help others through volunteerism, and to recognize the benefits of volunteering in your life. Introduction â€Å"Millennials† is a term referring to people born in the UnitedRead MoreVolunteering At The Boys Girls Club923 Words   |  4 Pages Volunteer project For the volunteer project, I decided to volunteer at the Boys Girls Club. Volunteering at the Boys Girls Club has been a great experience. Interacting with the children’s and trying to get to know them little by little has been real nice. Each child is unique in their own way. During my experience volunteering I noticed a couple things that related to what we learned in sociology. Its really hard not to relate anything to sociology anymore; everything seems to be connected