1. Assess The Benefits Of Volunteering

1. Each volunteering opportunity is unique; therefore, each volunteering opportunity presents the chance to learn a new skill.
a. When someone learns a new skill during their time volunteering, the skill will continue to benefit long term.
b. AFS, a non-profit organization, states that their volunteers claim to have improved their communication skills while volunteering (Maione).
c. Communication is a skill that I should be looking to further improve, and volunteering with Feeding America would provide the opportunity needed to work on communicating more effectively.
d. Teamwork and collaboration shows improvement as well in AFS volunteers; interaction with others and working with diverse teams seemed to come easier after volunteering (Maione).
e. As someone who has always preferred to work alone and struggled with communicating ideas during group activities, volunteering offers the momentum required to push me out of my comfort zone.
f. Skills attained while volunteering will have lasting benefits that will help in personal and professional situations.
g. Assistance may be necessary to learn some skills, and through that assistance, connections are made.
2. Volunteering is an open door for one of the most important aspects of life, making connections with people.
a. According to Jeanne Segal and Lawrence Robinson, “Dedicating your time as a volunteer helps you make new friends, expand your network, and boost your social skills” (Segal).
b. Personally, I have always had a disconnect when it comes to making connections with people, and I tend to shy away after spending a while with people.
c. Once again, volunteering for Feeding America would encourage me to push my personal boundaries.
d. Not only would I be meeting up with other volunteers who share the same interests as me, I would be making a difference in many people’s lives which could forge deep connections.
e. Making connections with people is essential to living a happy, healthy life, which entails a healthy mind.
3. Keeping a stable mental state is difficult for many, however, volunteering can be an outlet for ridding the stress accumulated through everyday life.
a. Volunteering is known to help combat the stress that negatively effects people’s mental well-being (Medford).
b. When providing a service or giving back to the community, individuals tend to begin feeling better about themselves; their self-confidence tends to rise and stress is reduced.
c. One researcher, Gretel Kauffman, states, “People who volunteer may be in a better state mentally because of the social opportunities found through volunteering, researchers say” (Gretel).
d. Volunteering provides a feeling of accomplishment that makes people feel happier and generally better about themselves.
e.
Finding ways to reduce stress levels has always been difficult for me, but when I find little ways to help others, like holding a door open or helping someone clean up, I have a tendency to remain happy and stress free for the remainder of the day.
f. Volunteering at Feeding America would provide a necessary outlet for maintaining my mental health.
g. Another way to ensure a healthy mind is by rewarding the mind, something that volunteering regularly does.
4. The most obvious benefit of volunteering is the rewarding sentiment evoked when making a difference in other people’s lives.
a. Sharon Dwyer, a soup kitchen volunteer of many years, says that her time volunteering was that happiest part of her life (Dwyer).
b. There is no question that helping others and making them feel better results in a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction for the volunteer, and there is no better feeling than making someone else happier.
c. According to Sharon, “Providing food for people who may not have eaten that day really does fill you up with love” (Dwyer).
d. That feeling people get from volunteering can give them a sense of purpose in life, and a purpose in life is what everyone strives for.
e. Making others happy is one of the most rewarding feeling a person could experience, and volunteering is the perfect way to feel that way on the
regular.