I've been volunteering since I was young, starting with the Cecil County 4H Camp program. It feels like a natural part of life to me and I sometimes forget that there are many people who don't have experience with volunteer work. I truly believe it can teach you so many valuable life lessons and that everyone should try to have at least one volunteer experience in their lifetime. It can change your life.
After being a camp counselor volunteer at Cecil County 4H Camp for 6 years, I volunteered in West Virginia with my sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta. I then moved to Florida and became a volunteer for a non-profit organization called Actors Reaching Out. Both organizations I had the opportunity to volunteer with allowed me to work with some amazing reasons why everyone should volunteer:
Here are 5� reasons why I love to volunteer and you should too:
Help those in need.
The most important part about volunteering is that we do it for a cause. We are helping those who can't help themselves. We are helping make the world just a little bit better, and that's the best part. Whether you're raising money for a cause through a fundraiser, or serving food at a local homeless shelter, you are helping heal the broken ones. If everyone did just their share of helping, the world could be a much different place.
That warm fuzzy feeling.
I can't explain the feeling I get in my heart when I know I'm helping my community. It makes you feel like you have purpose and that you really can make a difference. It's incomparable to anything else in the world and there's just not many things that are better than that feeling.�
It's fun.
I promise it is. I've done all sorts of fun projects for charity and as volunteer work and I don't think I've ever been bored or unhappy during it. Plus, having fun is all about your attitude so even if you get a volunteer task you don't particularly like, you can still have fun as long as you have a little optimism and creativity!
Open doors for new experiences.
I've gotten to do so many new things through volunteering. Never did I think I would get interviewed on the radio just for supporting a cause I believed in. It's truly amazing what doors volunteering can open for you: scholarships, awards, a feeling of purpose, a new job; you never know what it could lead you too. Just don't be afraid to go for it!
Find a larger purpose.
I feel as though I am not just living for myself when I volunteer. I feel like I have a larger place in this world than I originally believed. I get to help a variety of people from tragedy victims to cancer patients to homeless families to kids in school. It makes me feel like my life has meaning and that I'm doing something to impact the world, and I think the world could use some help from all of us right now.
So what are you waiting for? Comment below YOUR next volunteer project!
