Top 4 Benefits of Volunteering in Your Community

I have found that volunteering in your community is a win-win situation. Not only do you get to help individuals that are less fortunate than you, you also receive many benefits as well. both personal and professional. I promise you that nothing gives you satisfaction like giving back to your community. Once you start to participate in meeting the needs of your community, you will find that volunteering brings knowledge, experience, and positivity to your life.

Check out these benefits for giving back to your community:

• You are reminded that there is a whole world outside of yourself. Giving back helps you de-focus from yourself and your own challenges while showing you the struggles and needs of others. Volunteering has the ability to cause you to become more outward focus which can result in an increase in happiness and can decrease many of the symptoms of depression. Impacting the lives of others and being a part of something bigger than yourself is rewarding.

• Volunteering can help you to learn something new. Regardless of how you decide to help your community, it’s likely you’ll learn something you didn’t already know. It can also help you to gain work experience. Depending on the type of community work you do, you could learn something that will help you in your job or future work. Volunteering gives you marketable experiences and qualifications to include on your resume because it is a real-life experience that can’t be had in the classroom. Some college instructors recommend “service learning” which is another term for “volunteering” or “giving back to your community.” Service learning provides a real-world experience to students that would be impossible to learn in the classroom.

• Great way to network and make new business contacts. Getting out and giving back to your community will help you meet more people. Each person has a network of their own, you never know how far your positive influence could travel – bringing you new prospects, clients, or even job offers. Becoming known in the community can also serve as great public relations strategy.

• Helping others is life-changing. We do not operate in a vacuum. Living your best life involves making and maintaining connections with others. As you help others, you will feel more positive about yourself. You will also increase your confidence because you will realize that you are making a positive difference to those in need and to your community.

Giving back to your community is important for a number of reasons. By volunteering, you view a world outside of yourself, learn new things, develop positive feelings, gain job experience, and make new contacts. Plus, helping out in your community is a kind and wonderful thing to do. You might become well-known, make new friends, strengthen your community, and even add a line to your resume when you volunteer. When you give back, you’ll experience things in the real world that you can’t in the classroom and you’ll see how others live. For these reasons and more, make it a point to give back to your community.