Volunteering connects you to people in your community. It can be good for the mind and body. It gives a sense of fun and fulfillment. It can also help your job skills and career. You get the benefit of all those things and more while helping your community prosper.

When you volunteer you’ll be around other volunteers who come from many different backgrounds. Many people feel a need to give back. They need to have a sense of purpose. They want the activity. Some people crave the learning experience.

  
When you volunteer, you are helping make a difference in people’s lives. Charitable places and churches often cannot help their communities without volunteers. In times of emergency, a city might need more help than the government can give. Low-resourced and disadvantaged people might need more than just school and services. An African saying, “it takes a village to raise a child,” means we all can use and give support.

A great place to start volunteering is your local school. Children need a lot of attention and support. You can help out in after-school programs or out on the playground. You can help in youth sports leagues or in scout groups. You can even help with easier things like reading to children or monitoring field trips. A school bulletin board or community room is a great place to find who to call.

A hospital or local health clinic might also need the help of volunteers. Volunteers provide comfort, companionship, and support to patients, families, and visitors. Volunteers often do tasks like food service. They even help push patients in wheelchairs. Call or email your hospital’s community outreach or volunteer manager to get started.

 
Another wonderful way to volunteer is helping the homeless and hungry. Churches, food banks, and soup kitchens are always looking for volunteers to help. Many of those places cannot feed the hungry and house the homeless without volunteers. Finding churches and nonprofits to volunteer with is as easy as looking through the phone-book or a google search.

 
Giving your time and energy helps your community a lot. The saying, “it takes a village to raise a child,” helps us remember our communities need volunteers.  Local volunteering can be done in many places like a school, hospital or church. Once you get started volunteering, you will be off on a journey you will remember forever.