The Beginner’s Quick and Easy Guide to Volunteering: Excerpt

Do you feel like you’re missing purpose in your life? Do you want to have the opportunity to help others more? Would you like to gain skills and experience in the process, as well as meet new people?

A great way to accomplish all of these goals is by volunteering. Contrary to what you may believe, volunteering does not have to take up a lot of your time and energy. There are opportunities that require a commitment of only a couple of hours a week, or even a month. 

I have a lot of personal experience with being a volunteer, having helped at food pantries, hospitals, senior homes, recreation centers, mental health organizations, and financial coaching.  I have had good experiences at each of these places, and enjoyed helping the organizations and the people and causes that they serve. Even though the work required has not been very complicated, I have appreciated being able to work with a team, and to be a part of something bigger than myself. 

Volunteering can also be a very effective way to gain skills, experience, and a reference, but you can also gain much more. When I began as a volunteer at the senior community, for example, I was hoping to learn from the activity director, which I did, but I was able to also benefit from valuable relationships with the residents, which I hadn’t planned on. You may also be able to learn from, and possibly befriend, other volunteers, or workers.

Read more in The Beginner’s Quick and Easy Guide to Volunteering free e-book.