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Perspectives on Volunteering to Help Others Essay

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Throughout history, volunteering has evolved into a cultural connection; a common characteristic of humans on a local, national, and global level is the desire to help one another. Although this statement is not necessarily true for every individual, most people feel an urgency to assist friends, family members, coworkers, and/or strangers in need or in crisis. Why should we volunteer? Many people donate their time for varying reasons whether it’s fundraising for disaster relief or collecting, preparing, and serving food for a food bank (Moore). Maybe it’s the warm sensation in your heart after you play a game of chess with a bedridden cancer patient, or the contagious smiles shared between servers and recipients at a soup kitchen that …show more content…

As an active member of the community, I did not want to see my church and library flood into a watery mess. A call for help was made to locals, like myself, who were willing and able to combine efforts in preparation for the “great” flood of Iowa City. My dad, mom, sister, and I participated in the sandbagging event, a whole three hours of shoveling orange, dusty sand into two-feet-deep bags and placing them into wooden crates. This process was monotonous and demanding, but with the help of thousands of local citizens, thousands of sandbags were filled in a matter of a couple days. Community members helped protect precious historic buildings and houses that may have resulted in a damaged downtown. The sandbagging event was, like I said, repetitious and grueling; therefore, I can understand the displeasure in partaking in an event like this, but the “satisfaction of saving someone’s home is priceless,” (What Volunteering).
Where do you spend your money? Is it put towards purchasing the latest iPhone or attending the anticipated Miley Cyrus concert (even though you don’t like her music)? Many people feel content and satisfied sticking with the “in” crowd. What if a trend wasn’t materialistic; rather, what if it was contributing to improve the world? Don’t you think you would receive an equally as gratifying feeling regardless of whether you buy

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