Volunteering Motivations And Their Well Being

Volunteering to me didn’t seem very pleasing at first. My focus was simply getting the hours I needed to make my resume look good. However, my perspective changed when I began getting involved with the various activities of the community. I enjoyed helping and serving others, seeing the positive impact I made gave me a great satisfaction. Thankfully, I have volunteered in many areas, however there are a few organizations in which I have invested more time and effort.

The past two summers I was fortunate enough to go on two mission trips with my church. Our group teamed together with other churches and we worked with the Carolina Missions Team or known as “CMT”. This past summer was defiantly an eye-opening experience for me being able to work with an underprivileged community. One of the things I learned and realized during this trip is that even though these people have very little of anything, they are still so willing to give other people they don’t know so much love and compassion. Having this opportunity to volunteer has made me more aware of the needs, not just for the people in our own country, but also those in other countries who have much worse circumstances. The experience has led me to want to reach out to those other countries. Hopefully one day being able to travel and give them the help, knowledge, information and hope they need to prosper.

Surrendering my free time to serve others, is often times not something I crave to do. Selfish ambitions take over, and consequently, I participate in activities I find pleasing to me rather than others. However, when I take the time to assist others and take action in my community, I have found that it is a rewarding experience. Volunteering has never led me to anything negative, and it has allowed me to be a part of a positive and uplifting experience. My desire to volunteer may consume my time, but the countless rewards I receive from volunteering are priceless. Offering my time to organizations has allowed me to become more humble, see the happiness it brings to people, and improve my social skills.

Volunteering is often seen as free labor. However, there is a significant cost associated with the recruitment, training, and maintenance of the volunteer force. A full-time staff to oversee the volunteer program is necessary as well to ensure volunteers are being used effectively. The recruitment process varies from advertising to speaking at schools to

Many people don’t realize the true value of volunteering, but I’ve come to understand the incredible impact of volunteering through my experience at Memorial Hermann. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” For me, his words could not be truer.

The intrinsic of motivation is a type of motivation that focusing on the internal rewards compare to the external rewards such as money. People who have intrinsic motivation will be more likely to enjoy their work because their doing it out of burdens. According to Kendra Cherry From verywell.com intrinsic motivation “ Activities can generate such feelings when they give people a sense of meaning like to participate in volunteer or church events. They may also give you a sense of progress when you see that your work is accomplishing something positive or competence when you learn something new or become more skilled at a task.” Most of the retired people who worked there are attaining the feeling that they are doing something good for others and making their life more meaningful. By having the intrinsic motivation volunteer are making them feel better to go on with their

When one volunteers, it is not for their personal gain, yet rather for the benefit of others. The volunteering opportunity would enable one to make a direct connection with others. Thus, the volunteers get

The United States is a country of volunteers. In 2002-2003, 64 million Americans (28.8 percent of those 16 and older) donated 52 hours a year, the equivalent of more than one full work week, to building shelters, coaching Little League, caring for the elderly, teaching literacy, and countless other community-minded pursuits. Statistics show in Source F that “groups mandatory and nonvolunteers – were less likely to volunteer 8 years after high school than persons who strongly encouraged to volunteer or did it for strictly voluntary reason (43 percent).”

From personal experience, many people who volunteer truly do go because they want to help out. If they don't go for that reason, then they may enjoy themselves anyway. I volunteered to clean up the streets near Coney Island beach in New York after hurricane Sandy destroyed many homes on the East Coast. Amongst the volunteers with me many were New York high school students who went simply because their school made an announcement that they should go. They also received volunteered hours added to their record. However, all of these kids stayed an extended time than their recorded volunteer hours. These kids stayed, along with me, because we all felt a need to help out the community. Those high school students were rightfully receiving volunteer hours onto their record and a feeling of goodness. This example points out how offering incentives allows charities to gather more people. Yet, it is possible volunteers may leave with an object or prize reminding them of the good they've done. The people who volunteer may not have that initial desire to help if they are going because of the

People may volunteer because they want to put something back. However for younger people, who may be interested in a career in healthcare, it can be an opportunity to gain experience to help them to make much more informed career choices. Consequently a key aspect of volunteer involvement in the NHS is

To understand the importance of volunteering, I volunteered at one cultural event in San Antonio downtown. It was the festival of Diwali, a festival of light celebrate in India every year, organized by the San Antonio municipal and Indian Association. In San Antonio’s downtown we have a Riverwalk and the booth was on one side of river with the bleacher and on the other side was the stadium. Folk dances of India were performed on the stage. I volunteered at a booth of drink. My job was to sell soft drinks like coke for a dollar. I made a working there on the booth and we both had almost same interests due to that I was very surprised. There was also another booth next to us. I helped them to load, carry and organize their booth with food. This

The article, “Role-Identity Salience, Purpose and Meaning in Life, and Well-Being among Volunteers”, by Peggy A. Thoits seeks to address that the more roles individuals occupy, the better their mental and physical well-being. Thoits says that social roles have salutary effects on well being because they are identities that provide individuals with purpose and meaning in life. The research problem being addressed here is whether role identities in fact supply purpose and meaning and whether a sense of purpose and meaning actually mediates the link between identities and well-being. The article discusses these issues, focusing on a case in point on the role-identity of “volunteer,” specifically, Mended Hearts Visitor.

Through each volunteer opportunity, I was able to learn self value by helping children trying to heal. “ In conclusion, helping volunteer can produce a feeling of self- worth and respect” (Angood). While volunteering at Le Bonheur, I experienced the feeling of self worth by seeing the children succeed through an obstacle with happy faces. “Participating in volunteering is what is meaningful for you and being able to use the skills that you are best able to provide” (Angood). While volunteering at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, helping the boys and girls out is what meant the most to me. Feeling self worth makes myself want to volunteer more because of being able to see each of them successfully move on in progress and to know that I am trying

Critical Thinking: Connecting to Community “ Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness” (Martin Luther King, Jr.); Volunteerism connects me by engaging and helping our society in which donating time and service can make a difference

HRPYC81 PROJECT 4809 Assignment 2 What motivates people to do volunteer work? MJ SCRIVEN TABLE OF CONTENTS LITERATURE REVIEW There are almost as many reasons for getting involved in volunteer work as there are volunteers. Once people get started, they find that their deepest rewards are ones they didn't expect when they first came looking for a volunteer assignment. Participants entered the volunteer world through ads in the paper, articles in the media and invitations by friends. They wanted to get involved in a new community, they overheard someone talking about a need or they just wanted to be active. Some wanted to repay a perceived debt to society and others took up volunteer work as part of a major reassessment of