Volunteering
Volunteering is becoming more and more popular every year. Every country aims at stimulating and encouraging volunteer activities. Volunteering has always been understood as a personal expression of interest in accomplishing different goals. Currently, volunteering is becoming a part of the policymaking. Still, volunteering is an interesting phenomenon that should be evaluated from various perspectives.
Voluntary work has many definitions. Nevertheless, several features are typical for volunteering in general. First, it is not obligatory. Nobody can force someone to participate in a particular activity. The person should have a desire to do so. Second, it aims at accomplishing some good goals for the benefits of others. These “others” can be the whole society, a particular group of people, or organization. Finally, volunteering is unpaid. There are no payments or salaries for being a volunteer (Dekker & Halman, 2012).
Sometimes, volunteer work is rather a controversial phenomenon. This statement can be proved by the fact that there are different types of volunteer participation. Thus, one should accept the idea of being a volunteer instead of imprisonment or fine for law violations. Young people can do voluntary work to gain the necessary experience for their future job. Students of the school, college, or university may volunteer to receive better grades during their exams.
The types of volunteering also differ in terms of the sphere of activity. Thus, there can be voluntary work aimed at educating children, gathering money for the homeless, promoting the necessity to monitor health conditions continuously, and others. Most volunteer works are conducted within the framework of a particular organization or society.
People have made many attempts to define the primary reasons for volunteering. Several points of view reflect this issue. Some individuals consider that people volunteer because they have such personality traits. Somebody is always ready to provide help, devote his or her time to others by nature. Such people are active and optimistic. The other explanation of the phenomenon lays in the fact that people volunteer because of some circumstances and personal motives. For instance, a traveler can become a volunteer in a different country and kill two birds with one stone. He or she can help somebody and visit a new place at the same time (Hindle, Cavalieri, Collinson, Miller, & Richard, 2007). Besides, some people may volunteer to receive popularity or fulfill their self-appraisal.
Volunteering is significant in making the lives of people better. Volunteering in a particular community can have the following advantages. First, it is useful for better physical and mental health. Second, volunteering gives direct results to the residents of the community. Thus, volunteers provide support for low-income families, support school activities, environment protection, and facilitate other services.
When doing voluntary work for the native community, it will bring benefits to everyone including volunteers. For instance, those who decide to gather the rubbish from all streets will enjoy walking in the clean environment and breathing fresh air. Volunteering provides excellent opportunities to learn something new. Finally, it makes all people closer (Community Service: Top 10 Reasons to Volunteer, 2015).
Volunteering as a phenomenon has always been interesting. A volunteer work presupposes doing something for the benefit of others without being paid for the provided services. People volunteer because they like taking part in such activities or because they have their personal motives. Volunteering in a particular community brings many benefits to all residents of the area.
References
Community Service: Top 10 Reasons to Volunteer. (2015). Web.
Dekker, P., & Halman, L. (2012). The Values of Volunteering: Cross-Cultural Perspectives. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media.
Hindle, C., Cavalieri, N., Collinson, R., Miller, K., & Richard, M. (2007). Volunteer: A Traveller’s Guide to Making a Difference Around the World. Melbourne, Australia: Lonely Planet.