The Benefits of Volunteerism for The Society

Erma Bombeck once said, “Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nation’s compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and just plain loving one another.” No matter where you4 live in this world, volunteerism plays a crucial role for us. It helps us to build a better environment for us to live in, and allowing the people in the society to become a better person. Volunteerism is helpful to building a more inclusive society: shaping the place we want to live in, touching and changing the lives of the people around us, and helps to create a healthier emotional well-being. Therefore, it is important to volunteer in our community. Firstly, volunteerism is beneficial in promoting social inclusion to reduce discrimination in a society. Social inclusion is the action of improving the circumstances for individuals and groups to take part in society, and improving the capability, opportunity, and dignity of those who are disadvantaged on the basis of their identification to take part in society. Social inclusion is necessary to ensure everyone in our society feels included and people of our society will be more accepting and compassionate to our fellow human beings. Thus, people will become happier, be less lonely and boosts their self-esteem.

Volunteerism encourages people of various backgrounds to come together as one community to help the disadvantaged. When these people from different social background: regardless of race, religion, gender, economic status and occupations come together, they will be given the chance to interact and create bonds with each other. In Prishtina, Kosovo, an event organized by two UN volunteers and in partnership with the local NGO HandiKOS, took place to promote the importance of social inclusion through respect, acceptance and tolerance. Kosovo, a state where despite strong laws on rights of people with disabilities, approximately 150,000 individuals living with disabilities suffer from exclusion and discrimination in most aspects of their everyday life. In this event, 45 children, some with disabilities, came together to play to allow kids with special needs to feel part of the society. Through volunteerism, special need kids will feel a greater sense of belonging in the society and have a sense of what is it like to be included. Next, in every society, volunteerism can be helpful in touching and changing lives of people and animals. When volunteering, you are making a direct impact on the people affected by your cause. Whether it is helping out at an animal shelter, visiting an orphanage, or building a home for a family in need, a tangible change in a life is made.

The impact goes beyond the people are being helped, but hope is also provided. Imagine for a second if no volunteers showed up for their posts for a week. Shelters, medical outreach groups, soup kitchens and schools could all shut down. Animals may still be lost and hungry in the cold streets, children will feel hopeless about their future, lives could be lost. The world's older population continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. In 2016, 8.5 percent of people worldwide are aged 65 and over and this percentage is projected to jump to nearly 17 percent of the world's population by 2050. Together with this statistics, more elderly are being abandoned. Many children decide to leave their frail and aging parents with others in the desire to be free and rid the responsibility of taking care of one’s own elderly parents by themselves. The elderly have withering bodies that are sick or disabled too troublesome to deal with. If these elderlies are left alone, they may experience health risks, mental instability, social isolation, loneliness and depression.

Volunteers are essential to ensure these elderly are safe and well taken care of. Volunteerism provides these elderlies with physical support of daily necessities such as food and shelter and emotional support to ensure any mental issues of the elderlies have been taken care. With the help of volunteerism, the lives of different groups can be touched and changed to ensure everyone in the society is looked out for. Lastly, volunteerism is advantageous to promote a healthier emotional and mental well-being of everyone in a society. Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.