The United States: Volunteering Around The World

The United States is the richest country in regards to volunteer work around the world. We continue to have the best volunteer work in the western hemisphere (Thoits and Hewitt 115). By definition, volunteering is “any activity in which time is given freely to benefit another person, group, or organization” (qtd. in Petrzelka and Mannon 238). There are many ways people can volunteer within their own communities such as in a food pantry or even around the world by doing mission trips. There is also many reasons why people volunteer. Volunteering is a great way to meet new people, give back to the community and develop new skills. Many people of all participate in volunteer work. Throughout the world, volunteering effects not only the recipient

When volunteering you learn a lot about where you are living. Many people are in need that we don't realize. Everyone needs help in ways they others may not know about. In the article by Padraig MacNeela, he quoted a participant in volunteer work, “I do have very strong feelings about giving back to the community that you live in. Because I take from the community as well…giving something back as well as taking” (qtd. in MacNeela 131). It’s important to give back to the community. As MacNeela stated in his quoted statement, people take from the community they live in all the time. A nice gesture would be giving back to what you have taken so that someone else in need can take the help. You could also look at volunteering as “keeping the community alive” (Petrzelka and Mannon 246). The more people that work together and help others within their community, the more the community will strive to be alive and up going. The people within are the people that determine the well being of the community as a whole. The more people that do good, the more the people will feel good. Another reason why people volunteer is that they want to develop more skills and enhance their self esteem. Peggy A. Thoits and Lyndi N. Hewitt have found research that mentioned people volunteer “to learn new skills, to develop the self, to enhance self-esteem, to prepare for a career, to express personal values and community commitment...” (qtd. 117). Giving back to the community can help you develop many different points in yourself. Helping gets you out into the world where so much is to do to make yourself a better person or to develop new interests within yourself. This gives you a chance to show who you want to be or even who you are meant to be. New skills that people develop could be anything from how to function a service/event such as a soup kitchen or to just better social skills