The Importance of Volunteering

http://www.purchase.edu/CampusLifeAndAthletics/service/main.aspx

        A very important part of our society is volunteering.  Without it a lot of the things that we have wouldn't be able to happen.  If we didn't have volunteers we wouldn't have things like elementary school holiday parties, recreational races and sports teams, meals on wheels, and even the red cross.     Imagine your school without volunteers.  You wouldn't have half the funding for your school that you do now because there wouldn't be enough time to fundraise.  A lot of school events wouldn't exist and you wouldn't be able to go on as many trips because there would be no chaperones.  Imagine what our hospitals would be like without volunteers.  There would be a lot less people to help you, people coming to visit patients would get lost a lot easier, and patients would be seen a lot slower because there would be less people checking in incoming patients. Now imagine the world without volunteers.  When a natural disaster struck there would be no one to help the people clean up and put there lives back together.  There would be no one to help package food for starving children. There wouldn't be nearly as many people helping third-world countries.  The world would not be able to move forward, modernize, and be as connected as it is with volunteers.

       Volunteers do a lot for the world.  They give there time and energy to help others.  Now you may be reading this and thinking, "volunteering seems too hard" or "I don't have time to do that much work."  There are many ways that you can get involved.  You can volunteer locally, nationally, or globally.  All are important tasks, so don't feel that just because your only volunteering in your town and not in a country half way across the world that your job isn't important.  We can't help the world if we don't help our own communities.  There is also many different time commitments in volunteering.  You can have volunteer schedules where you volunteer at a certain place for a certain amount of time on a regular basis, or you can just volunteer for certain events throughout the year that you choose.  I personally love working with kids, so I've volunteered for things like a homeless children's Christmas party, a elementary reading camp, and a VBS.  There are many different things you can choose to volunteer for though.  You could volunteer at a hospital, a church, an animal shelter, you could have a bake sale, and  so on.  Volunteer for something that pertains to your interests.  Volunteering can be really fun and may even be the favorite part of your week.  Who doesn't love to do something that is fun and helps others at the same time!