Community volunteer work and its benefits

Community volunteering refers to volunteers who work to improve their local community. It is an activity that is most often organized through local non- profit organizations, local government institutions and religious institutions. Another common way of organizing it is through local groups of people, like sports teams and similar.

The benefits of community volunteer work are endless. Along with the obvious benefits for the community, there are many personal benefits for volunteers. Working together with your community increases the feeling of being strong together and being able to do big things as a community. Working with people from different ethnicity, socio- economic or religious group, and different backgrounds reduces stereotypes and prejudices, and improves social skills. Along with personal benefits, it also has academic benefits. Surrounding yourself with people you don’t know and learning how to work together with them will most definitely help you improve teamwork and relational skills, increase your appreciation and knowledge of other cultures and allow you to socialize with people you otherwise might not have.

In researches conducted to see the benefits of community service, college students that were included in three hours of community volunteering a week reported higher tolerance for cultural difference and said they truly learned how not to judge others and appreciate every person no matter of their differences. This type of volunteer work has proven to be a very useful part of students’ academic lives and experience, positively impacting their mental and emotional health.