Emma Hartman @Steal_Your_Hart [Staff Writer]

Studies show that volunteering is good for the mind, body, and soul. Providing service for someone else with most always have a positive effect. Volunteering is taking a personal skill and using it to help others. A skill could be being good at organizing, having a love for animals, having a desire to help others, being hardworking, and even just asking “how can I help?” will help make a difference in the community and in oneself.  Here are some of the benefits of volunteering.

Benefits to the mind – this is an interesting aspect of volunteering, but not one to overlook. Nationservice.com states, ”Volunteer activities can strengthen the social ties that protect individuals from isolation during difficult times, while the experience of helping others leads to a sense of greater self-worth and trust”.

Health benefits – possibly the most unusual benefit of all of them, but very important. According to nationalservice.com states, “Research demonstrates that volunteering leads to better health and that older volunteers are the most likely to receive physical and mental health benefits from their volunteer activities.” However, no one is ever too young to give – and gain. Health.hardvard.edu states that volunteering may also reduce stress, which no student is lacking in. “Many people find volunteer work to be helpful with respect to stress reduction, and we know that stress is very strongly linked to health outcomes”.

Soulful benefits – The Greek philosopher Aristotle once surmised that the essence of life is “To serve others and do good.” If recent research is any indication, serving others might also be the essence of good.

Most people consider volunteering something that they have to do, or that volunteering is more of a chore than an opportunity. They do it because it is the “right thing to do” and the benefit to others will be greater to others than to themselves – while not a bad thing, it makes volunteering seem less appealing. Nevertheless, money.usnews.com suggests that volunteering with one’s own benefits in mind tend to be the people that actually continue volunteering longer and more consistently! People volunteer for 3 “self-focused” reasons, like understanding, esteem enhancement, and personal development. The alternative 2 are “other focused, such as sense of community and humanitarian values. “The ones that get the higher rates of endorsement are the ‘other focused’ ones,” the website says. “But it’s the ‘self-focused’ ones that predict length of service.”

According to research findings studied by Jane Allyn Piliavin, a retired University of Wisconsin sociologist, she cites a positive effect on grades, self-concept, and attitudes toward education. Volunteering also led to reduced drug use and huge declines in dropout rates and teen pregnancies. So someone doesn’t have to be extremely talented to volunteer – just has to have a heart for serving, which everyone is capable of having. The benefits reaped through volunteering will better oneselves mind, body, and soul, as well as help others and the community in the process.