Volunteering in the United States of America
Volunteering is great, it has many benefits, and it seems that the world is noticing it. In 2007, the Corporation for the National and Community Service published an article revealing the health benefits of volunteering. The research indicated that volunteering provides not just social benefits, but individual health benefits as well. Surprisingly, people that volunteer have lower mortality rates, and lower rates of depression, compared with individuals that do not volunteer. One of the key findings of this study is that older volunteers are more likely to receive greater health benefits from volunteering than younger people.
Volunteering has a huge impact in the economy all around the world. Some research, like Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies 2011, showed that around 140 million people in the 37 countries engage in volunteer work in a typical year. If those 140 million volunteers comprised the population of a country, it would be the 9th largest country in the world. Those 140 million volunteers represent the equivalent of 20.8 million full-time equivalent jobs. It is valued that volunteers contribute around $400 billion to the global economy annually.
Additionally, according to the Corporation for the National and Community Service, nationally, in 2015, 24.9% of the residents of the United States of America volunteered, that is equivalent to 62.6 millions of volunteers, 7.9 billions of hours of service, and $184 billion of service contributed.
Finally, volunteering not only delivers economic, and health benefits. Additionally, the volunteer sector is fundamental in the social life. Volunteering activities bring together people who might not otherwise have contact with one another. Among the social benefits of volunteering: strengthen social connections; building strong community, enhancing civic engagement, and deliver public goods and services.
If you are interested in volunteering, you can find amazing volunteering opportunities at the Corporation for the National and Community Service website:
https://www.nationalservice.gov/serve