Take your time, your valuable time, and donate it to an organization, a cause, or an individual. The value of your time can exceed your wildest imagination. Take your money and give it to a stranger and get nothing in return (or so it might seem). The return of the investment of donating your money to a cause isn't just about the recipient, it’s about the giver. There is no greater return on an investment as when your heart is in it. Let’s examine volunteerism. What it does for the volunteers, the organizations that benefit from it, and the individuals whose life might be forever changed by a random act of kindness bestowed upon them.
A healthy savings for our retirement doesn't mean that we will never be in need. Wealth doesn't help the man who dies alone. Even a plethora of off-spring doesn't saving us from suffering in time of need. Far too often, the children of a dying parent don’t know how to help. Hilda McCoy, R.N. (aka. Nurse Hilda), Volunteer Director of the Grace Healthcare Services of Edison, NJ, sees need every day. The purpose of Grace Healthcare Services is to serve NJ hospice patients, and their families, with the highest level of dignity and grace. The organization relies heavily on volunteers, and it is Nurse Hilda’s job to recruit and train those volunteers.
“What you put into life comes back to you”, says Nurse Hilda. One seasoned hospice volunteer Nurse Hilda spoke of was a woman who felt gifted by her hospice experience when she was able to help a loved one suddenly stricken with a terminal illness. The training and experience she received over the years gave her the ability to help her brother through the most fragile time of his life.
Volunteering back provides benefits on levels that you might not have ever thought of. An act of kindness will manifest physical and mental benefit to volunteers physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
The Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, Allan Luks (1991) in his book “The Healing Power of Doing Good: The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others” reveals the results of a study performed on 3,000 volunteers. Luks concludes, "Helping contributes to the maintenance of good health, and it can diminish the effect of diseases and disorders, both serious and minor, psychological and physical." Of those who participated in the study, 90% of them reported that after performing a good deed, they felt bursts of euphoria, followed by long periods of calm.
If calm is the opposite of stress, than isn’t it true that volunteering can be thought of as a cure? Knowing that stress causes ulcers, cardiovascular disease, as well as depression, isn’t reversing it with feelings of euphoria and calm a preventative measure towards preserving your physical and mental health. In doing so, you are literally taking stress, and killing it with kindness!
Volunteering is also good for the soul. Going to church can be a great activity, but if you sit in the pew day-dreaming, counting the minutes, or examining the ear hair of the man sitting next to you, is it doing your soul any good? A religious organization, no matter what its based on, is founded on common goodness. People gather there to be good! Most churches facilitate a number of opportunities to do good, but it is up to the individual to take advantage of them. Whether it is helping at a homeless shelter, making a meal for a family in need, or contributing to a diaper drive, taking advantage of the opportunities your religious organization provides will do you good. And, after all, you are there for the good of your soul, are you not?
Okay, now let’s look at the some of the more shallow reasons for volunteering, such as opportunities to meet the opposite sex, to make good impressions, to get into a good school, or to graduate from a good school (most colleges now mandate a set number of volunteer hours be donated by their students). And, it’s fun to volunteer. You will usually walk away from a volunteer event with a new acquaintance, feeling happy to have had a good time, and pleased with yourself that you brought a little goodness into the world. Who benefits from volunteering…besides you, that is?
Organizations in need cannot be counted because there are simply too many to count (Susan G. Koman, American Heart Association, Autism Speaks, Hospice). You can raise funds by soliciting donations for participating in a walk or run; or, you can challenge yourself even further by donating time to a cause that is close to your heart; participate in a project or by providing long-term support. This is a wonderful way for senior citizens or homemakers to keep the zest for life high and the monotony low.
Choosing an organization that suits you is very important. Volunteering for a hospice organization, for example, requires an emotional strength and a calm nature that some people simply do not possess. Having a connection to a particular cause helps to strengthen the level of commitment an individual is able to make. Perhaps your pet is well suited for pet-therapy! Before you think about an organization, consider the individuals in your life. Don't take it for granted that someone is looking in on your elder relatives. While we think of volunteering, let us not forget that charity begins in the home.
Are you examining your life, and feeling bad for not having donated more of your fortune, be it time, energy or money? Good, mission accomplished!
Next steps:
Step 1: Check on the people you love, and if they are in need, help them!
Step 2: Identify an organization or cause that tugs at your heart.
Step 3: Make a commitment to an individual or organization and stick to it. JUST DO IT!!!
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead
Anthropologist
Some Volunteer Organizations in New Jersey:
Grace Healthcare Services - throughout NJ (Monmouth, Middlesex and Ocean counties)Grace Healthcare Services believes that the delivery of hospice care can be taken to a new level of excellence by those who understand the privilege of serving the terminally ill. They are dedicated to advancing the quality of hospice care in the communities they serve utilizing the inherent expertise of their staff to educate consumers and to serve patients and families with the highest level of dignity and grace. Volunteers are needed in a variety of capacities: • Administrative Volunteers can work in the Edison office or remotely by making Memory Books for Alzheimer's patients, assisting with mailings, and other projects. • Craft Volunteers (who may work from home) are need to make holiday cards, crafts, flowers, baskets, pictures, posters, and hand made shawls or lap blankets. • Patient care volunteers are needed to visit with patients in homes and nursing homes in their areas and may read, write letters, and offer companionship.• Volunteers trained in touch therapies are needed for Massage, Reiki or Reflexology. All areas are needed and truly add to the quality of life. Though the main office of Grace Healthcares Services is in Edison, they service all of Hudson, Bergen, Union, Essex and Middlesex Counties. For more information please contact Hilda McCoy, R.N. at 866-447-0246 ext. 12 or NurseHilda@aol.com.
Jersey Cares
http://www.jerseycares.org
Association of New Jersey Volunteers
http://www.volunteernewjersey.org/
Blossom International
http://blossominternational.org/volunteer.htm
Tuft University Child and Family Web Guide
http://www.cfw.tufts.edu/topic/5/101.htm
