For the past several years, as a part of the 18-hour online giving event known as East Texas Giving Day, donors have had a chance to not only provide financial support for area nonprofits, they have also been able to pledge to volunteer at various charities. This year, 232 individuals pledged 9,284 hours of service to participating local charities. Based on the current estimated value of $31.80 for one volunteer service hour, East Texas Giving Day volunteers pledged the equivalent of $295,231 to local charities through the contribution of their time. What a remarkable expression of support for local nonprofits!
I’m sure that positive number pales in comparison to the enormous contributions of time made by all volunteers to over 5,000 nonprofit organizations around East Texas. Those 5,000 public charities don’t even include schools and churches which are ripe with volunteers and found in every neighborhood in East Texas. As you might imagine, volunteering takes many forms, including sorting canned goods and clothes, cleaning facilities and grounds, spending time with local youth, reading to children, teaching children and adults, fostering children, delivering meals or providing transportation. My own volunteer experience this summer included serving as a family group leader for fifteen middle school boys at church camp. I think I’ve almost recovered. The truth is, many churches, schools, and charities in our area could never raise the funds necessary to hire and compensate staff to fill the role of thousands of volunteers.
A recent article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy was titled, “Volunteering Would Feel Good Even if It Didn’t Have Health Benefits. But It Does.” According to Eric S. Kim, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia Vancouver, “…his research has found a connection between volunteering and more positive emotions, less loneliness and more social support.” I can certainly report that in a cabin of middle school boys the last thing I felt was lonely. Kim goes on to report, “These things have downstream effects, such as increased healthy behaviors, as well as increased healthier biological function such as reduced inflammation.” Who couldn’t use a little less inflammation, right?
One of the worst outcomes for nonprofits during and after COVID-19 has been the loss of many senior adult volunteers who served as reliable greeters, readers, filers, drivers, and teachers for many nonprofit organizations. In most cases, these volunteers did not succumb to the virus, they were encouraged to isolate and give up volunteering to protect their health. Now that we are several years past the virus and well along in our knowledge of health preparedness and safe practices, I am hopeful that volunteers have returned to their posts. We need them. And research from the Mather Institute in their report, “The Person-Centric Wellness Model” indicates that affiliation, “the need to have close relationships and meaningful interactions with others….” is recognized as, “…one of three universal psychological needs….” The Mather research indicates that affiliation leads to higher levels of physical, spiritual, social, intellectual, emotional, and vocational wellness. If you are feeling lonely or looking for another way to potentially reduce inflammation, let me encourage you to find an organization that needs you to volunteer. One place to look at some different options is at www.EastTexasGivingDay.org. You can sort a list of over 350 nonprofit organizations by county and category of service. Then you can click on the link for each nonprofit in your search and see if they have provided any information about volunteer opportunities. The site won’t allow you to pledge hours, but you can still read about the requirements of various volunteer opportunities and use the contact information on the website to reach out to them. Perhaps exploring volunteer positions at area nonprofits is your next best opportunity to give well.
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