{"id":20,"date":"2018-05-03T20:01:22","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T20:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wcsu.wpengine.com\/community-engagement\/tips-for-volunteer\/"},"modified":"2018-05-11T18:13:50","modified_gmt":"2018-05-11T18:13:50","slug":"tips-for-volunteer","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/tips-for-volunteer\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Service: Top 10 Reasons to Volunteer"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"content\">\n<p>Thinking of becoming a volunteer? See a list of reasons that will help you make up your mind.<\/p>\n<h4>#10: It&#8217;s good for you.<\/h4>\n<p>Volunteering provides physical and mental rewards. It:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Reduces stress:<\/strong> Experts report that when you focus on someone other than yourself, it interrupts usual tension-producing patterns.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Makes you healthier:<\/strong> Moods and emotions, like optimism, joy, and control over one&#8217;s fate, strengthen the immune system.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>#9: It saves resources.<\/h4>\n<p>Volunteering provides valuable community services so more money can be spent on local improvements.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The estimated value of a volunteer&#8217;s time is $15.39 per hour.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>#8: Volunteers gain professional experience.<\/h4>\n<p>You can test out a career.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>#7: It brings people together.<\/h4>\n<p>As a volunteer you assist in:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Uniting people from diverse backgrounds to work toward a common goal<\/li>\n<li>Building camaraderie and teamwork<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>#6: It promotes personal growth and self-esteem.<\/h4>\n<p>Understanding community needs helps foster empathy and self-efficacy.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>#5: Volunteering strengthens your community.<\/h4>\n<p>As a volunteer you help:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Support families (daycare and eldercare)<\/li>\n<li>Improve schools (tutoring, literacy)<\/li>\n<li>Support youth (mentoring and after-school programs)<\/li>\n<li>Beautify the community (beach and park cleanups)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>#4: You learn a lot.<\/h4>\n<p>Volunteers learn things like these:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Self:<\/strong> Volunteers discover hidden talents that may change your view on your self worth.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Government:<\/strong> Through working with local non-profit agencies, volunteers learn about the functions and operation of our government.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Community:<\/strong> Volunteers gain knowledge of local resources available to solve community needs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>#3: You get a chance to give back.<\/h4>\n<p>People like to support community resources that they use themselves or that benefit people they care about.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>#2: Volunteering encourages civic responsibility.<\/h4>\n<p>Community service and volunteerism are an investment in our community and the people who live in it.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>#1: You make a difference.<\/h4>\n<p>Every person counts!  <strong>(Center for Student Involvement, UC San Diego)<\/strong><br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Tips for Getting Started Volunteering<\/h3>\n<p>First, ask yourself if there is something specific you want to do.<br \/>\nFor example, do I want\u2026<br \/>\n\u2026to make it better around where I live<br \/>\n\u2026to meet people who are different from me<br \/>\n\u2026to try something new<br \/>\n\u2026to do something with my spare time<br \/>\n\u2026to see a different way of life and new places<br \/>\n\u2026to have a go at the type of work I might want to do as a full-time job<br \/>\n\u2026to do more with my interests and hobbies<br \/>\n\u2026to do something I\u2019m good at<br \/>\nThe best way to volunteer is to match your personality and interests. Having answers to these questions will help you narrow down your search.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <em>World Volunteer Web<\/em>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thinking of becoming a volunteer? See a list of reasons that will help you make up your mind. #10: It&#8217;s good for you. Volunteering provides physical and mental rewards. It: Reduces stress: Experts report that when you focus on someone &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/community-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}