Final Project: Volunteering

Elizabeth Zavala

ILS 252

Of the fifty states that comprise the United States, Wisconsin ranks 8^th for volunteer participation. Based on reports from 2008 to 2010, on average, 1.5 million Wisconsinites volunteer with a combined total of 159 million hours of community service work performed. Of the work performed, a majority of it is done through people’s religious affiliations. Following that is volunteering performed in education related activities, social services, and in hospitals. Most activities were done through fundraising; others involved collecting or distributing food, doing general labor, or in tutoring. Monetarily, nearly $3.4 billion of service was contributed to the state of Wisconsin (1).

Of course, volunteering has many benefits to the community that is receiving the assistance, but it also has several benefits to the individual performing the work, including health benefits. After a series of studies starting back in 1956, and continuing through 1995, the findings determined that people with a high level of volunteering (belonging to two or more organizations) had 44 percent lower mortality than those who do not volunteer. It has also been proven that performing community service enhances psychological well being, as well as having physical health advantages necessary for carrying out spouse, employee, and parent roles (2).

Volunteering has also been proven to be an advantage for people recovering from behavioral and/or mental health problems, those who are unemployed, or have been in trouble with the law and are being reacclimated into society. Research done that focused on environmental service work concluded that “volunteering in nature may be particularly effective for those who would like to be outdoors and have more contact with nature yet need specific encouragement and supported/led activities to participate (3).”

There are so many options in and around Madison for volunteering opportunities. If a person has a passion about anything, they are nearly guaranteed to find a program that interests them. There are a number of resources a person can use to find these opportunities. A couple websites that can help match someone to a program that suits one’s interests include:

¨ VolunteerMatch.org (4)

¨ CityofMadison.com (5)

Through the University of Wisconsin-Madison website there are also links to organizations looking for volunteers. One group in particular that is designated to help students find community service opportunities is the Morgridge Center, which is located on campus. One benefit in going through the Morgridge Center is their ability to match students to services that pertain to their major (6). For example, for those working to obtain a degree in Education, there are numerous opportunities. Students are able to volunteer as tutors for students in elementary through high school grade levels; helping in areas from math and science to language and literacy. Aside from providing academic support to their students, volunteers are also expected to be their mentors; setting examples and being a person the students can feel comfortable talking to. But you do not need to be an Education major to pursue this volunteering avenue. All majors are welcome!

One of the aspects of my project was to find out what fellow UW-Madison students thought about volunteering. In my survey they were asked the following: How often had they volunteered in the past year; for what reasons; what kinds of services were they involved in, and what would they think if it was required for University of Wisconsin-Madison students to volunteer? A lot of great feedback was received with a wide range of responses. It was surprising to find that everyone that took the survey had participated in some kind of service work in the past year, and a majority did it simply because they enjoyed it. Others did so as part of a requirement or for the reason that it will look good on a resume. The types of service work performed fell into a variety of categories. Some students were involved in political work, others in community building projects, in food shelters, making holiday cards to be sent to soldiers, and some performed services done through their church. A common theme was in helping or tutoring children. Of course, all the work done, no matter what the act, was in the hopes of helping people in need.

The other half of the survey questions asked their opinions on volunteering being a requirement as part of the privilege of being a UW-Madison student. A majority of the students, 70 percent, were not opposed to the idea of a requirement. When asked how the requirement should be imposed, if imposed at all, 55 percent felt there should be a number of hours needed to be met each semester; many agreeing that 4 to 6 hours was an acceptable requirement. This was opposed to simply requiring a certain number of hours be completed before a student can graduate. Three-quarters of the students answered that they would be more likely to volunteer if the service pertained to their desired major. The survey concluded with the students given the option to comment on volunteering in general and their thoughts on a possible requirement. Here are a few of the comments:

¨ “I feel that volunteering shouldn’t be required. People who are motivated to volunteer will help. Those who don’t have the passion will find a way to avoid doing meaningful things.”

¨ “Volunteering provides an exploration of new and different people which strongly benefits the volunteer. It also provides a broader sense of community.”

¨ “I think volunteering shows a commitment to making one’s community better.”

¨ “This would be awesome if there was a certain requirement per semester BUT if you did more than the requirement you could count that for the next semester’s requirements.”

The comments were on both sides of the fence. Some were opposed, while others felt it could be a great thing for the university to implement. Overall, based on the results of the survey, I feel a requirement is not necessary simply because many people are already doing some kind of community service act, which is an incredible indication that people really care about taking care of each other and our communities.

We already know that volunteering is an important and beneficial contribution to each person’s community and to the individual themselves. Research has proven this. However, every individual has the opportunity to experience this for themselves and to create a positive change in the world. Through service work we can build and improve the people we are and the world we live in.

For a little more motivation, I would suggest taking a few minutes to watch this video. It shows real people advocating the importance of volunteering.

¨ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS-mAz34NA0

Sources:

http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/WI
Piliavin, J. , & Siegl, E. (2007). Health benefits of volunteering in the wisconsin longitudinal study*. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 48(4), 450-464.
OBrien, Liz, et al. “Volunteering in Nature as a Way of Enabling People to Reintegrate into Society.” Perspectives in Public Health 131.2 (2011): 71-81. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 14 Dec. 2011.
VolunteerMatch.org
CityofMadison.com
Morgridge.wisc.edu