(Au pairs volunteering at a local homeless shelter this month in North Carolina – preparing and serving lunch.)
Volunteering is a US American tradition!
Back in 1736, Benjamin Franklin started the first volunteer firehouse in Philadelphia, our nation’s capital. During this same time, volunteerism was rooted in bettering the community and faith-based charity work. The Revolutionary War was the first major volunteer recruitment effort in our nation’s history.
Volunteering can provide a healthy boost to your self-confidence, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. You are doing good for others and the community, which provides a natural sense of accomplishment. Your role as a volunteer can also give you a sense of pride and identity. In turn, volunteering helps build a more cohesive, safer, stronger community, and increases the social network between communities and neighborhoods.
Read more about the cultural value of volunteerism in history and how it has changed today: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/volunteerism_and_us_civil_society
Inspired by Martin Luther King Jr’s fight for equity and his life dedicated to serving the greater good of others in the community – at the top of a new year, we ask, what is worth fighting for in 2023? What will you put your energy to starting or stopping or supporting in the new year? There are many popular ways to donate your time:
- Equity in the community.
- Youth engagement
- Animal shelters
- Neighborhood clean up
Volunteermatch.com is a great website for finding the groups that work for your causes.
Volunteerism in Action – In Word and Deed
Send us a few sentences describing the volunteering you plan to do while living in the US in 2023. We would like highlight your plan with our nationwide community of au pairs and host families and post it here in Global Awareness.
Click here to share your thoughts on what you think is worth fighting for and how you will do it in 2023! Entries are due by March 31.