Why Should I Volunteer?

Many people ponder this question when debating joining any service opportunity, LEAP included. Common answers:
-Because it’s required for my class.
-To get volunteer hours.
-It will look good on my resume.

These are all legitimate claims, and ones that I myself consider. However, I realized after a few LEAP projects that they ignore another vital purpose of service:
-To selflessly help others in need.

But this mindset encounters problems.

Volunteer work often loses its apparent importance when direct effects of the work remain unseen. For example, the first LEAP weekend sent a group of students, me included, to a local warehouse. This warehouse accepted and sorted through donations, then redistributed them to locations such as Goodwill. The woman running this warehouse divided the twenty students into four groups, each assigned a minor task. One group transferred bulky items to a truck headed for a Goodwill center, one sorted through a new shipment of donations, one sorted books, and one organized hangers. Many of us felt disappointed. While our friends rebuilt houses, we divided coat hangers into groups of ten; the compared significance of these two tasks varied vastly.

 But to the warehouse owner, our help was unspeakably welcome. 10 students worked for 3 hours on organizing the hangers, and still did not complete the assignment; imagine one woman attempting that same feat. These volunteers saved her many hours of tedious work, while the others saved her grueling hours of heavy labor. While the direct impact of these students’ actions may not have been apparent, even to them, their help was indeed desperately needed.

 Another dilemma arises in the failed continuation of a multistep project, such as Habitat for Humanity. Students may begin a house building project, but not see the finished project. They may never meet the grateful homeowner, never receive direct thanks, never feel gratified in helping someone. Yet that gratitude still exists, even if not audibly conveyed by the directly affected person.

 Any form and degree of help is welcome, though it may not be the most glamorous or public show of assistance.
 -Kirsten Brown