Sometimes the amount of activity going on in our worlds can be overwhelming; from constant online engagement, to work, study, families, and lives. As our lives have become busier it seems the time we have to give to others has decreased, and yet giving even a little time can be incredibly rewarding, connect us to our local communities, and create connections that are sometimes lost in our busy worlds.
National Volunteer Week highlights not just the important role that volunteers play in our everyday lives, in a myriad of ways, but also how much the experience of volunteering can give to you as an individual.
When I stopped to think, I began to realise just how much of our communities, at all levels, rely on volunteers. From helping our youth, the environment, vulnerable women and children, the homeless, LGBQTI+, men, animals, flood and fire victims, our elections, raising money for charities and research. When you stop and think, there are so many ways that volunteers make our everyday, and future lives, safer, more connected, and fun.
This year the theme for National Volunteer Week is ‘Connecting Communities’, it is about bringing people together through volunteering and the good that volunteering does for every one of us.
‘Let’s acknowledge the spirit of connection and the incredible impact volunteers have in building thriving and inclusive communities,’ say National Volunteer Week organisers.
‘Volunteering creates lasting relationships that enrich lives and strengthen communities. Join us as we explore how giving to others fosters community engagement, connection, and belonging.’
The experience of disasters, like the 2022 floods, allowed many people to really understand the importance of bringing communities together, as people came out and worked together not only to save lives, like the tinny brigade in Lismore, but small isolated communities who were cut-off, came and worked together for each other’s safety.
I know being flooded-in meant coming together with my neighbours to help clear roads and check-in on one another. Being a member of the Rural Fire Service (RFS) meant that help was provided to the wider community and when a tree fell on my house after the floods I cannot tell you how grateful I was to the SES.
Looking after native animals who have been injured, from koalas to possums and birds, can be wonderfully rewarding but losing the animals you care for is heartbreaking.
From sitting on a hall committee, to volunteering to teach ethics, to providing food and shelter to the homeless, to working with young people, or repairing things at Shedding, or a men’s shed, in my experience volunteering can lead you on unexpected journeys, to wonderful friendships, and plenty of laughs, as well as sadness. But most of all volunteering helps you create the fabric of your own world and the world around you reminding everyone of the wonderful capacity for understanding, generosity, and kindness that humans are capable of.
Find out about the amazing volunteer opportunities in your local communities here.
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