A staggering number of teens are now volunteering their time to help others or some selected cause. There are several reasons for this encouraging trend.
First of all, it’s now widely understood that teens can and do make a difference. Your commitment to doing helpful things for others really counts and it really helps. You have much-needed energy, vitality, and enthusiasm.
Second, volunteering your time for others, or to a cause you love, helps you as much as it helps the person or cause you are helping! I’m not kidding, and I’m not exaggerating. There is something inherent in service work that is so gratifying it actually reduces your stress and makes you happier. Indeed, one of the best and quickest ways to help yourself is to help others. To be honest, I’ve never met a person out there helping others who didn’t agree. Many people—including teens—have told me that volunteering their time is the most valued part of their routine.
Many cities have volunteer centers where you can learn how you can help, or you can find books on volunteerism in the library or bookstore. There are dozens of possibilities. You can help younger kids learn to read, or spend time keeping lonely people company. You can do important work for the homeless or for people who are hungry. You can work with animals or the environment. The list goes on and on.
It’s really fun to get involved and help others. And if you don’t want it to be a formal commitment, there are things you can do on your own. My daughter Kenna is committed to helping keep litter off the streets. She and I both have a minimum number of pieces of trash we pick up each day. It’s not big deal, but it makes a difference. If you pick up 10 pieces of trash a day, that’s 3,650 pieces a year. If everyone did that, there wouldn’t be as much litter on the streets. She’s also a vegetarian because she loves animals and doesn’t want to eat them. These are two ways she has decided to help.
The point is, you can do anything, and it doesn’t have to take a lot of time. An hour a week makes a world of difference; even an hour a month is worth doing. If every teen in the world donated one hour each month to a good cause of his or her choice, the world would be a much nicer place to live in.
Volunteering is something you can do with your friends. What a great way to spend some time together, having fun and being helpful to important causes. If you do this, you’ll be proud of yourself for making a difference, and you’ll be helping your community become a better place.