so one of the greatest things about
working for a non-profit the last 25
years is the fact that I get to work
with a lot of great volunteers in fact
of the food bank we have a thousand
volunteers that come through our doors
each week one of our volunteers is 84
years old he likes to come and sort a
few canned goods and then he likes to
tell jokes most of the jokes he shares
are incredibly inappropriate but he
asked me one day says what is
volunteering and wetting your pants have
in common
well I nervously shrugged and he said
everybody sees you doing it but only you
get the warm feeling not bad 484 right
but but the truth is there’s a whole lot
more benefit to volunteering than just
the warm feeling last year 64 million
Americans donated 8 billion hours of
their time that was valued at a hundred
and seventy-five billion dollars in
economic impact across America children
are tutored seniors are delivered meals
trees are planted and pets are looked
after recently here in our community
individuals were rescued from a
hurricane and comfort was given to
families who suffered the tragedy in
southern springs communities can be
transformed and individuals impacted but
I’m here today to talk to you about the
growing amount of research and data that
suggests that those who give support
through volunteering experience greater
health benefits than those who receive
support from their volunteerism
highlighting the fact that we truly
you get back more than we give when we
volunteer so it’s specific to physical
and mental health here are just a few
findings when seniors volunteered to
mentor children they improved their
stamina their memory their flexibility
they decrease their levels of depression
when 10th graders in Canada volunteered
in an after-school program tutoring
children
the volunteers lost weight and improved
their cholesterol profiles even when
researchers isolated for things like
gender age socio economics and health
they consistently found that when people
volunteer they live longer you know
researchers also saw that when people
volunteer they could receive health
benefits that went way beyond what can
be achieved through traditional medical
care which is made me believe that maybe
one of the solutions to lowering our
nation’s healthcare cost is volunteering
so there’s three things you’re going to
want to remember when it comes to
getting the maximum amount of health
benefits from volunteering making the
connection making it pure and then
getting the right dose so first making
the connection it’s important to follow
your heart what are you passionate about
where are you called
where does your faith take you there’s
some great websites to help you connect
with a local nonprofit or a great
volunteer experience sites like just
serve volunteer match and the United Way
volunteer Center these nonprofit
websites run like a dating service where
you highlight your skills your interests
your abilities and match you with a need
and trust me as a non-profit we’ll look
past all of your baggage and your
commitment is
we just need you oftentimes because of
lack of transportation or time or even a
disability people choose to volunteer
over the phone or via the web that’s a
great way to connect nonprofits need
help with writing and graphic design
they also could use help with web-based
tasks so all your volunteering can be
done from home you might need to go to a
quick orientation or attend a few
meetings but you too can volunteer
anywhere you’d like what’s important is
that you heed the call to serve and in
some ancient scripture it suggests that
when we’re in the service of our fellow
beings were actually only in the service
of our God so number two making it pure
well with vitamins potency matters
likewise the potency of our volunteering
makes a difference you’re gonna want to
make sure it’s totally voluntary it has
to be altruistic you can’t volunteer
because you feel obligated it can never
come from a place of guilt I’m sure all
of us have been voluntold to do
something when that happens we lose the
health benefits but when our
volunteerism is truly discretionary when
it comes from an unselfish place that’s
when all of the health benefits come
from lowering your cholesterol and blood
pressure to decreasing your anxiety and
depression you have that opportunity to
get the health benefit you just have to
choose to connect the volunteering will
save your life and you just need to make
it pure but here’s the tricky part
now that you know that volunteering will
make you live longer that can’t be the
reason why you volunteer because you’re
going to lose the
alright I think Gandhi said it best he
said the best way to find our life or
ourselves is when we lose ourselves in
the service of others so the last thing
number three getting the right dose so
researchers knowing that volunteering
increases your life wanted to know if
you volunteered more would that make you
live longer and what they found that
there was a volunteer threshold or a
minimum and maximum dose you’ll want to
volunteer between 100 and 200 hours a
year or between two to four hours a week
and you can receive those maximum health
benefits and live a longer life so
remember make the connection make it
pure and get the right dose one day when
I was at the Food Bank standing in our
lobby a man came up to me he wanted to
shake my hand and say thank you he
explained that he had just gone through
the most difficult year of his life he
and his wife had an eleven year old
child and his daughter was beautiful and
amazing but due to an illness they lost
her and in losing her he said he lost
everything his marriage his job he lost
hope in that place of discouragement he
said he had trouble getting up in the
morning and just wished he had died too
but he saw an ad for the Food Bank and
so he came in he started to volunteer
while he volunteered he saw what kind of
an impact he could have he started to
find purpose that purpose began to heal
him isn’t it interesting for all of us
when we’re in our season of trial when
we feel overwhelmed alone and
discouraged when we feel like the weight
of the world is on our shoulders and
we’re ready to give up the quickest and
easiest way to lighten our
it’s just to take the load of someone
else on our shoulders it’s
counterintuitive you would think that
adding more weight would crush you even
faster but it heals it recalibrates
service has the power to cure so don’t
be surprised next time when you go visit
your doctor that he doesn’t prescribe a
healthy dose of volunteering along with
good diet and exercise now is our time
all of us need to choose to get out
there and volunteer our lives and the
lives of those we serve depend on it
[Applause]
working for a non-profit the last 25
years is the fact that I get to work
with a lot of great volunteers in fact
of the food bank we have a thousand
volunteers that come through our doors
each week one of our volunteers is 84
years old he likes to come and sort a
few canned goods and then he likes to
tell jokes most of the jokes he shares
are incredibly inappropriate but he
asked me one day says what is
volunteering and wetting your pants have
in common
well I nervously shrugged and he said
everybody sees you doing it but only you
get the warm feeling not bad 484 right
but but the truth is there’s a whole lot
more benefit to volunteering than just
the warm feeling last year 64 million
Americans donated 8 billion hours of
their time that was valued at a hundred
and seventy-five billion dollars in
economic impact across America children
are tutored seniors are delivered meals
trees are planted and pets are looked
after recently here in our community
individuals were rescued from a
hurricane and comfort was given to
families who suffered the tragedy in
southern springs communities can be
transformed and individuals impacted but
I’m here today to talk to you about the
growing amount of research and data that
suggests that those who give support
through volunteering experience greater
health benefits than those who receive
support from their volunteerism
highlighting the fact that we truly
you get back more than we give when we
volunteer so it’s specific to physical
and mental health here are just a few
findings when seniors volunteered to
mentor children they improved their
stamina their memory their flexibility
they decrease their levels of depression
when 10th graders in Canada volunteered
in an after-school program tutoring
children
the volunteers lost weight and improved
their cholesterol profiles even when
researchers isolated for things like
gender age socio economics and health
they consistently found that when people
volunteer they live longer you know
researchers also saw that when people
volunteer they could receive health
benefits that went way beyond what can
be achieved through traditional medical
care which is made me believe that maybe
one of the solutions to lowering our
nation’s healthcare cost is volunteering
so there’s three things you’re going to
want to remember when it comes to
getting the maximum amount of health
benefits from volunteering making the
connection making it pure and then
getting the right dose so first making
the connection it’s important to follow
your heart what are you passionate about
where are you called
where does your faith take you there’s
some great websites to help you connect
with a local nonprofit or a great
volunteer experience sites like just
serve volunteer match and the United Way
volunteer Center these nonprofit
websites run like a dating service where
you highlight your skills your interests
your abilities and match you with a need
and trust me as a non-profit we’ll look
past all of your baggage and your
commitment is
we just need you oftentimes because of
lack of transportation or time or even a
disability people choose to volunteer
over the phone or via the web that’s a
great way to connect nonprofits need
help with writing and graphic design
they also could use help with web-based
tasks so all your volunteering can be
done from home you might need to go to a
quick orientation or attend a few
meetings but you too can volunteer
anywhere you’d like what’s important is
that you heed the call to serve and in
some ancient scripture it suggests that
when we’re in the service of our fellow
beings were actually only in the service
of our God so number two making it pure
well with vitamins potency matters
likewise the potency of our volunteering
makes a difference you’re gonna want to
make sure it’s totally voluntary it has
to be altruistic you can’t volunteer
because you feel obligated it can never
come from a place of guilt I’m sure all
of us have been voluntold to do
something when that happens we lose the
health benefits but when our
volunteerism is truly discretionary when
it comes from an unselfish place that’s
when all of the health benefits come
from lowering your cholesterol and blood
pressure to decreasing your anxiety and
depression you have that opportunity to
get the health benefit you just have to
choose to connect the volunteering will
save your life and you just need to make
it pure but here’s the tricky part
now that you know that volunteering will
make you live longer that can’t be the
reason why you volunteer because you’re
going to lose the
alright I think Gandhi said it best he
said the best way to find our life or
ourselves is when we lose ourselves in
the service of others so the last thing
number three getting the right dose so
researchers knowing that volunteering
increases your life wanted to know if
you volunteered more would that make you
live longer and what they found that
there was a volunteer threshold or a
minimum and maximum dose you’ll want to
volunteer between 100 and 200 hours a
year or between two to four hours a week
and you can receive those maximum health
benefits and live a longer life so
remember make the connection make it
pure and get the right dose one day when
I was at the Food Bank standing in our
lobby a man came up to me he wanted to
shake my hand and say thank you he
explained that he had just gone through
the most difficult year of his life he
and his wife had an eleven year old
child and his daughter was beautiful and
amazing but due to an illness they lost
her and in losing her he said he lost
everything his marriage his job he lost
hope in that place of discouragement he
said he had trouble getting up in the
morning and just wished he had died too
but he saw an ad for the Food Bank and
so he came in he started to volunteer
while he volunteered he saw what kind of
an impact he could have he started to
find purpose that purpose began to heal
him isn’t it interesting for all of us
when we’re in our season of trial when
we feel overwhelmed alone and
discouraged when we feel like the weight
of the world is on our shoulders and
we’re ready to give up the quickest and
easiest way to lighten our
it’s just to take the load of someone
else on our shoulders it’s
counterintuitive you would think that
adding more weight would crush you even
faster but it heals it recalibrates
service has the power to cure so don’t
be surprised next time when you go visit
your doctor that he doesn’t prescribe a
healthy dose of volunteering along with
good diet and exercise now is our time
all of us need to choose to get out
there and volunteer our lives and the
lives of those we serve depend on it
[Applause]
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