Volunteering

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**Historical and Global Context of Volunteering:**
– Etymology and history of volunteering, including its military origins and evolution over centuries.
– Notable events and organizations in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries that shaped volunteering.
– Different types of volunteering, such as service learning, skills-based volunteering, virtual volunteering, micro-volunteering, environmental volunteering, and emergency volunteering.
– The role of volunteers in schools, corporations, communities, social welfare, major sporting events, and civil society development globally.

**Benefits of Volunteering:**
– Potential benefits of volunteering, including academic, longevity, and mental health benefits.
– Academic advantages for students through service-learning programs.
– Longevity benefits and improved physical and mental health associated with volunteering.
– Positive impact on mental health, happiness, and community well-being through volunteering efforts.

**Statistics and Critiques of Volunteering:**
– Overview of U.S. volunteering statistics and historical limitations.
– Critiques of volunteering raised by various scholars and thinkers.
– Issues related to volunteering, such as medical voluntourism, social mobility, exploitation concerns, and burnout risks.
– Impact of volunteering on media, moral obligations, learning outcomes, CV inclusion, and corporate programs.

**Corporate and Community Volunteering:**
– Corporate volunteering practices, including paid time off, Employee Volunteering Programs, volunteer grants, and brand awareness.
– Community volunteering initiatives aimed at improving local communities through non-profit organizations, local governments, and informal groups.
– Social volunteering or welfare volunteering in European countries, focusing on working in hospitals, schools, and welfare institutions.
– Volunteering at major sporting events and its impact on event success, training, and volunteer support.

**Academic and Moral Resources of Volunteering:**
– The role of service-learning programs in developing teamwork, relational skills, civic engagement, and cultural appreciation.
– Moral resources and political capital approach to enhance NGOs’ status and access in political systems.
– Altruistic work as a volunteer contributing to a longer and more fulfilling life.
– The importance of volunteerism in promoting civil society, moral ethics, and political engagement.

Volunteering (Wikipedia)

Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve on an as-needed basis, such as in response to a natural disaster.

Volunteers of Vilnius Marathon
Volunteers sweep the boardwalk in Brooklyn after the 2012 Hurricane Sandy
Semi-professional volunteering: Trained lifeguards of the German DLRG, the largest voluntary water rescue organization in the world, patrolling a public bathing area of a lake in Munich
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