December 5th is International Volunteer Day.
On December 2nd, the Regional Volunteer Gala was held in Lublin. The event was combined with the 25th anniversary of the Volunteer Center in Lublin.
Community and having one’s place and role in it is natural and one of the basic needs of every person. People have always lived next to each other, creating smaller and larger communities, and have always helped each other – completely selflessly. Mutual help focused on another person is not an isolated, new phenomenon, or artificially created by the modern world – mutual help has always existed and is inscribed in being human and living in a community. It is provided by family, friends, neighbors, random passers-by…
But why is Volunteering so important?
There is someone who recognizes the importance of others, even complete strangers, as much as his own. He has enormous resources of love for all people. This person gives others what is most precious to him and does it with a smile and good will. He does not expect gratitude, payment or other gratification. For him, the only thing that counts is the good that he gives to others, and which can then be seen on their faces – it can be a smile, relief, hope, tears of happiness. He does not need anything more.
This person is a Volunteer.
The need for selfless and true offering of one’s time and attention to other people arises only in exceptional people. Volunteering gives them the opportunity to join forces and for their actions to be directed – so that each help provided responds to the real needs of a specific person.
On one side we have people who feel a deep need of the heart – to help others.
On the other side there are people who need help. Thanks to Volunteering, they can meet each other – and this is one of its most important tasks. What else does Volunteering give?
Volunteering, because it can concern almost every area of life – helping people of different ages and situations, working in the field of education, ecology and culture and art, or helping animals, is available to everyone. Thanks to volunteering, it turns out that everyone, regardless of interests, health or age, can give something of themselves to others and share good – skills, knowledge, time and presence or even prayer.
It shapes values (such as empathy, solidarity, social responsibility, altruism) and requires commitment and initiative from participants – it can be an important element of education or the resocialization process, but also strengthen the sense of meaning in life.
Volunteering not only allows you to help others, but is also a form of personal development – it is a way to make new friends and a chance to gain important skills – useful in professional and private life (it often puts us in new and difficult situations, forces us to make decisions, creates space for teamwork).