Giving back to your community by volunteering not only positively impacts your neighbors; it also benefits your physical and mental health.
Volunteering can help improve your mental wellbeing by adding movement, a sense of community and purpose.
“Studies support what we already know; volunteering makes us feel good,” said Maureen Hawkins, Director of Health and Hunger Strategies at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.
“Feeling good improves our health and mental health,” she continued. “Not only are our bodies physically moving more with volunteering, which has its own health benefits, including reduced blood pressure. It also provides social connections, reduced isolation, joy and on and on. This is across all ages and populations.”
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, volunteering helps boost mental health, increase confidence, find purpose and create connection, Maureen said.
The experience of Second Harvest volunteers supports the findings of the studies.
Regular volunteer Deborah has started bringing her neighbor Cynthia along on sorting shifts. Cynthia has been experiencing some memory loss.
“Cynthia is in a better mood and has more energy when she comes to the food bank to volunteer, as she has people to talk to and physical activity to keep her busy,” Deborah shared.
Deborah said she notices the physical and emotional differences in her neighbor after volunteering.
“It provides great mental and physical stimulation, and if she weren't here, she would just be (sedentary at home doing non mentally stimulating activities),” she said.
Kait, another volunteer, has been logging volunteer hours for a college course and helped with a watercolor project for volunteer appreciation, for which Maureen recruited volunteers to create. She also volunteers sorting and packing donations for emergency food boxes at the food bank's main distribution center in Orlando, at Mercy Kitchen, and at the Brevard County branch in Melbourne.
“I love painting and creating art, so it really felt like I was just having fun, which is really how I felt doing every volunteer event anyway,” Kait said. “I was definitely drawn to the painting opportunity in particular because I love art, and it was very relaxing and sparked great conversation.”
She said she thinks it makes sense that volunteering helps maintain good mental health.
“We don't have a lot of control over the suffering that we see happening all around us and online and being able to do something at our local level that genuinely helps people is very uplifting,” Kait pointed out.
Volunteering at Second Harvest has a particularly positive impact on mental health, Kait said.
“I think the environment plays a big part,” she explained. “I am a very social person, so talking to people and interacting with people are part of who I am. I feel comfortable doing that here because other people also seem to be seeking community, and that helps lift everyone up and makes you feel even better about what you are doing.”
She said she sees social people like herself drawn to the food bank, and that people discover community after their first shift.
“You definitely see the people who are social and for whom building relationships comes easily, but you also see people who open up when they come,” Kait said. “I don't think I realized just how much I'd enjoy the community and everyone's energy. Just being around so many like-minded individuals genuinely gives me so much hope for our future. I am very grateful to have the opportunity to volunteer.”
Second Harvest offers multiple on-site volunteer opportunities on most weekdays, as well as at off-site special events. You can find a complete list of upcoming shifts and sign up on the volunteer calendar.
