It’s that time of year again where people all over the US and Canada celebrate the blessings and harvest of the past year! There are many different ways people celebrate this holiday–some celebrate by making meals with a huge turkey as the centerpiece while others celebrate by giving back to the community and volunteering. 

Additionally, according to LinkedIn, the number of volunteers typically increases by 50% around November and December. Moreover, volunteering has many health benefits associated with it. For example, those who volunteer tend to have a longer life expectancy as opposed to those who don’t and tend to experience less depression. Researchers speculate that the reason for this may be because of the increase in mobility which, evidently, increases longevity. People mostly over the age of 50 are able to fully experience the benefits of volunteering. According to the article, multiple studies demonstrated that the longevity aspect of volunteering is most prevalent in adults who volunteer at least 15 hours per week.

According to UT Dallas Magazine, research supports the statement that religion influences the likelihood of someone volunteering. Many people tend to be in churches around this time of year, and they often ask their members to volunteer, due to the influx in volunteers. 

While there are many positives to volunteering, according to USA Today, the influx of volunteers is counterproductive for many small charities. This is because it takes a lot of time and resources to properly train the volunteers. To address this issue, Mary Lou Bozza suggests that the best donation is a monetary donation as it will greatly help the charity. 

Many students from Arcadia High School volunteer year round as well; a notable example would be junior Vania Ahmadi. For example, his most memorable story would be, “volunteering at Longley Way Elementary School in freshman year for a Christmas event. It was just so cool to get to spend time with little kids, laugh at their cute and funny moments, be a part of creating their childhood memories, and most importantly, be someone they can look up to. My friend and I went to the event together, and we were helping at the hot chocolate booth, and interacting with the elementary schoolers was so fun, and we even got to take pictures with Santa!”

Thanksgiving is not only a time to celebrate being with friends and family, but also a time to give back. Moreover, people all over the world can help by volunteering with animals, at meal programs, or giving monetary donations.

Photo Courtesy of UNSPLASH.COM