Volunteering makes us happier and healthier
Special Olympics Montana's 2025 winter games
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BIG SKY, Montana — Volunteering and helping others are beneficial in myriad ways. In these times when things feel so uncertain, let’s take a moment to focus on something positive, shall we?
Last week, I experienced the immense joy of skiing with a Special Olympic athlete for the Big Sky Area Winter Games. It is something I do nearly every year. To say it is fun is only skimming the surface of why I come away from this event feeling happier, healthier and more grounded.
A 2023 research paper published on the National Library of Medicine studied 11 databases covering 28 reviews to determine the “social, mental, physical, or general health benefits of volunteering.” Studies indicate that volunteering in one’s community results in reduced depression and anxiety and increases feelings of self-esteem, purposefulness, empowerment and self-efficacy. It also boosts one’s social connectedness and can improve physical health. The study also concluded that benefits include “reduced mortality and increased functioning.”
Though participants of these studies were mainly older adults in the United States, I personally witness the positive effects of volunteering on people of every age. In fact, the UK Office for Health Improvement and Disparities recommends health care professionals adopt social prescribing (aka: community referral) in their practices. In other words, refering ailing patients to a specific-interest community group such as exercise or book clubs or volunteering with nonprofits — groups for which the patient reports having an affinity — can have positive impacts. They wrote: “Those who find themselves excluded from society, discriminated against, or lacking power and control because of living in extreme poverty,” benefit from community service by providing an appropriate and more effective way of improving health and well-being.
And I wasn’t only skiing the other day. I was singing and dancing thanks to the tunes provided by rockstar DJ Missy O’Malley (can you find me on the video)? So, yeah, I’m sure I benefitted from being up on the mountain that day. But just listen to the athletes too. Their joy is truly infectious.
Obviously, donating your time to a nonprofit organization benefits the organization and the people it serves. But in addition to health benefits, you may acquire new skills, make new friends and come away feeling happier. I have been volunteering with disability nonprofits for more than a decade. So, I am grateful to have had two volunteers working with me last week making sure the athlete had a good day. I was continually seeing old friends I hadn’t seen in a while and their help made it possible for me to catch up, albeit briefly.
So, it was not only a day of skiing, dancing and singing, it was a day full of hugs. And seriously, particularly these days, the more hugs I give and receive, the better I feel. I suspect that’s true for a lot of you too.
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Thanks for reading or listening. Sending you hugs of gratitude.