JUST BE: December 2022

“Volunteering reduces stress and increases positive, relaxed feelings by releasing dopamine. By spending time in service to others, volunteers report feeling a sense of meaning and appreciation, both given and received, which can have a stress-reducing effect. Reduced stress further decreases risk of many physical and mental health problems, such has heart disease, stroke, depression, anxiety and general illness.” – Thoreson, Angela. “Helping People, Changing Lives: 3 Health Benefits of Volunteering.” Mayo Clinic Health System, 16 Sept. 2021.

General:

• • • The Health Benefits of Volunteering, University of Maryland Medical System

    • Mental Benefits of Volunteering, WebMD

    • Want to be Happier? Try Volunteering, Study Says, Washington Post

Research:

• • • Altruism, Happiness, and Health: It’s Good to be Good, International Journal of Behavioral Medicine

    • Volunteering and Health Benefits in General Adults: Cumulative Effects and Forms, BMC Public Health

    • UN “Human Development Report” and OECD’s “How’s Life?” Emphasize Contribution of Volunteering, Center For Civil Society Studies