HISTORICAL OVERVIEW AND BENEFITS OF VOLUNTEERISM

Abstract

From the past, until now, volunteering appears in various forms, from traditional customs of mutual aid to organized community action in times of crisis (floods, earthquakes, fire…). Throughout our lives, we have all volunteered in some situation, whether it is helping to paint a friend's apartment or helping an elderly person cross the street, as well as participating in an activity of a local NGO or school parliament. It is estimated that around 420 million people volunteer in the world. Volunteers dedicate their time, knowledge, and abilities to those who need it without asking for financial or some other compensation.
Volunteering is generally defined as a non-profit and unpaid activity by which individuals and groups contribute to the well-being of society. By volunteerism, we mean the voluntary provision of services to another person, for the benefit of another person or to achieve some goal, without compensation. Volunteering is a form of civic engagement that connects people who volunteer.
The key values of volunteering are: Solidarity - an awareness of the need for mutual accountability to achieve fairer relations between people; Tolerance - accepting other people's understandings and attitudes, without necessarily agreeing with them; Equality - equal rights and opportunities for everyone regardless of gender, age, education, race, nationality, social status, political and religious views and all other forms of diversity;
Peace and nonviolence - as basic principles of thinking and finding and life in harmony.
Motivation to volunteer including: Personal values - acting by certain beliefs (civic consciousness, humane character, value system, etc.), Understanding - a circle of people with similar interests, Career - the desire to advance in the career, because through volunteer work you can acquire skills and knowledge that can be used professionally and personally, Acquaintance and society - volunteering brings contacts and acquaintances with new and interesting people, Respect - in the community, Plenty of free time - pleasant spending of free time with nature as an aspiration to change lifestyle patterns and align them with the basic principles of sustainable development.
Volunteering has an important role in addressing unmet or unrecognized needs of individuals or communities. One of the key roles of volunteers is to fill the gaps, that is, to provide help or some type of service to different categories of citizens, especially to members of vulnerable populations. People who are volunteers also benefit from volunteering, in addition to the users of volunteer services. Through volunteering, volunteers strengthen their ties with the community, have the opportunity to acquire additional knowledge and skills, to connect with people who have the same or similar interests, in the direction of achieving the same common goal. Volunteers are also important for the non-profit organizations in which they are engaged, enriching them with many qualities that the people who work in them may not have, such as knowledge of a certain foreign language, expertise in a certain area, special skills, qualifications, etc. Volunteers have always played an important role in many societies. It is the same today.