Benefit of Volunteering Program for Beginner Writers: Students vs. Community Members Dear Principal, I am writing to express my perspective on who would benefit most from implementing a volunteering

Question: In his 1961 inaugural address, John F. Kennedy famously declared, “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” With his introduction of the Peace Corps later that year, President Kennedy initiated an era of service and volunteerism that remains as active as ever. 2 Today, dedicated Americans still serve communities throughout the world as Peace Corps volunteers. What’s more, over the decades new government-sponsored programs have emerged that carry on and expand the mission to serve. AmeriCorps and Senior Corps, for example, have touched the lives of millions by engaging youth and senior citizens alike much closer to home, in their own communities. 3 These large-scale government-sponsored programs typically require a significant time commitment, but there are also plenty of other opportunities for busy people who still want to do their part. Charities and civic organizations allow time-strapped volunteers to help out where they are needed. Participants can deliver meals to seniors, spend time with dogs in animal shelters, and visit people in hospitals. They can even beautify public parks. 4 According to the Corporation for National and Community Service’s research report Volunteer Growth in America, volunteerism is on the rise. For people over age 65, the rate has increased 64 percent since 1974. Perhaps even more surprisingly, the rate for adults aged 45–64 has increased almost 30 percent. 5 This dramatic increase, however, raises an interesting question. At the risk of sounding cynical, what is in it for the volunteers? 6 For ambitious youth who want to pad their résumés with good deeds, the answer may seem obvious. The same could be said for retirees with plenty of time on their hands. But what about busy adults with families and full-time jobs? Or hardworking students with demanding schedules? Why should they make time to do unpaid labor? For those already stressed out and stretched to the limit, why offer to do extra work? 7 The answer, actually, is quite simple. It’s good for you. Helping others doesn’t build stress—it relieves it. People who engage in volunteer activities are happier and stay in good health longer than those who don’t. 8 Stephanie Watson, of Harvard Women’s Health Watch, argues that volunteering not only delivers mental health benefits by making people feel socially connected and less lonely, but it also may help people live longer. “A growing body of evidence,” she writes, “suggests that people who give their time to others might also be rewarded with better physical health—including lower blood pressure and a longer lifespan.” 9 Rodlescia Sneed, who conducted a study in 2013 on volunteering, notes that volunteering appears to lower stress. “Many people find volunteer work to be helpful with respect to stress reduction, and we know that stress is very strongly linked to health outcomes,” she says. Sneed’s study found a correlation between doing 200 hours of volunteer work per year and having lower blood pressure. 10 Studies have also shown a link between helping others and being happy. A study conducted by the London School of Economics and published in Social Science and Medicine found that the more people volunteered, the happier they were. Compared to people who never volunteered, people who volunteered once a month were 7 percent more likely to report being “very happy.” People who volunteered once a week were 16 percent more likely to report being “very happy.” 11 A 2012 study in the journal Health Psychology had a particularly interesting result. Like other studies, it found participants who volunteered on a regular basis lived longer. But what made this study unique was that it examined the motives of the participants. The participants “who volunteered for self-oriented reasons” did not live any longer than those who did not volunteer at all. In other words, to get the health benefits of volunteering, the volunteers had to be doing it for the right reasons. They had to be motivated by a genuine desire to help others and not by a desire to make themselves feel better. 12 If this study is to be believed, altruism truly is its own reward. Paradoxically, the best way to look after number one may actually be by not trying to look after number one. 13 Volunteering creates connections, builds communities, and makes everyone involved healthier and happier. It not only helps those being helped, it helps the helpers as well. By asking what you can do for others, you may find what you can do for yourself Based on the information in the article, write a response to the following: Write a letter to your principal in which you argue who would ask a beginner writer benefit most from a volunteering program at school: student participants or members of the community they could serve. use text evidence