Volunteering and Altruism

In its core, volunteering relies on altruistic postulates. How can it not be perceived as such when the sense of completion comes from successfully aiding others instead of, for example, increasing one’s own market value? 

Not every act of volunteering is altruistic and not every altruistic act is volunteering, but the connection between the two concepts is so strong that one cannot speak of the one without the other.

In some cases, volunteering can even be regarded as a luxury, or that extracurricular activity that serves individuals just as a CV asset or a social media milestone. But that kind of view doesn’t take into account regular sacrifices when one dedicates its work power towards selflessly improving the community that surrounds them, and that, in one way or another, helped make someone a person that they are today.

That’s why volunteering is a sort of ‘giving back’ to the community.

IDEA volunteers we work with are still choosing to supply us with their forces. Their time and talents can, and will, make a difference. Then again, we all started as volunteers, in one way or another.

Voluntary service you want to provide us with doesn’t have to be of a scope so great that it erects statues on its own. It’s the little everyday actions that support our beliefs in an empathetic, selfless society built around the will to evolve. It’s raising your hand and voice when faced with ignorance and injustice. It’s teaching one kid how to stand up for itself.

And there couldn’t exist a more powerful tool than debating. Multiply that with a great number of people and you get an active community of volunteers. In any case, you get the IDEA. It’s not one person, one project, one paycheck. We need to join and, even more importantly, coordinate our efforts.