How Volunteering Can Lead to Systematic Change

‘Tis the season of giving (back). Volunteering takes on many forms and looks different for everyone. From consistent hours spent tutoring at an after-school program to a week-long community garden project, there are seemingly endless opportunities to volunteer in our communities.

If you’ve ever spent time volunteering, you may have asked yourself: what is the ultimate impact of my time?

The truth is, volunteering means being a small part of a collective effort to make the world a better place. Many organizations doing important work rely on the helping hands of volunteers. Without them, they wouldn’t be able to advocate and work for the larger systematic changes our communities need.

Check out these examples of how volunteering can be a catalyst for systematic change:

👕 Donate or recycle unwanted clothes and textiles → support vulnerable populations & protect the planet

Did you know that only 15% of reusable textiles are recycled? Yikes, right? Considering how much of our clothing ends up in landfills, it’s a bummer that such little clothing is recycled. Even more, textile reuse and recycling have the second-highest potential for reducing greenhouse gases. That’s mostly because producing textiles emits hundreds of gallons of CO2 and requires thousands of gallons of water per clothing item.

Since many organizations are happy to take clothing donations to help clothe vulnerable populations, donating your clothes can help the immediate needs of people in your community. Ready to make a difference? Join our action, Comeback Clothes, and start purging your closet!

🥫 Recycle aluminum cans → fight climate change

Even though waste production has increased, recycling has actually decreased in the US. Helping curb the amount of waste that ends up at the landfill is cool and all, but there’s actually an even more impressive way that recycling aluminum cans can combat climate change.

Recycling aluminum saves a ton of energy (90%, in fact!) that would otherwise be spent producing more from raw materials. That means less gasoline is used in aluminum production, which is a big win for the planet. Who knew saving your soda cans and recycling them could be so impactful? Join our 5 Cans Challenge and start sharing your recycling strides with us!

🍲 Collect and donate food items to the local food bank or volunteer at a soup kitchen → tackle food insecurity

Food banks are places where food is stored and distributed to organizations that can give food items to those who need them. Food banks are an integral part of the network of organizations working hard to end food insecurity.

By collecting and donating food items to your local food bank, you’re participating in an essential chain of events that can prevent people from going hungry. The pandemic has resulted in millions more Americans facing food insecurity than before, so the time to act is now. Join our Tackle Hunger action and start rounding up those food items!

Another way to tackle food insecurity is to volunteer at a soup kitchen. Most soup kitchens rely on volunteers to serve their patrons, so lending a hand supports them in a big way. Grab a buddy (or several!), or bring the whole family along to volunteer at the soup kitchen when you join Soup Something!

🧠 Share mental health resources with your community → end mental health stigma

Far too many people don’t seek help for their mental health challenges due to fear of stigma. This same stigma fuels the lack of mental health resources available in under-resourced communities, leaving many young people of color and low-income students without adequate care.

Sharing is caring, especially when it's mental health resources. Join It’s (Not) All In Your Head to download, print, and share mental health resource posters at your school or in your community. The posters serve as a great reminder to your peers that seeking help is an act of courage. How’s that for ending stigma?!

📚 Run a book drive → support equitable education

Many schools throughout America and beyond don’t have equitable access to books. In fact, some communities only have one book for every 300 children. Considering how essential books are to promoting literacy, this number is quite startling.

Truthfully, there are plenty of books to go around, they’re just not well distributed to under-resourced areas. We can tackle this problem by running a competitive book drive and collecting as many books as you can to donate to a local Boys & Girls Club, library, or school. Get started by running your own competitive book drive with Stacks on Stacks today!

Speaking of stacks, all of these seemingly small actions can definitely stack up to big, positive changes in our communities. Not only are our actions impactful, but the things we learn about our community while volunteering creates a basis of knowledge that we can utilize in our advocacy.

Young people all over the country are already making waves with their volunteer efforts, like this teen who created a beach-cleaning army, the participants of DoSomething’s OneTeam Challenge, and these neighbors who found new ways to connect during the pandemic.

When you participate in the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team’s Strength Through Service program through any of the above actions, or any other volunteer initiative, you’re letting your community know you’re looking out for them. When it comes to making a difference, we're all on the same team!