The Benefits of Volunteering

PAWS NY is always looking for dedicated volunteers all over New York City who want to give their time to help their neighbors care for their pets. But what’s in it for the volunteers? Turns out, there are lots of amazing benefits of volunteering!

Stress Relief

According to the Mayo Clinic, “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.”

Expand Your Community

As a volunteer, particularly with an organization such as PAWS NY, you get to meet new people and build relationships with the individuals—and pets—you’re helping. You can also get to know your fellow volunteers, and all of this builds up the social safety net and friendships across the board.

Get Happy!

Researchers at the London School of Economics found that people become happier by volunteering more: “Volunteering has a positive, causal influence on self-reported happiness,” they found. Other researchers measured hormones and brain activity, to discover that being helpful to others delivers immense pleasure.

Animal Love

Particularly as a volunteer with PAWS NY, you also gain all the benefits of interacting with pets!

Specifically, research has indicated that pet guardianship and the Human-Animal Bond (HAB) can help reduce fear, anxiety, and stress-related parameters such as cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure; increase trustworthiness of and trust toward other persons; enhance levels of empathy towards others; and improve physical health, especially cardiovascular health.

In honor of World Kindness Day, which is November 13, sign up to volunteer—with PAWS NY or another worthwhile nonprofit organization—to reap the benefits and bring more kindness into this world!