What better time to give back than during the holidays? And there’s no shortage of volunteer opportunities to choose from. You can make homemade treats to share with neighbors, donate toys to needy children, adopt a military family or help local animal shelters care for pets waiting for a permanent home.
With busy lives, it can be hard to find time to volunteer. However, the benefits of volunteering are limitless to everyone involved: the volunteer and community. The right volunteering opportunity can help reduce stress, find friends, promote community involvement, learn new skills and teach lifelong lessons to our youth.
Volunteering offers vital help to people in need and to worthwhile causes in our community, but the benefits can be even greater for you, the volunteer. Volunteering helps reduce stress, combat depression, keep a person mentally stimulated and provide a sense of purpose. While it’s true that the more a person volunteers, the more benefits they will experience, volunteering doesn’t have to involve a long-term commitment or take a huge amount of time out of a person’s busy day. Giving in even simple ways can help those in need and improve your health and happiness.
The 16th Senatorial district is made up of Camden, Crawford, Dent, Phelps and Pulaski counties. Within these counties there are a variety of opportunities to volunteer your time, or offer financial assistance. One good resource is the United Way of Phelps County, the organization serves a variety of non-profits in our area. The united Way is a great resources for volunteer opportunities for individuals or large groups.
The holidays are one of the most wonderful times of the year. Please use the Christmas season as a time to show your love and gratitude to one another and share what you have with those less fortunate than you.
As always, I encourage my constituents to contact me throughout the year with comments, questions or suggestions by calling my office at (573) 751-5713. To find more information about the bills I sponsor, visit www.senate.mo.gov/brown. Thank you for reading this and for your participation in state government.