3 Benefits to Volunteering as a Family
It’s a Friday evening at Feeding San Diego’s Sorrento Valley headquarters. Volunteers busily sort and pack food to go out to the community. In their midst is the Korn Family. Parents Usa and Tommy work the conveyer belt alongside 15-year-old Iris and 13-year-old Lucas. They’re working together on a kitting project, putting shelf-stable goods into boxes to be handed out at upcoming food distributions. You can tell this group is having a blast, laughing and joking as they work. It’s a fun Friday night giving back, and this family of four has a lot to say about their experiences volunteering at Feeding San Diego. We asked them to share the top three benefits of volunteering as a family.
The Korn Family (from left to right: Tommy, Iris, Lucas, and Usa)
#1. Connect as a family
According to the Korn Family, the biggest benefit of volunteering together is the bonding time.
“We really love spending our Friday evenings here at Feeding San Diego because it’s a nice way to connect with the family. It’s kind of a refresh at the end of the week,” said Iris. Iris and her brother found Feeding San Diego when researching community service opportunities for school. They enjoyed the experience so much that they kept coming back and brought their parents along too.
“Our kids discovered Feeding San Diego on their own to fulfill their school volunteer requirement,” shared Tommy. “We never heard about your organization until our kids asked us to sign them up!”
“It’s great bonding together,” Usa added. “We don’t really have any parent-teenager problems.”
Plus, after their shift, they spend even more quality time together.
“Our parents will treat us to a little snack like an ice cream or something,” Iris shared.
Unexpected bonus: Giving away time to others makes you feel like you have more time overall.
Wharton professor Cassie Mogilner’s research found that being charitable makes you feel less time-constrained in the rest of your life. That means you’re not only spending time together as a family, but you’ll also feel like you have more time to connect in your daily life.
The Korn Family in action
#2. Improve family dynamics
In addition to spending to connecting, the Korn family has seen an improvement in their dynamics outside of the volunteer center.
“Volunteering together helps with communication because you see the dynamics of ‘I’m talking, you listen.’ It comes out right away,” Tommy shared. “In the beginning, when we first started, it was kind of rough. But then we kept doing it and found that working together as a team here helps us communicate as a family at home.”
His kids agreed.
“It’s a change from home dynamics,” Iris explained. “And it’s nice because my parents do listen to us when we tell them what to do for the projects.”
“I think it’s really fun,” Lucas agreed. “Iris and I have had a lot of experience with different projects, so we can actually tell them what to do.”
Unexpected bonus: Volunteering during adolescence has been linked to some major positive effects.
According to research by Jane Allyn Piliavin, a retired University of Wisconsin sociologist, teenagers who volunteer see significant benefits, including positive effects on grades, self-concept, and attitudes toward education, reduced drug use, and huge declines in dropout rates and teen pregnancies.
Lucas and Iris
#3. Have fun while making a difference
Volunteering as a family offers an excellent opportunity to have fun together and make an impact at the same time.
“The kids enjoyed working with Jasmine, Sarah, and the team at the Sorrento Valley site so much that they often decline a family Friday home movie night so that our entire family can volunteer at Feeding San Diego,” Tommy told us. We asked Iris and Lucas what their favorite project was to do when they volunteered.
“I really like kitting,” Iris shared. “It’s really fun because everyone has their own products that they pack into the box. The whole conveyor belt process is really satisfying, and so is seeing all the boxes on pallets in the end.”
“Sometimes there will be this one project, and it’s almost like a treat,” Lucas explained. “It’s called Big Lots, and it’s very rare. There will be cereal or dry snacks, and we’ll have to sort them into pallets. It’s really fun seeing all the snacks be given from Big Lots, and it’s a really satisfying experience to date check them and pack them in a certain way. Almost like Tetris.”
Unexpected bonus: Volunteering makes you happier!
A study by the University of Texas found that becoming involved in helping your community lowers rates of depression and anxiety, which means that volunteering can lead to better well-being and reduced stress!
Volunteering as a Family Is a Win-Win-Win!
When it comes to volunteering, the Korn family says working together makes everything better.
“Volunteering together as a family has made us closer and helped us improve our family chemistry by helping others in need. Plus, we noticed the kids don’t waste food now because they know how precious food is. They don’t take it for granted,” Tommy said. “It’s a win-win-win.”
We invite you and your family to experience the benefits of volunteering together. Ages six and up are welcome at our volunteer center. Sign up for a shift today!
