“We serve people and this also heals those who are serving. Volunteering has a dual effect,” says chef John Blaauw, who worked in five-star hotels before joining Ladles of Love in Cape Town, which feeds about 450 people a day. Cutting parsley off a hanging herb garden, he says: “It’s a joyful job, so I jump out of bed every morning.”
Opportunities to help people, animals and nature during the holidays abound. Forgood is among organisations in South Africa listing options or campaigns to volunteer during the festive season. From face painting or being a DJ at Christmas parties, to cleaning pools, puppy raising and recycling/clean-ups in communities, the list of what and where to donate or volunteer is long.
“Helping others makes us feel good about ourselves and is rewarding,” says Joburg clinical psychologist Christopher Kemp. “Volunteering gives us a sense of purpose outside ourselves and it can feel like you’ve really affected someone’s life.”
Volunteering significantly predicts “better mental and physical health, life satisfaction, self-esteem, happiness, and lowers depressive symptoms, psychological distress and mortality”, according to a study in the peer-reviewed journal, PMC Public Health.
Single people, the unemployed, the elderly, ethnic minorities and those with little education — who generally have poorer health and volunteer less — should be encouraged to volunteer “as a kind of healthy lifestyle”, recommends the team, led by behavioural scientist Prof Jeff WK Yeung.
Volunteering in December — when loneliness and grief stand out starkly against exhortations to be jolly — allows individuals to connect with others to the benefit of all.
Cassey Chambers, operations director for the South African Depression and Monitoring Group (Sadag), says they get many more calls on their 24/7 helplines [dealing with suicide, mental health and substance abuse] from people “feeling depressed, lonely, isolated or grieving” over December. “It could be the first Christmas without a loved one or after a divorce; it could be the first Christmas that you’re not able to go home because you have to work ... there are many reasons for someone’s low mood.”
While Sadag trains counsellors extensively, ad hoc volunteers are always needed, says Cassey, even to plug in just for an hour or two. They encourage people to give back to mental health organisations in their communities by offering support or donating clothes, books or care packs. “People can reach out to a mental health NGO or to a psychiatric ward in a hospital, to say: ‘How can we help? What can we do to alleviate your load? Can we bring you coffee or a meal? Do you need any resources?”
Doing volunteer work isn't just about helping others, it can be a rewarding personal experience as well
— clinical psychologist Christopher Kemp
An umbrella review of 28 studies on the social, mental, physical and general health benefits of volunteering found it “provides unique benefits to organisations, recipients and, potentially, the volunteers themselves”. Volunteers at Ladles of Love [ladlesoflove.org.za] have experienced this boost over the years. They enjoy serving the lines of people who queue for a hot meal in the late afternoon outside The Hope Exchange, near parliament in Cape Town.
Chopping spinach, volunteer Leigh Lewis says she started in the kitchen at the end of the pandemic, when her home-care job stopped, and she finds it so rewarding.
Murray Easton says it was wonderful volunteering at Ladles of Love during the Covid-19 lockdown. “Having a common cause and great fun with a group of volunteers, from a wide spectrum of the community, had the unexpected benefit of creating deep, caring friendships,” he says.
Like Ladles of Love, Mdzananda Animal Clinic in Khayelitsha needs extra hands. Constructed out of containers in a cul-de-sac, the shelter is inundated with walk-in cases and animals rescued by its five ambulances or mobile clinics, which vaccinate, deworm and treat pets for free.
“I think we are the only animal welfare clinic in South Africa with a full-time vet in the community,” said general manager Samantha Mann of the service in one of the country’s biggest townships. “We need volunteers to play with the puppies, dogs and cats.”
Long-haired and short-haired, floppy-eared and pricked-eared dogs, like a burly pit bull, started barking at a deafening volume [perhaps volunteers should take earplugs] when people walk past their cages. But the 60 or so dogs and puppies who need homes quickly got subdued when we did not engage with them.
Meanwhile, in the theatre, two dogs were being prepped for surgery, while in the consultation room an animal health technician examined a dog called Chase. A cat which had become a nursing mother to a pile of kittens barely bigger than bars of soap, watch us warily as we approached in the cattery.
Volunteer Lynne Semple has been to Mdzananda a few times, at first to adopt an elderly sick dog and then three-legged, one-eyed Ruby into their family. “I was blown away by their dedicated staff, and how much they do with so little,” said Semple, who has been out twice on Nelson Mandela Day to help build and paint kennels.
“They make a huge difference. In recent floods, they went out looking for stranded animals to help and rescue. They’re always trying to educate the residents and children about caring for their pets. Another time, in memory of my daughter who loved animals, I took donations like towels, old blankets and money which had been collected. They constantly have residents bringing in animals ... one who had come from far had pushed a dog in a wheelbarrow all the way to the clinic.”
Mdzananda is running a “My First Christmas” campaign for people to sponsor a puppy or kitten with money for food and vaccinations. “We also need bigger dog beds and toys,” said Mann.
Making donations — like volunteering and other acts of altruism — has also been proven in multiple studies to enhance wellbeing. Recent research, highlighted in the 2023 World Happiness Report, found that prosocial behaviours — such as donations to charity, volunteering and helping strangers — benefit both parties. A Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health study last year highlighted the importance of prosocial behaviours and the role of social connections in people’s health and longevity.
Volunteering and donating to people whose circumstances are harder than our own, for instance homes run by the Salvation Army network, like Ethembeni Children's Home in Joburg, has the hidden benefit of giving us perspective and boosting gratitude. “We all live in our own bubbles, our workplaces, our friends, our family who are pretty similar to us. When we volunteer, we get exposure to the struggles and the experiences of people from different financial, social or cultural backgrounds,“ says Kemp.
“I think this helps generate a sense of true empathy and understanding of people's lives that are different to your own. Often, I see people who are less fortunate and the unique struggles they go through ... and I feel it gives perspective and helps us feel grateful for what we have.”
Scientific proof that gratitude and mindfulness contribute to happiness is robust and well-proven, more than for other activities associated with wellbeing such as exercise, meditation and being in nature. “Any type of volunteering helps you tap into new experiences and ideas about yourself and you learn a lot about yourself. I think it can promote meaningful growth and change. Connecting with others [gives us] a deep human connection, so I think doing volunteer work isn't just about helping others. I think it can be a rewarding personal experience as well,” says Kemp.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.