Volunteering is a great way to be useful in our communities, and some experiences impact us in unexpected ways. These volunteers made quite the impression and some were even left beautifully scarred. Here are 12 volunteering experiences that will make you want to do better.

I worked at a zoo, and twice a year, I was in charge of handling any volunteers that we had.
One time, a young man came to volunteer.
He was tasked with mostly cleaning around the walkways of the zoo. He was terrible at it.

He would move on to another task without completing the previous one, and I’d be left to do my job and his.
At the end of the week, I called him in to ask him how he was feeling about the job. He went on a tangent about how he hated being here and how he didn’t even like animals.

When I could finally get a breath in, I looked at him and said, “You know you can leave, right? You don’t have to be here.”
He looked at me like I was telling him that his entire life had been a lie. He immediately got up and walked out.

I never saw him again.

I’m on a team that goes out to help people that have had disasters (mostly house fires). Recently, we got a call at 10 pm for some persons that requested help, we drove 2+ hours on a Sunday night to meet them.
I was grumbling about it, but then you meet a couple in their late 60s whose trailer burned to the ground.
They lost it all. We showed up, got them in the system, got them a debit card with a few hundred dollars on it, and sent them on their way.
Since they’re in the system, others will follow up with them and help them.

If we didn’t make that drive, they’d have spent the night in a cold car. It’s my small contribution to the world, but I feel good about it.

I spent a few years volunteering on a mental health helpline, and yeah, the florid calls are super intense.
We would focus on validating feelings (fear, sadness, anger, etc) without validating experiences (Uncle Ricky, Sasquatch, etc) while trying to make an agreement that they would talk with someone in their life about their worries, preferably a medical professional.
You’re never going to be able to sort out truth from delusion in a single call, so there’s no point in trying to build rapport and linking to support as the goals.

I’ve volunteered with rescued animals, and I’ve volunteered with sick kids.

I wouldn’t be me without these experiences. I lost a family member to cancer when I was in my late teens. I had been severely depressed for years before, and my family members’ deaths made me force myself to live.

I did it for my family. I felt like nothing was important, but I wanted to do something that felt important, like doing something for people who are going through something similar. When my family member got sick, I realized how small gestures of kindness or just a little smile from people did SO much for me when my life was in pieces.

This is something that I always think about; the smallest thing can make a person’s day feel a tiny bit easier to get through.

I went to help an elderly woman whose apartment was a complete mess. While tidying the bedroom, I stumbled upon a ring with the engraving “To my dear wife.” I handed it to her, but she said, “My husband never gave me jewelry.”
She paused, her face turning pale, and whispered, “But he had another wife long before me—someone he never spoke about.” The realization hit us both; this ring belonged to a forgotten past, hidden away for years.
The woman sighed and said, “Maybe it’s best we leave this lost.”

No One Dies Alone – As the name suggests, my team and I are notified when a patient is nearing the final hours of their life and does not have any family members present. We rotate in shifts of 3 hours 24/7, to ensure that the patient doesn’t die alone.
A lot of the time, we are able to be there, but quite too often, the patient passes away at odd hours, like 3 am, when none of us can be there.
We sit with the patient, read, pray, or do anything to provide them company when they take their final breath. This can be extremely heavy, and as someone who has lost a relative without anyone by their side, I love this.

I volunteered with Girl Scouts for more than a year, specifically to build community and because I believed in the mission.
And it was a miserable experience. I would NEVER say, however, “Don’t join the Girl Scouts.”
The point is that, as we used to say, “Your Mileage May Vary” (YMMV). I think the key to finding a fulfilling volunteer experience is to keep trying with different groups.

Don’t expect it to be perfect and wonderful from day one; give it time…and when you realize it’s not for you, move on. Kind of like dating.

I was delivering meals to elderly people, and one of them was this grumpy old man who never greeted me or said thank you.
But one day he opened his door, looking extremely nervous, and whispered, “Did anybody follow you?”
Confused, I turned to glance back at my car and gasped. In the back seat, I saw a scruffy dog cheerfully eating the remaining meals. Apparently, it had jumped into my open car window.

The old man sighed deeply, saying, “That dog’s been stealing from everyone on this street all week!”

I teach painting classes at various retirement communities. Sometimes memory care and assisted living. It is free, I bring all the supplies.
Each class is about an hour, one day per week, over a 4-week period. Most people have never tried to paint or say they can only do stick people, but I am ALWAYS amazed at their talent!
I actually have students who used to paint.

They still have an eye for color, and I ask them if they would like help with using a brush. I hold it steady, and they choose the color and move the brush. They just love it!

I am an impressionistic painter, not a realistic one.
Here’s one:

My bucket list had “Going to Culinary School” on it. Just because I always wanted to, not to make a 2nd career out of it.
After that, I was a cook/chef in a homeless shelter for 5 years.
By far, it is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. Got to the point where I was running the kitchen myself.

I’d probably do it again, but I fear age is catching up with me, and I just can no longer go at such a high pace for that long.

Food insecurity is a really important cause for me, and I have volunteered at a store where people can come shop for food for no charge. So, you’re directly interacting with the people you’re helping.
I also volunteer for an organization that prepares and packages meals for the homeless. In that case, you’re one step removed from the ultimate beneficiaries of your efforts. But I’ve found both of those experiences equally rewarding.

The folks running these organizations are very appreciative of my time, and I think that makes a difference.

My wife and I volunteer at two food banks, a charity dining hall, and an NGO that provides services for the homeless and working poor. We’ve been going to the food banks for 3–4 years and the NGO for almost 3.
We’ve become friends with a number of volunteers and even a few of the clients. We do group things with the volunteers, such as bowling, going to the movies, etc.
We’ve also hired some clients to do odd jobs around our house.

The biggest plus is we’ve gotten our grandkids into volunteering! During school breaks and summer vacation, we’ll have 2-4 of them stay with us to go volunteer. We’re truly blessed.

While some make a difference in their communities, you can make a difference in your own life and someone else’s by learning these life-saving tips.