Volunteering and its Surprising Benefits

In today's busy society, it can be hard to think about finding time to volunteer. _____ , the benefits of volunteering are enormous（巨大的）, both to you and to the community. The right match can help you find friends, reach out to the community, learn new skills and even _____ your career. Volunteering can even help protect your mental and physical health.

One of the better-known benefits of volunteering is the ____ on the community. Unpaid volunteers are often the glue（胶水） that holds a community together. Volunteering allows you to ____ your community and make it a better place.

One of the best ______ to make new friends and strengthen existing relationships is to _____ to a shared activity together. Volunteering is a great way to meet new people, _____ if you are  new to an area. Volunteering also strengthens your ____ to the community and broadens your support network, ___ you to people with common interests, neighbourhood resources, and fun and fulfilling activities.

 ___ some people are naturally outgoing,others are _____ and have a hard time meeting new people. Volunteering gives you the _____ to practise and develop your social skills, since you are meeting regularly with a group of people with _____ interests. Once you have motivation, it's easier to branch out and  make more friends and contacts.

Volunteering can provide a healthy boost （激励）to your self-confidence, self-esteem and life satisfaction. You are doing good for others and the community , which ______ a natural sense of accomplishment. Your ____ as a volunteer can also give you a sense of pride and identity. And the better you feel about yourself, the more ______ you are to have a positive view of your life and future goals.

 _____ the risk of depression is another important benefit of volunteering. A key ____ in depression is social isolation（孤立）. Volunteering _____ you in regular contact with others and helps you develop a solid support system, which ______ protects you against stress and depression when you' re going through challenging times.

   In the United States a voluntary organization called Musician Corps is making a difference in people's lives. Five years ago，Kiff Gallagher，the founder of the organization，realized that music and public services could be used together to help Americans in need. Recognizing that music has a positive effect on Alzheimer's disease and autism（自闭症），he had the idea of creating Musician Corps.

Musician Corps looks for musicians and trains them as teachers. Then the musicians provide these services in city schools，children's hospitals，and assisted-living homes for older adults. They also help organize community concerts. Anyone can play music at these community activities.

Kiff Gallagher says what makes Musician Corps different from other charity organizations is that everybody can take part. It provides a place for people to get involved. He remembers a Musician Corps event at a hospital. Afterwards，he says，the patients are less depressed.

David Meletiche, one of 200 musicians in Musician Corps, teaches an after-school guitar class in a high-crime neighborhood. He is excited that the group gives him not only a job in a difficult economy but also the chance to use the team-building skills he gained in college.

There are 12 high school students in his class. Selena Makwan, one of them who are learning to play the guitar, says the program keeps her busy. "It definitely keeps me off the streets, because without this program I probably would be wandering around right now and I would not know what to do. And it also gives me an opportunity to learn something I' ve never done before."

Musician Corps has established programs in California and North Carolina. Kiff Gallagher hopes Musician Corps will continue to expand across America.

   In the town of Whitesburg, Kentucky, Mick Polly, who lives with his teenage daughter Carolina in a white house, is known as the bike man. Over the past five years, Mick has built hundreds of _______ for needy kids.

One day, a 13-year-old boy with a(n) _______ bike walked by Mick’s house. “When I was working in my _______, he approached me, saying he had an accident, and asked if I could _______ it, “says Mick. The boy left his bike to Mick who asked friends _______ the Internet if they had the missing _______. The town’s former police chief saw the _______ and donated two used bicycles. Mick took parts from each to _______ a new set of wheels for the boy.

Soon after, Mick, who owns a toy business, repaired a bike for the boy’s brother and assembled（组装）one for his sister. _______ spread, and within the year, he had fixed up dozens of bikes for local kids whose parents couldn’t ________ to buy new ones. “People were always dropping off bikes day and night,” says Mick.

Mick ________ these bikes and bike parts in his garage. “I ________ the good tires or the handlebars or the seat and use them, “he says. So far, the bike man has repaired hundreds of bicycles and ________ nearly 700 newly constructed bikes. They’re ________, but the kids must agree to two things: They’ve got to “remember who is ________ them”, and they’ve got to try in school. If a kid’s grades are ________, Mick willrequire a teacher’s ________ “saying that you're doing your best”.

Mick also ________ the bikes will get kids off the sofa. “When I was growing up, we all ________ our bikes, “he says. ”________ these kids can get some exercise. ”

   Sometimes you meet an ordinary person doing something extraordinary. On a recent trip I met Normand Gallant. Normand is someone you could _____ on the street and never notice but he is a very special person who _____ recognition.

Norm lives in a remote area far from the _____ big hospital, so when his wife _____ cancer several years ago, Norm was faced with a four-hour _____ to where she could be treated. That meant lots of _____ for meals, fuel, hotels and so on. But in the end the cancer took his wife’s life _____.

Norm was obviously _____ by his wife’s passing, and he was quite upset, _____ he realized that other people were ______ the same sorts of hardships. He wanted to do something but he didn’t want to give money to the ______ that support cancer research because he didn’t know how much would actually get to the researchers. What he did was to ______ parties.

About every three weeks on Saturday evenings, there is a party in Norm’s garage. ______ during the evening Norm tells about a family who is having difficulty ______ the cost of supporting a cancer patient in undertaking ______ far from home. Then a pail is passed around and the money is ______, every cent of it goes ______ to that family.

Norm’s personal loss has ______ an act of kindness in ______ of the wife he has lost. Wouldn’t it be ______ if we had more people in the world like Normand Gallant? He makes the world a better place.