When you consider all the personal benefits of doing volunteer work, one could almost consider it a selfish pursuit. However, I prefer to see it as the perfect symbiotic relationship.

For thousands of years the yogis have promoted the benefits of ‘volunteer’ work as a path to self-realisation. ‘Karma yoga’ is the practice of selfless service and giving, leading to peace, equanimity and higher awareness. Indeed the art of giving is inherent and regarded as part of daily life in many Eastern cultures.

So while altruism is arguably the best motivator for signing up to do some charitable work, with our Western culture’s focus on ‘taking’ for personal gain rather than ‘giving’, perhaps a more realistic ‘initial’ motivator is that of the many tangible personal advantages to giving your time to non-profit work.

Encouraging people to start young is a good way to bring this into our culture. So, it’s great to see that Youth Volunteering is the theme of Volunteer Awareness Week (14-20 June) this year, with the aim to encourage young people to take up volunteering - not only to help struggling people - but to realise the benefits in their own lives.

For a start, any future employer will be thoroughly impressed with a resume that shows a history of volunteer work. It’s a sure sign that someone possesses valued qualities such as team spirit, drive, commitment, leadership and willingness to work hard.

Another often touted motivation to take up volunteering is the skill development opportunities. For young people this is a touch more enticing and less expensive than taking on another university paper! And yes, it also broadens career horizons but even more exciting in my view is that it may lead to the discovery of hidden potentials and great personal qualities which may otherwise go undetected!

We’ve all heard that volunteer work is a great way to meet new friends – even find romance. The extra value in meeting people this way is that the environment - unlike a professional work environment or social setting where competition, judgement and hierarchy can dominate - - working in a non-profit setting will engender positive qualities such as gratitude, respect, compassion and fulfillment.

And, it makes you feel really happy! This is partly because you get to forget about yourself and think about someone else for a change which can be the best medicine for those who are anxious, depressed or lonely. Indeed, volunteer work can cause ‘helper’s high’ as a result of the rush of adrenaline and endorphines released during and after the act of helping. There, you don’t have to win Lotto to feel great!

It seems that young people are already catching on to all the benefits of volunteering. Volunteer Wellington has already recorded a 40 per cent increase in young people in their twenties wanting to volunteer so far this year. That’s impressive.

In the end, whether altruistic or selfish, the motivation for taking up volunteer work doesn’t matter. What’s important is that people get out and freely put their energy, time or money into the very positive pursuit of helping those who need it. The ultimate goal is that the more people who do it, the more people will do it and we’ll see a future with stronger, more compassionate communities and a society more grounded in the give not the take.