The efforts of community volunteers in Nevada, USA, is the perfect case study to highlight the positive impact that volunteering can have in underprivileged communities, both at home and abroad.

Speaking to NevadaAppeal.com, youth scheme director Hal Hansen is quick to praise the experience and skills that volunteers can bring. Speaking of Maria O’Neill, a retired volunteer who runs Spanish language and sewing classes in the local community, Hansen explains: “What she brings in expertise, no-one on our staff has”.

The long-term nature of O’Neill’s commitment to community volunteering brings further benefits. “When you have a long-term volunteer, they build a relationship with the kids…That’s when you have a real mentor-type atmosphere”.

Volunteering can be particularly important in today’s straitened economic circumstances where state support is being cut back. Janice Ayers, director of a retired senior volunteer programme in Nevada agrees: “Volunteer programs are taking up a lot of the slack”. Indeed, volunteers bring invaluable “compassion and patience” to community work.

For many volunteers the benefits are mutual. For O’Neill, the reaction of the children she works with makes volunteering a truly enjoyable experience: “it brings satisfaction seeing the kids’ faces light up”. It is this sense of reward that encourages many volunteers to make community work a regular part of their lives.

Whether volunteering abroad or in local communities, the impact can be significant, as volunteers bring expertise and energy that is often lacking in under-resourced organisations.

Find out about Inspire’s volunteer work and the places you can work during your gap year or career break abroad.