The Joys of Team Volunteering

In January of 2022, I began making sack lunches for the homeless through a social services organization in Portland, Oregon. My hometown was experiencing a homelessness crisis (up 65% from 2015) and I wanted to do something — but I wasn't really ready for in-person volunteering.

I told a buddy about it and she asked to join me in the spring of 2022. We grew to include four friends gathering at my home every other Friday to make 50 sack lunches. We all provide items needed for the bags: Greta and Dory bring bananas (the best fruit for unhoused individuals who may not have seen a dentist in decades); Sheri contributes peanut butter and jelly; I buy bread and granola bars.

We don plastic gloves and catch up while we assemble the lunches — all with the hand-written message "You Are Loved!" on them. And in a "what goes around, comes around" bit of magic, we all feel a little "warm and fuzzy" after these efforts.

Volunteering with friends, family or neighbors, which is sometimes called "team volunteering," offers all the many rewards of volunteering generally plus additional perks that — take it from the Friday Lunch Ladies — are hard to pass up.

The benefits of donating your time and talents are well known. Here's a rundown on the perks: less anxiety and stress, decreased depression, greater self-esteem, more energy, better sleep, lower blood pressure, improved immunity — even longer lives.

And that "warm fuzzy" feeling that the Friday Lunch Ladies experience? That's a blissful phenomenon called "helper's high" that occurs when your brain releases "feel good" chemicals like dopamine, endorphins, oxytocin and serotonin.

The bottom line about volunteering: "it's good to be good." Following are some additional upsides that team volunteering delivers.

The Friday Lunch Ladies were already friends before we started making lunches for homeless folks. But it's clear that this undertaking has cemented those relationships. While we're putting the lunches together, we're catching up on each other's lives, bemoaning (or celebrating) the news, cracking jokes. Kinda like a kaffeeklatsch with a purpose.

I also believe that there's a greater sense of mutual respect — seeing each other as people who care about the "least among us." I think we actually like each other more.

During those lunch-making sessions, we often talk about the people we're serving, of homelessness generally and specifically what our city is doing currently about the problem.

The Friday Lunch Ladies are also members of a book club and that group — God bless 'em — has read a slew of homelessness- and poverty-related books over the past few years: from "Rough Sleepers" by Tracy Kidder to "Poverty, By America" by Matthew Desmond. As a result, our little PB&J-making group has become much more knowledgeable about the Gordian knot that is homelessness.

Those discussions are, essentially, both cause and effect of an increased "sense of place" among our volunteer team.

"Acts of service with friends and family multiplies that connection and pride in the place you call home," and creates "an enhanced sense of community," says John Afryl, senior program manager with Hands On Greater Portland. (Hands On is a volunteering clearinghouse for the Portland metro area and part of an international volunteer network called Points of Light.)

We've been assembling those PB&J sandwiches every other week for over two years — and I don't see us stopping any time soon. While Portland is making headway in its efforts to help and house the unhoused, the need is still there. And the Friday Lunch Ladies are committed to continuing this small but important kindness.

Credit: Martin Griffy

Our group's dedication is not a one-off. "We do see less attrition on projects when there are volunteer teams, as the level of accountability is higher," says Afryl. This results in a "greater opportunity for volunteer retention, and the chance to deepen the impact of the experience on the volunteer."

Afryl sees this even in the decision to volunteer. "Some people might be reluctant to engage in something new without the peer support of a friend," he says.

It's good old peer pressure — of the best sort.

Laughter is a de rigeur component of our get-togethers. We have similar senses of humor (and outrage, as necessary). "Volunteering is definitely more enjoyable when it is shared with others," says Afryl.

Perhaps you know a few kind-hearted souls who you believe would like to donate their time to a good cause en masse. Book groups are excellent hunting grounds for such purposes. Families (grandparents and grandkids) and simpatico neighbors also make sense. Bring it up with them and see what they think.

You can find those opportunities in various ways. If you live in an urban area, you likely have a volunteer clearinghouse like Hands On Portland. The Points of Light network — active in more than 80 American cities — is an excellent resource.

Activate Good in Raleigh, North Carolina, allows volunteer teams to search for opportunities that have a specific number of spots to fill. The Hands On Portland website features a "team volunteering" page. (In 2023, 402 new teams — with 2,310 individuals — signed up via that webpage, says Afryl.) Others, like Boston Cares (also part of the Points of Light network), welcome volunteer teams but ask that they sign up individually, says the nonprofit's volunteer program manager Anna Marie Houston.

You can also directly approach an individual nonprofit of your choice. The Friday Lunch Ladies volunteer with a homelessness outreach group in downtown Portland through an easy online sign-up page.

The Points of Light search page offers a "good for groups" filter option. Some of the opportunities that lend themselves to group volunteering include food bank sorting/packing, sorting donated goods, meal delivery, tree planting, community/school garden planting/maintenance and park/beach/trail cleanups, among others, says Katie Stearns, spokeswoman for Points of Light.

"We see larger groups of colleagues participate in outdoor, environmental-focused activities," explains Afryl, because "typically, there is more space on outdoor projects."

Stearns adds that retired people looking to start a group activity ought to consider volunteering during the day, when it may be harder for others to support nonprofit needs.

Ultimately, the opportunity you select will reflect the values of your group and the needs of your community.

Stearns adds this thought — or rather challenge: "Through research, we know that 64% of respondents said they volunteered because a friend invited them."

"So let that be the call to continue inviting your family and friends to volunteer with you."

Marie Sherlock practiced law for a decade before turning to writing and editing in her 30s — and never looked back. She's worked as the editor of several publications and is the author of a parenting book (Living Simply with Children; Three Rivers Press). She spends her empty-nest days writing about travel trends and destinations, simplicity, spirituality and social justice issues. Read More