If you're like most people, you don't have a lot of extra time to spend volunteering within your community. But you might be surprised at how enriching and rewarding it can be to make the time to help children in your area through a volunteer network. Whether you're helping to feed them, acting as a big brother or sister, or providing supervision at an after school program, there are a variety of benefits to take advantage of through your engagement including but certainly not limited to the following:

Increased Compassion

One of the coolest things about volunteering to help kids is the ability to increase your compassion for how people think, feel, and react to their environments. As an adult, it's easy to judge others for the actions they display and the words they use. But when we have the opportunity to explore the experiences and situations children in need go through, we start to gain a new understanding about why adults end up acting the way they do in their lives. This in turn naturally opens up the opportunity to use compassion over judgement when dealing with people from all walks of life.

A Sense of Self-Confidence

Helping to make the world a better place for children living within your community tends to create a sense of self-worth and confidence that can be used in other aspects of your personal life. For instance, after working to implement a new law or program that feeds children who otherwise wouldn't eat will provide you with experiences and ideas to implement within your own life so you can reach financial and personal goals you've set for yourself. In the end, you walk away with more self-confidence in your ability to solve problems and make your community a better place through business and personal action.

A Good Night's Sleep

While the problems of others in the world whom you don't know personally probably doesn't keep you up at night, you might be surprised at how much better you sleep after a day of volunteer work. In fact, volunteering on a regular basis offers some peace of mind that you're helping to make the world a better place which in turn makes it easier to unwind without having to worry about pent-up stress on a subconscious level. Simply put, volunteering helps to make you feel good about yourself, and it's always easier to sleep when you feel good about your actions in life.

These are just a sampling of the "feel good" voluntary benefits you will likely take away from your time spent helping children that live within your community – and maybe even beyond.

For more information on volunteering, contact a company such as All About Voluntary.