The Unexpected Ways Volunteering Nurtures Our Kids
By Mind Chicago co-owner and therapist, Dr. Lee Wells
At Mind Chicago, we spend a lot of time talking with young people, families, schools, and… honestly, whoever will listen… about belonging and how essential it is for kids’ mental health, identity formation, and resilience. Despite its importance, a sense of belonging can be hard to find for some kids and teens. Fortunately, research shows there are concrete ways to help kids cultivate a sense of belonging, such as volunteering, contributing to their communities, and connecting with others.
Chicago families don’t need a lecture on community and coming together. We’ve seen what it looks like when neighbors mobilize to protect each other. As ICE has created fear across immigrant communities and others, Chicagoans have responded with rapid-response networks, school monitors, and everything in between. When SNAP delays and policy gaps left families hungry, local religious communities, schools, and neighborhood groups stepped in in solidarity. Our city has always had a deep muscle memory for showing up.
And our kids notice.
What they may not see is that our Chicagoan impulse to contribute and support one another also shapes our well-being and sense of belonging. Research tells us that volunteering and prosocial behavior can help kids flourish emotionally, physically, and academically.
Large national studies show that children and adolescents who volunteer even once in the past year report better physical health and higher levels of “flourishing.” They’re more likely to feel hopeful, curious, and engaged. Adolescents who volunteer also show lower rates of anxiety and fewer behavioral concerns — not because volunteering magically eliminates stress, but because it gives young people a sense of agency and connection, two things the brain interprets as stabilizing.
Longitudinal research takes this further: teens who take part in voluntary community service (not forced or performative hours) end up with higher educational attainment and even higher earnings in adulthood. Civic engagement becomes a developmental pathway to better perspective-taking, greater responsibility, and a connection to the common humanity. When young people understand that they can shape their environment, they carry that understanding into their futures.
Even brief interventions matter. Research suggests that when teens are asked to do small acts of kindness for others, some experience measurable boosts in their mood and reductions in stress. The effect is strongest among adolescents who already feel pulled toward helping… a reminder that nurturing kids’ natural prosocial instincts can be a mental health strategy in its own right.
But perhaps the most important finding is this: the benefits of volunteering depend on how it feels to kids. When service is rooted in autonomy, meaning, and community (or when it’s done with people rather than for them), the emotional impact deepens. We feel a sense of belonging.
In every small act our kids do for others – from shoveling someone’s steps to bagging produce at the food pantry – they strengthen their community and themselves.
Chicago grows its kids through connection. And our kids, in turn, make Chicago the incredible place it is. So here just a few of the endless ways you and your family can volunteer or contribute this season.
A few places to volunteer!
Cards for Hospitalized Kids is a national nonprofit (started in Chicago) that delivers handmade, encouraging cards to children spending time in the hospital. Families can participate at home by creating simple, uplifting cards together and mailing them to the organization’s Chicago headquarters, where they’re then distributed to hospitals across the country. Kids of all ages can participate!
Nourishing Hope is a Chicago food pantry and social‑services nonprofit that provides meals, mental‑health counseling, and other support. Families can get involved at home or on-site, and kids as young as 9 years old can volunteer alongside a parent or guardian.
Common Pantry’s Common Kids is a youth‑volunteering program in Chicago that lets children (ages 6–12) help out at pantry events and food distributions. Families can volunteer together, giving kids a hands‑on way to contribute to their community through service and mutual aid.
