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Litter Picking or Counting Penguins? #HelpOften Day 2016

Did you know that Volunteering can boost your mental health?

Helping Often is one of Sunday Assembly’s fave things, and this month has been our Help Often Month, with Sunday Assembly chapters from around the world getting their hands dirty for the sake of doing good.

What’s really really great about it is that volunteering is not only a great bonding experience for the community, but it’s also good for you! Research shows that people who volunteer are happier and healthier* – so you’re doing yourself a favour at the same time as helping someone else.

In Sunday Assembly London a bunch of folks rallied together for a mega day helping Open Age in three locations. They painted, tidied, scrubbed and helped make their locations spick and span. You can see the London Help Often Heroes below, with paintbrushes in hand!

Sunday Assembly Los Angeles hosted the second of its homegrown, on-site service projects, the Sunday Assembly Line. They worked together to assemble care kits of urgently needed items, like toothbrushes, antibacterial wipes, sunscreen and deodorant for the homeless, before distributing them across Los Angeles. Sunday Assembly Reading helped out at a Community Garden, Silicon Valley litter picked the beach, Baltimore handed out food for the homeless, and Sunday Assembly San Diego volunteered at an Earth Day fair (and many more!).

Quick ideas for having your own burst of endorphins and good vibes? Go guerilla:  know a space or park that needs litter picking? ‎Just go do it- make your community shine! (Or if it’s raining you could just help Antarctic scientists count penguins.)

Participating Assembly chapters included:

Sunday Assembly London, Sunday Assembly Reading, Sunday Assembly East Bay, Sunday Assembly Bournemouth, Sunday Assembly Silicon Valley, Sunday Assembly Newcastle, Sunday Assembly Chapel Hill, Sunday Assembly Portland, Sunday Assembly Baltimore and Sunday Assembly Los Angeles.

*Health benefits of volunteering in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. Jayne Allyn Piliavin and Erica Siegl. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 2007. 48:450-464

Sunday Assembly London at Open Age
Sunday Assembly London at Open Age
San Diego at an #EarthDay fair
San Diego at an #EarthDay fair
Reading helping often at a Community Garden
Reading helping often at a Community Garden
Sunday Assembly LA packing care kits for the homeless.
Sunday Assembly LA packing care kits for the homeless.
 Silicon Valley's Beach Clean Up
Silicon Valley’s Beach Clean Up
Sunday Assembly Portland helping often at a Food Bank
Sunday Assembly Portland helping often at a Food Bank
Sunday Assembly Chapel Hill
Sunday Assembly Chapel Hill
Sunday Assembly Hamburg Litter picking
Sunday Assembly Hamburg Litter picking
Sunday Assembly Baltimore packing lunches.
Sunday Assembly Baltimore packing lunches.