BECOME A VOLUNTEER

Discover the new YMCA Thessaloniki volunteer website!

We are thrilled to introduce our new website for YMCA Thessaloniki volunteers! Designed for easy navigation with comprehensive information, our site allows you to learn about our activities, participate in volunteer programs, and become part of a dynamic community that is making a difference.

Κάντε εγγραφή σήμερα πατώντας ΕΔΩ,

Register today by clicking HERE, find out how you can contribute, and let’s make a difference together!

The YMCA Thessaloniki Volunteer Bank aims to engage its members and other interested individuals in social, environmental, cultural, and sports activities, among others, on a voluntary basis.

The enhancement of social cohesion and the sense of personal satisfaction from participation are some of the benefits that can arise at both social and individual levels.

Requirements include:

• Willingness to contribute
• Positive attitudel
• Reliability
• Team spirit

Exciting upcoming YSocialWorkers-volunteer programs at YMCA Thessaloniki are expected from August! Have a great summer!

Article by Our Volunteer, Mr. Giorgos I. Gavriilidis, titled “What Defines Volunteering?”

“There are many ways to change things and not let our hopes for a better and safer world remain mere wishful thinking.”

The modern concept of civil society has occupied human thought from ancient times to today: Aristotle, Machiavelli, and Hegel have all sought to give special meaning and predict the role and evolution of modern civil society. A society that generally includes the notion of an active citizen participating in civil society organizations and taking responsibility for improving their own life and that of their fellow humans. It is a citizen who understands that societal problems are also their own, whether experienced personally or not, because they are aware that the happiness and well-being of others fundamentally determine their own fate.

It defines meaning in democracy as it is not limited to the right to vote but also involves collaborating with or resisting policies that affect their life and that of their fellow citizens, always respecting the majority and the rights of all people.

An active citizen also takes an active role in initiatives to improve the quality of life in the local community, knowing that the state cannot solve all problems by “magic.” This active role is expressed through volunteering.

Volunteering could be defined as the contribution of individuals to a non-profit, non-paid action that does not provide professional advancement and aims at the well-being of individuals or the community it addresses. Volunteering is also considered as “…a symptom of the reaction to a society that is evolving into a global village of self-interested people who have retreated into their shells…” (Konstantinos Tsoukalas, Professor of Sociology at the University of Athens).

Volunteering has multiple facets: volunteers who support vulnerable segments of civil society, volunteers for tree planting, volunteers for natural disaster response, volunteer doctors, volunteer teachers, volunteers at the Olympic Games, volunteers in patient care, volunteers supporting those experiencing human loss, volunteers in fire protection, neighborhood volunteers organizing to protect street trees, parks, or clean and paint the dirty walls of schools, and many more…

Volunteering is indeed a component of social transformation and social culture. Citizens of all ages, driven by inclination, experience, or sensitivity, can become volunteers, understanding the notion of reciprocity, collective expression, and who wish to contribute.

Giorgos I. Gavriilidis YMCA Thessaloniki Volunteer English Teacher in the React for Life Volunteer Program Member of the Action & Social Contribution Committee and the Refugee Committee

Εθελοντής Χ.Α.Ν.Θ.
Δάσκαλος Αγγλικών στο Εθελοντικό Πρόγραμμα 
Μέλος της Επιτροπής Δράσης & Κοινωνικής Προσφοράς και της Επιτροπής Προσφυγικού