Some people are fortunate enough to earn their livelihoods in jobs that directly help to create a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. But much of the efforts to make life better for our communities and our world are done by volunteers -- people who work for a better world without pay.

Around the world, hundreds of millions of people volunteer - nearly 65 million volunteer in America! American volunteers do the equivalent work of over 9 million fulltime employees!

Recognizing the importance of volunteers, the United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) works with a network of over 20,000 organizations to use International Volunteer Day on December 5 as an opportunity to celebrate the important contribution volunteers make, and as a launching point to inspire year-round volunteer involvement.

Many countries have national networks of volunteer organizations. In the US these include Youth Service America; the Points of Light Foundation which helps connect more than 2.5 million volunteers who provide services for 170 million people; and Action Without Borders, which links volunteers to 50,000 organizations in 165 countries.

US Government agencies that promote volunteering include AmeriCorps, which provides money for college tuition for youth volunteers; SeniorCorps which connects those over 55 to volunteer opportunities, and the Peace Corps for helping in other countries.

Volunteers ARE creating a better world, one person and one act of kindness at a time.