Reflection: The Value of Volunteers at SBP

By Mike Sullivan
SBP Director of Service Experience

Volunteerism is at the heart of SBP—it’s how we began. Our progress is powered by people who care: from the more than 150,000 volunteers who’ve rolled up their sleeves across the country, to the 3,000+ AmeriCorps members who’ve committed nearly a year of their lives to serve, to partners like Toyota and Farmers Insurance who’ve shared not just funding but knowledge and time.

At SBP, we see a common thread in all our volunteers: humility, empathy, and a deep commitment to helping disaster survivors return home. Over the years, volunteers have contributed more than 1 million hours to SBP, helping more than 6,700 families return home. But beyond the numbers, volunteers have helped our clients improve their emotional well-being after a disaster has disrupted their lives.

Volunteerism remains a cornerstone of American civic life, with millions contributing their time and skills to support communities across the nation. Over 75.7 million Americans—approximately 28.3% of the population—engaged in formal volunteering through organizations, collectively contributing an estimated 4.99 billion hours of service valued at $167.2 billion. Volunteers play vital roles across various sectors, including education, healthcare, environmental conservation, and disaster response, often serving as the backbone of community resilience and recovery efforts.​

Like our clients, volunteers come from all walks of life. It’s important to recognize the value of volunteerism and service through these relationships that aren’t easily measurable through hours served, individuals returned home, and homes rebuilt. The magic of volunteering, the spark that drives folks to return for more, is the opportunity to connect with others and share a connectedness. The volunteers who step up for SBP do so knowing that if they or their loved ones were in the same situation, they’d hope for the same support. 

Volunteering as an AmeriCorps member with SBP after Superstorm Sandy provided clarity that eluded me in my early twenties—it filled me with purpose and direction. Ghandi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others,” and that still rings true for me. More than a decade later, I’m humbled to still be serving with SBP, and I’m always thrilled by the small part I play in creating space for others to give a little bit of their good back to this amazing planet we all share. Someone much wiser than me told me that  “volunteering is rent you pay to live on this earth,” and I believe them. 

For all of us here at SBP, it’s an honor to work alongside volunteers who bring with them a daily reminder that real change is possible when people come together with compassion.