Okay, I'm going to be the bad guy here and be brutally honest, and I hope no-one thinks TOO badly of me.

I put a lot of time into an organization here in North Texas called Mission Arlington that basically gives furniture, clothes and the like to "underprivilged" families.

At the time, I was going thru a semi-ugly divorce and really didn't have a lot and really never complained about it. I had what I needed to get by. I decided to volunteer my time because I wanted to make myself feel better about my community and to simply feel better about myself as a person. I thought that some good, honest sweat moving furniture into these folks homes would be good for my soul and accomplish my inner goal of becoming a better person.

In doing this, we were invited into these folks homes to bring couches and chairs etc, and I noticed that about 90% had it WAY better than I did - one lady actually told me to "take it back because she didn't like the color" of a donated couch we'd just brought up three flights of stairs. I'll never forget that. I quit the same day.

Volunteering to help people who simply "work the system" because they're lazy completely made me feel rotten. I think there were 5 families total that actually deserved the donations we were bringing. One guy had the nicest computer set up I've (still) ever seen, and yet, I was bringing him a three piece sofa. I was outraged.

So make sure that the people you are "helping" really NEED HELP. Volunteers aren't dumb and it's insulting to people who give their time to help folks who simply don't want to work or live off others charity. Truth be told, it's soured my taste for volunteering, and I don't know if I'll ever do it again. Maybe if it was for the SPCA or an animal charity event, but for people? No way. Actually, I take that back, I'd work an event for kids hospitals, police officers and firefighters, because THEY deserve it.
Source(s):
Experience

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Perhaps one reason is that people feel the need to soak up downtime. When they are watching tv, it feels like the time is their own. After working all day, volunteering may seem like more work, even if it isn't so strenuous.
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I think you should just accept the fact that some people enjoy (or feel obligated to do) volunteer work and others do not. And they should not feel obligated to explain their reasons one way or the other to any one else. As you found, there are periods in people's lives when they are unable or unwilling to spend time helping others. Sometimes other priorities take precedence. I love volunteer work but recently had to scale back to make time to care for my granddaughter.

You should feel good about yourself that you are giving people the opportunity to make a difference in their communities. Even if they can't help now, they may remember your phone call down the road and get involved in something.
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To but it bluntly - most people are lazy and/or don't give a crap. And when people have full time jobs, they feel like they've earned their time in front of the TV and don't want to go do more, unpaid, work.

Personally, I'm pretty lazy, but I also wouldn't really know how to (and I guess I'm not inclined to search it out) go about finding a place to volunteer that actually does good work and needs people. If I had someone talk to me (or put a flier in my mailbox or something) and tell me about what they do and exactly how to go about the whole volunteering thing, I'd probably do it. Make it easy for people - you're asking them to do unpaid work, so make it as simple and appealing as possible.

Just my two cents.
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