Contributing to the welfare and survival of others is a fundamental principle of Scientology. Scientologists donate millions of man hours annually to help others.

The bedrock of our society is the men, women and children who volunteer their time to serve the community. And volunteers are the heart and soul of the many humanitarian programs supported by the Church of Scientology.

Gracia Bennish is one such volunteer. Active in a wide variety of Church-supported humanitarian programs, Bennish was featured in a recent edition of Freedom Magazine. She was among the Scientology Volunteer Ministers providing assistance to rescue workers suffering from physical and spiritual trauma and exhaustion in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack.

Nine years later, she traveled to Haiti to help that country recover from the devastating earthquake of January 2010.

“Much of our work was at the hospitals,” she recalls. “The doctors asked us, ‘Can you help?’ and we said ‘Yes!’ We assisted in surgery, inventoried medical supplies. It’s one thing to believe in doing good, but it’s making the beliefs into realty that counts.”

From drug education and prevention to disaster response, and from making our cities safe through character education to helping inmates regain their self-respect and the moral compass they need to reenter society, Scientologists volunteer millions of hours annually.

In a lecture in December 1960, Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard expressed the underlying theme of this volunteer movement: “What is important is how much service you can give the world and how much you can get done and how much better you can make things. These are important things. These are all that are important.”

Scientologists on five continents engage in collaborative efforts with government agencies and nongovernmental organizations to uplift their communities.

The Church of Scientology has published a series of brochures, Scientology: How We Help. To learn more, visit the Scientology website.