It’s always possible to tell the story of volunteerism through numbers. In Habitat’s case, that sounds something like this: 513 Global Village teams working around the world in 2008, donating almost $3.5 million to their host affiliates. More than 33,000 high-school and college students actively supporting Habitat through campus chapters at their schools. Forty-one International Volunteer Program volunteers contributing 28,740 work hours to Habitat programs in every region of the world.

To tell the story simply in numbers, however, misses the point. Habitat’s purpose is not only to mobilize people and resources to build houses, but also to transform communities and change the way individuals view their villages, their cities, their neighbors, themselves. Habitat is truly a global movement, drawing committed local volunteers everywhere the organization builds — from the United States to South Africa, from Costa Rica to Bulgaria and Thailand — and also providing opportunities for those same volunteers to travel with a purpose. Habitat’s insistence that housing is, in fact, about much more than houses is a message volunteers pass along with each splinter, house dedication, letter, speech and dollar.

“Volunteers — of all different ages, with a huge range of backgrounds, from all over the world — are essential to Habitat’s mission,” says Desiree Adaway, Habitat’s senior director of volunteer mobilization. “Habitat has served 1.5 million people and will continue to work to eliminate poverty housing around the world, through the compassion and hard work of volunteers.”

As the world celebrates International Volunteer Day on Dec. 5, Habitat World shares a slate of stories that demonstrate the many ways to get involved with the organization’s mission — and the many reasons to stay engaged.

To find out more about Habitat’s volunteer opportunities around the world — and in your area — visit www.habitat.org/getinv.