THE ESSENCE, CIRCUMSTANCES, AND AREAS OF VOLUNTEER WORK (Istota, przeslanki i obszary dzialan wolontariatu)

This article discusses the process of national economic transformation, pointing out its positive and negative aspects. It goes on to examine the specifics of non-profit organizations and the essence of volunteer work. What is stressed is that modern day volunteer work is a form of shaping and stimulating a readiness to act while simultaneously being an expression of public action. In pointing out the circumstances of the development of volunteer work, it is looked at as a tool for mollifying and limiting the negative effects of transformation as well as the ancillary phenomena that impede economic, social, and civilizational development. It is for this reason that the concept of volunteer work should involve continuity of action.