Reading these comments, I can see that a lot of people equate volunteering with working for a charity organization. I'll argue that if you open your eyes, there are loads of ways to work within your community that don't have a thing to do with some non-profit company.

I've had the mixed blessing of being able to semi-retire fairly early in my career and it's surprisingly fraught with peril. Especially if you go straight into a career as you're becoming an adult, it's hard to see how many needs in your life that "corporate life" fulfills (poorly, perhaps, but fulfills)- until those things are gone. Loneliness is one, particularly when it comes to spending time around people you would never actively *choose* to be around, but ultimately are positive relationships. Another is the sense of accomplishment that others have mentioned here.

I've given time to our local animal control center- they house a lot of domestic animals that were abandoned or otherwise homeless, until they can be adopted. I literally would go for a few hours every week and play with rabbits and guinea pigs to keep them from going feral from isolation. Nobody was making a profit off of that, but I got to hang out with a bunch of weirdos who are petting rabbits on a weekday afternoon, and I got to add a tiny bit of beauty to the balance of the world.

A lot of communities have urban gardens or farms. I've given afternoons to one of the ones near me, literally just weeding and fertilizing plants and fruit trees, harvesting vegetables that we give to the community, etc. Again, the only profit here is beautification of a public space, helping out some hungry people with healthy produce, and getting my hands dirty. And meeting even more people I would never have actively sought out as friends, but really enjoy.

I think there are multiple root problems pushing us apart. Technology (social media and otherwise) makes it easy to isolate.. increasingly, and extremely, individualistic cultural ideals encourage contrarian behaviors.. rampant cynicism and frustration with some of the uglier effects of capitalism and income inequality can leave people feeling abandoned by society as a whole.... leading to a disconnect with what it means to be a social primate.

I'd be first in line to shed my physicality and transition to something post-human if the technology was ready, but until then... if petting bunnies and planting fruit trees with other primates keeps this body's neurochemistry copacetic, so be it.